January 4, 2007
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Soap Curd?!?!
Ready for a really boring (but possibly informative) post? Here it goes!
Since we’ve moved to our Glasgow apartment, my hair and skin has been outrageous. Boring blog topic, I know. But I must stress this: I’m a very healthy and hygienic person–and I know the rules about good skincare. But still, even with topicals prescribed by the doctor, the nastiness persists. I ignore it 98% of the time, but every now and again a few dozen painful cysts can get a person down. Recently, I mentioned my face issue to my cousin who jokingly remarked, “damn, what’s in the water there?”
Damn, what is in the water?
With too much time on my hands today, I did a little googling and found this article, which mentions that “high levels of calcium or magnesium in a city’s tap water” can inflame a persons face.
A little more Googling told me that calcium in the water is called “hard water” and you know you’ve got it if the following things are true about your pad:
• Clothes laundered in your washer feel harsh and scratchy (check!)
• Dishes and glasses are spotted when dry (check!)
• Film on glass shower doors, shower walls, bathtubs, sinks and faucets (check! And I scrape that gook off weekly, too!)
• Water flow may be reduced by deposits in pipes (check!)And most annoyingly of all:
“Bathing with soap in hard water leaves a film of sticky soap curd on the skin. The film may prevent removal of soil and bacteria. Soap curd interferes with the return of skin to its normal, slightly acid condition, and may lead to irritation [known by Chicagoartgirl23 as massive, unrelenting ZITS]. Soap curd on hair may make it dull, lifeless, sticky and difficult to manage.”
Calcium is what’s in the water, man! Now do I get it out?
Our water is supplied by the city and we lease our place, so this complicates things more than if we just owed a place; in that case, I’d whip out the credit card and get some water purification magicians to come do something about it. I think my parents used to have a big water softener thing in the basement–maybe my building has one. Is it broken? Is there some sort of magical talisman or tablet that you feed it to make the water good?
I’m going to talk to our landlord about it next week (since our flat is owed by the university, they are closed during the university holidays, which stinks), but in the meantime, do any of you Xanga homeowners know anything about fixing gross water? Many thanks!
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For those of you who own a home: how did you learn all the handy-man (and woman!) type things that you need to know to take care of one properly? Is it just trial and error?::Random Tangent(s)::
Tomorrow my friend Squee is in town for the weekend! I can’t wait. I’ve hired a wee car for the two of us to drive up to Loch Ness to hunt for Nessy, eat Scotch eggs and Jaffa Cakes and too many chocolates, and generally squeal about town like giddy, ferral cats. It will be so good to gallop around with my pal; I’ve missed her.In unrelated news, this book I’m reading is SO GOOD. I also loved Shteyngart’s other book, Absurdistan; he is such a delightful and funny little pervert. Read him!
Today, a really random thing happened. While I was innocently walking upstairs to our flat, a woman lept out of nowhere (silently! With stealth!) and scared the shit out of me.
“Hiya,” she said, causing me to gasp in horror.
“Hi. Sorry. Didn’t see you there.”
“There’s a cat upstairs and I can’t go up there. I’m afraid of cats. Deathly afraid.”
“Oh. Really?”
“Deathly.”
“Do you want me to go up and chase him down?”
“Then he’ll be down here.”Weird predicament, eh? Lucky for her, the cat owner opened the door to her flat and the cat ran back in. The woman looked perfectly sane, but who is terrified of a housecat? I guess I shouldn’t talk–I gasp in horror when little brown birds come near me. But they look like rats, especially when seen out the corner of your eye. I think I’ve been living in cities for too long; I have more than my fare share of memories of Chicago rats seething around Jewel Osco and Blockbuster and our old North Ave apartment dumpser. I wasn’t freaked by little brown birds until I moved to Chicago and kept seeing rats. Now any small, brown, moving thing on the sidewalk makes me squeal like a pig.
What animal scares you?
Comments (6)
Really, Shteyngart? I read the Russian Debutante’s Handbook at the urging of my brother. I got about 200 pages into it and found myself saying out loud, “dear god, I hate this book.” I haven’t been able to get myself to read another of his books after that.
Do you think a water purifier like a Brita would help for water you use to wash your face?
A seagull can make me run screaming making a complete ass out of myself. Those birds lack boundaries. What about some kind of pore cleanser for the zit problem? Water purification is out of my realm. And, regarding the home maintenance, I’m utterly clueless and it is most definitely about trial and error. Good luck finding Nessy!!
Lots of error. Some trial. Actually, I relied on my brother the handyman for a couple of years. My current solution is … er, not fixing things. I’m not helpful.I would say a black bear on a mountain trail would scare the crap out of me. But I guess maybe that’s too reasonable a response?
Well, the keyphrase you want for your plumbing is “water softener,” and yes, the usually cost a fortune and are a permanent part of the plumbing (like your water heater and cistern — do you believe they use those damn cisterns over there? Holdover from WWII). Anyway, a household unit in the States is upwards of $800, so that’s #1000 to you. You can get smaller units for around $300 for RVs, boats, and such, but I’m not sure if that will help either. You can also get water softening salts that you can mix with your water in small quantities, which might help with the face washing.It might also be the case that you *do* have a water softener on the premises, but that it needs to be recharged. They typically use a softening salt cube, and it does need to be replinished periodically.As to where I learned to work on houses, it was trial and error, assisted by liberal doese of talking to the older guys at the hardware stores. I also did a lot of work on the houses I lived in while in graduate school. I had a couple of pretty cool landlords who let me deduct the cost of materials from my rent, so I practiced a lot on their places. Other than that, I cuss a lot. It helps. : – )My grandmother was deathly afraid of cats, and would have done exactly what that lady did. I’m not sure what her deal was, but she wasn’t comfortable around animals at all. I’m with Tim; I’m afraid of any animal that looks at me and thinks, “snack.” Other than that, I really like all animals.
The animal that scares me most is the human. I have heard that a temporary solution for bath water and the like is to use bath salts. I had a friend who mixed a little with the water she used to clean her face and always in her bath. She even put it in her wash. (She was located on a well fed farm for a few months) and it worked okay for her. I know there are special water softening agents though. And some that come already inside products. I don’t know about their availability over here; however, since it is likely a common problem there you might be able to find some stop gap measure products in stores around you.ryc: It felt good to get it out. I tried to write something more cheerful but every time i forced it I got angrier. Better now though!
Cougars. Never seen one, but I’m petrified of them. Also, pigeons. They’re like giant submarines that shit on you.About the water, I haven’t a clue, but Lizzy’s Brita idea/bastettom’s salt idea for face washing seems reasonable. It won’t help for showering though. This sounds ridiculous, but maybe you could wash your face with softened water after you get out of the shower?Or maybe there’s some sort of face cleanser designed for people with calcium in their water?That’s it, I’m out of suggestions.