Warning. Urban princess ahead.

So it turns out that all those years of city living have turned me into a spoiled urban princess.

Three years in a temperature controlled, fully insulated secure building has made me soft. Too hot? Turn on the aircon. Too cold? Adjust temperature on same aircon, by remote of course. Press the button and doors open automatically, swipe your fob and drive into the underground garage. Rubbish down the chute in a permanently lighted hallway. No panic about washing on the line. Door self-locks and automatically closes behind you.

I'll freely admit I took it all for granted
And knew there'd be a lot of adjustments to make in my new house. I took the liberty of ensuring there'd be a least a dishwasher and lockup garage to ease the transition. And I have my own built in bin-boy (sorry E) so at least I don't have to suffer the indignity of racing outside in my pajamas at 5am because I forgot it was bin day.

But one thing I wasn't prepared for was the showers. You see, in my pampered little world of yesterday (literally) I had singular taps which when set just right took a simple tug and a wait of about 30 seconds to dispense the temperature and water pressure that was just to my liking. And then a 1 metre stroll to my (temperature controlled) room to dress. Even on the coldest morning I'd be oblivious until I walked outside.

No more.

I quickly learned last night that my showering habits are going to change forever. We are fortunate enough to have heat lights in the bathroom but there are certain, shall we say, idiosyncrasies that I will need to deal with going forward.

Firstly there's the two tap thing, which is an alien concept to the pampered princess which I have just learned I am. Working out the right hot/cold tap combination has been, ah, challenging. Then there's the fact if you're the first in the shower it takes several minutes for the hot water to come through, and then some lag between adjusting the taps to feel the effect. I figured this out last night when trying to cool down the scalding heat only to suddenly find myself in an icy waterfall.

That was special.

Then there's the water pressure. My house is fully water efficient which means I've been supplied with a water-saving shower head which is code for pissweak pressure and a trickle you have to stand under for days just to get wet. I haven't dared to wash my hair yet and I'm a little scared to. I think I'll be buying stock in dry shampoo just to avoid this during winter!

Lastly I have now learned to collect all my clothing so that I can be fully dressed before leaving the bathroom. Heavy duty socks must be the first things to be donned or else by the time I walk the 3 metres to my bedroom I'll be colder than before my shower.

On the plus side, the hot water system is fantastic so we have no danger of running out mid-shower. I've also showered whilst running the dishwasher and no issue with sharing of the heating resources nor the flushing of the toilet/temperature change that I vaguely remember from yesteryear. So there are some small mercies here.

I'm just wondering if it would be environmentally unsound and completely wrong to install a kickass shower head?

xx