Showers

Nothing is more relaxing than taking a nice long shower, especially in cold weather. It's warm, the sound of the running water is soothing, you can let your mind wander, and after you towel off with a thick, soft towel you feel refreshed and ready.

Showers here in the FOB aren't quite like that. The good news is that we have showers, they are indoors, they are in individual stalls, and they are usually warm. Otherwise, these showers really make one appreciate a shower in the comfort of your home.

We seem to have plenty of water, but it isn't always warm. Sometimes it's luke warm, sometimes it's cold. We have learned to check the thermometer on the water heater before entering the shower building. (There are multiple shower buildings, each with 8 or so stalls. The one I go to is about 100 yards from my CHU.)

The showers consist of shower pans and a curtain. The pan is about 3 Ft square, with a drain. Unfortunately, the stall is bigger than the pan, so lots of water runs onto the floor and into the common area. The floor is usually wet, which is kind of nasty when you undress. One worries about the floor being a breeding ground for things you'd just as soon not have come in contact with your feet, especially since not all soldiers are as clean as we'd like. Most of the curtains are still there, but they are the flimsy plastic ones and are pretty ragged.

Sometimes it rains here, and the mud sticks to our boots. Can't help it. Well, when you go into the shower, the wet floor sluices off the mud from the boots, and you then have a muddy floor in the shower. Hope you don't drop your towel, as I did, because it will be wet and muddy. Luckily I dropped it after my shower.

I don't know how long the showers have been here, but long enough for the drains to clog. The showers usually drain, just slowly. So, the pan fills up with the soapy water, and you end up standing in it up to your ankles. I usually wait for a while after I'm done and go back and wash my feet.

Some of the pans leak, so under the buildings (they are placed up on cement blocks) a permapuddle lurks to catch unwary soldiers. The puddle extends out past the building into the walk areas. The puddles are soapy and hairy.

I am told that come summer, March or so, we have no problem with insufficient hot water. There are 6 large water tanks, painted gray, which store water. I understand that the water, which is already 95 deg from ambient heat (days get up to 115 or so), heats up even more in the tanks. When you take a shower on a 115 deg day, you want cool water, but you get hot water. At least the hot water won't run out.