I always need my husband’s help to show me how to work the shower when we stay abroad. When I travel I have come across such a variety of showers in hotels and apartments.

I was in Homebase recently and my mind could not take in the variety of bathrooms and showers.

In this competitive market an hotel’s rating could balance on how good the shower is! Is there power in your shower? Each hotel wants their name to be number one on trip advisor.

My daughter manages a hotel in Belfast that has been awarded number one on Trip Advisor.   I believe the award is due to my daughter’s management skills.

I have never come across instructions on how to use showers. The owner always presumes that the user is up to speed with modern utilities, or has access to the internet “to google it”.

Usually there is a metal dial that is hard to grip with wet hands.   Not a simple tap that can be turned easily. One has to adjust it to get the right temperature.  If I am undressed I run the risk of freezing with cold water or being scalded with hot water as I turn the dial.

I am staying in a cottage in a quiet village near the Tatra Mointains in Slovakia.

It seems we stepped back in time. My neighbours were preparing blueberries to make Jam. I awoke the first morning and went to wash. It was too early to awake my husband.

I reached into the shower to turn the knob at the top. I thought, “I will get the water running before I get undressed.” Cold water sprayed me from left and right and soaked my arm and dressing gown. I tried the next knob to the left and right?  It would not budge.

I have never come across such a complicated shower unit in my life, and so unexpected since this is the country. All I want is a shower that works simply and helps me get washed in the morning, not a torture chamber that threatens one with sprays of cold water.

I began to feel this shower unit behaved like an enemy and was out to stop me having a simple wash. Will I have to resort to a quick freshen up with a facecloth like the old days before showers were used. It certainly would be less complicated.

I checked out the bathroom upstairs. I decided to have a bath instead and used the shower head to wash my hair. I was going to steer clear of the torture chamber downstairs.

Later that morning my husband went to wash. I did not warn him about the torture chamber.  I wondered, “Will he be my knight in shining armour again to rescue his distressed wife, wrapped in a towel?”

He got the shower working!  Hurrah.

There was even a radio in the shower to help one whistle while you wash. He conquered my enemy. What a great husband I have!

This shower seemed to be an upright hot tub. With all the knobs turned to the proper position, water sprays from various openings along the wall, to massage the occupier. The reward for discovering how to get the shower working!

When Brendan and I speak at conferences in different countries, we need an interpreter to help us communicate. In future I will need an interpreter to show me how tho use the modern gadgets!