The Water Heater And Magic

Bonjour all,

About 2 weeks ago while taking a shower here I noticed that the hot water dropped out and became cold for about 10 seconds and then returned to hot water.  As the days went by I also noticed when washing dishes or my hands in any of our 3 sinks it was the same but with more frequency.   Then last Tuesday we were expecting guests and I called the apartment management company (which will remain nameless here) who dispatched 2 plumbers (one would have been fine) who arrived after lunch both smiling secret smiles and went into our kitchen to look at our water heater.  I'm not sure if I mentioned the way water is heated in most apartments here so here goes.

Our water heater is what I've heard friends refer to as a "flash" heater that is wall mounted in our kitchen behind a large cupboard.  It not only heats hot water for our sinks, baths, or showers, but also heats the water for our radiators in cold weather.  It's method of heating is through natural gas which probably comes to France via Russia and how it works is when anyone turns on a "hot" knob in either a sink or bath tub or shower; the water heater automatically starts heating the water as it passes through the heater so essentially it flash heats the water unlike our water heaters at home which were 50 gallon hot water reservoirs always kept at a steady hot temperature in perpetuity.  It should also be noted that our current water heater is brand new as it had been installed right after Cassie signed the lease on the apartment.

O.K., back to the grinning plumbers......  They went right into the kitchen, opened the cupboard, looked at the water heater and found a small gauge on the front that was zeroed out.  I watched as the main guy (who was the tallest) reached to the back of water heater and turned a small knob and the gauge began to register into a green zone on the dial.  He then turned on the hot water in our kitchen sink and let it run and sure enough, problem solved.  Naturally he spoke little or no English as I tried to ask him what he'd done.  The only reply I got with a smirk was "magique"!  I did however see where the knob was that he adjusted although I don't think he knew that before he left.  A bill arrived from our apartment management company for 88 euros that was generated by that visit and I just found out in broken English from apartment manager that anything going wrong with the water heater is our responsibility save for the yearly maintenance visit, at least that's what I think he said.

So, long story short, we'll be paying 88 euros for around 2 minutes of "magique" this week.

Magique indeed mon amis,

Love to all from our magique maison,

Sid (Hey Rocky, watch me pull a rabbit out of my hat........nuthin up my sleeve.......*) Hagan