Lex Libertas

The Sound of Running Water

Today marks the one-week anniversary of my having heating. The two weeks leading up to that precious event were atrocious. It was constantly below 10 Celsius in my apartment, and often times, it was warmer outside. All heating is centrally controlled by the city government, and they won't turn it on until the temperature is below a certain point for three days in a row. Well, last week was beyond that point, and they said that we could expect the heating any day.

On Tuesday, I was doing administrative tasks at the main campus and was walking in a hallway when I suddenly heard the sound of running water. I was a little taken aback at first, thinking that perhaps a water pipe had broken somewhere, and the hall I was in would soon be flooded. After a few seconds of trepidation, I located the source of the water. The sound was coming from the pipes along the wall that led to the radiators. This will certainly date me, but I've never really experienced radiators before. I was a child the last time I was in a place that had them. I've only known central heating. Up till this point, I actually thought that radiators were electrically powered. Imagine that, they're just filled with hot water.

Sitting in class the next day, all wrapped up in my coat and still freezing, I again heard that most wonderful sound of metal being filled with water. Unfortunately, upon my return home that day, my radiators were still ice cold, as was the rest of my apartment. I was literally wearing multiple sweaters and still wasn't at an optimal temperature. Finally, on Thursday of last week, I came home to that now cherished sound of running water. When I opened the door to my stairwell, I found that it was accompanied by a steam cloud rushing up from below the stairs. It sounded like a waterfall, and I was convinced that our pipes had blown up and it would take weeks to repair, leaving me without heating. Fortunately, I got up to my apartment and was welcomed by warmth. If the heating had come any later, I would have really been displeased. Wednesday of this week saw the first snow, an event that deserves its own post.