My epic battle with the shower head.

The day after Christmas, I moved into my new apartment. It is a small efficiency, but it is plenty of room for a girl that has spent the last four years of her life sharing a space half that size with a roommate.

One drawback: the apartment is handicap accessible. This means that all of the light switches are lower (stand up with your arms limp by your side: where your hands fall is about the height of all of them, unless you are a legal midget, in which case look straight ahead and pretend your face is your hand)

More evidence of the handicap friendly environment: a shower head that is a full foot shorter than I am. I'm not even that tall of a person, but I can very easily see the wall about the shower head while looking straight ahead.

The simple solution to this issue was buying one of those handheld shower heads that are always a bit higher than the ones normally mounted on the wall. I went, I bought, I felt accomplished.

Attempt to change the shower head #1: I grabbed the six inch wrench from the toolkit my dad gave me for Christmas. It was too small. I tried several times to untwist the shower head with just my hands. No luck.

Attempt to change the shower head #2: I went to a store that shall remain nameless *cough Walmart cough* because I had a giftcard to use only to find out that the only wrench they have besides a 6 inch one is a huge pipe wrench costing $26.99 (more than my giftcard). The nice man behind the counter tells me to just buy the pliers, it would surely give me the grip I need and allow me to untwist whatever may come my way.

I listened to him. Dear god, what was I thinking?

I went home to find out that my hand is not physically strong enough nor large enough to squeeze the pliers and turn them at the same time. DAMN YOU GIRLY HANDS.

Attempt to change the shower head #3: I went to the hardware store. They had the wrench I needed and now I have a shower head that is still too short, but at least I can lift it off and rinse my hair without having to attempt to bend my body like a contortionist. I probably terrified my new neighbors when I finally got the shower head off of the pipe because I let out this war chant: "AHAHAHAH. TAKE THAT YOU CHEAP PIECE OF METAL THAT WILL NEVER FULFILL YOUR DREAMS OF BECOMING A FIRE HYDRANT"

I can only imagine that all shower heads would have to dream about, were they sentient beings, would becoming a fire hydrant. I mean, really, where else is there to go when all you have ever done and will ever do is squirt out water?

7 Things I Learned This Week #12 (Holiday edition!)

1. The candles on the Kinara represent things by color: black for the African race, red for African blood shed, and green for African land. My fourth grade teacher brought in a Kinara once and explained the holiday to us, but I don't recall her explaining what the candles represented. I always thought each individual candle stood for its own ideal or value. Instead, each day of Kwanzaa represents one of the seven values honored with the holiday.
2. The twelve days of Christmas actually fall after Christmas and go through January 6th. 
3. President Truman received a Menorah from the Prime Minister of Israel in 1951, the first link between the White House and Hanukkah. 
4. Freezingman is a winter art and music festival held in Colorado in January as a winter counterpart to Burning Man.
5. "Holiday Heart Syndrome" refers to an irregular heart beat, normally appearing after vacation or time off from work (generally associated wit binge drinking).
6. Boxing Day is kind of the equivalent of Black Friday for the United Kingdom, Canada, New Zealand, and parts of Australia. It tends to be the highest day of revenue for commercial stores.
7. Some people believe the 25th of December falls about 9 months after the Annunciation (when the archangel Gabrial informed Mary she would give birth to God's son). Annunciation is celebrated March 25th. So it lines up. (I put my money on the theory that the day was chosen because of the overhaul of significant dates in other religions)


There you have it. Happy Chrismahanukwanzadan.(even though Hanukkah and Ramadan are over. I hope they were happy for you)
Have a safe and happy holiday season. :-)

7 Things I Learned This Week (month) #11

I don't have consistent internet access, as Knox has let out for winter break and that is normally where I go for internet. But between that, holidays, moving/not really moving yet (but will be soon!), visiting the boy (and meeting his parents in Washington DC), and lots and lots of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, it is safe to say that I haven't exactly been a reliable blogger. Though, when have I ever really been that consistent with stuff like this? You should see the diaries I have started, the knitting projects left un-knitted, and the NaNoWriMo novel I got 400 words into before I realized that I had to study for the GRE for the first week-and-a-half of November. 


Anyway, without further adieu: 
Seven Things I Learned This Week:
1. Philadelphia is the fourth largest city in the United States. 
2. Jon Stewart was born Jonathan Stuart Leibowitz.
3. Don Henley was inspired to write the song Witchy Woman while he had a high fever and was reading a book about Zelda Fitzgerald.
4. Snapple fact #658: New York City is made up of 50 islands.
5. Joe Louis used to drink cow blood fresh from slaughterhouses right before big boxing matches.
6. Zorillas are the smelliest animals in the world.
7. George Washington University has a "J" street in their student union, thus making up for the fact that Washington D.C. does not have a "J" Street. Sesame Street would be proud. 


Bonus Fact: Otters are very sensitive about their fluff bedding and where it goes. I personally saw some of them fight over where to put it in their habitat at the National Zoo. 


Tada! Learny things! Isn't it wonderful?