Ok, folks, here it is, the promised update.

My landlord showed up around 7pm with a new water heater. He brought along his wife and annoying little girl, as well. This was when I discovered that my landlord's favorite saying is "Guess what I forgot." His garden hose to drain the old water heater. His soap to check the gas line for leaks. His towels to dry up the water in my utility room. Pipe connectors to put on the new water lines. It got to the poing where I expected him to open the water heater box, find it empty, and say 'Guess what I forgot.'

It took several hours and much grunting, groaning, and lost parts (one piece went down into the craw space about four feet below my apartment, and had to be fished out later), but the new water heater got installed. Using my soap, he checked the gas line for leaks, turned everything on, and waited.

*drip* *drip* *drip*

Gah!!

(Now, those of you who have installed a water heater before, don't ruin the punchline for everyone else. ;-)

The new water heater LEAKED! So my landlord shut everything down, and said he'd be back tomorrow with a new one. So I spent all day Sunday without hot water, again having to go down to work to take a shower.

Sunday night rolls around, and he finally shows up again with a new water heater. It takes several more hours to get the thing installed, but finally, everything is connected, checked, and ready. So he fires it up.

*drip* *drip* *drip*

AAAAAAHH!!!

I'm flipping out at this point. I can't imagine that *both* new water heaters were defective, and were defective in *exactly* the same way. So I took the instructions and looked through them.

It turns out, in small print, they mention "condensation". My heart both leapt and sank--leapt because what this was saying was that it was *normal* for a new water heater to drip a little around the bottom when first turned on, so I was going to have hot water after all--but simultaneously sank because that meant that the *other* water heater *wasn't* broken! I could have had hot water a day sooner!!!

But, in the end, I got my hot baths back. And I guess that's all that matters.

-- Dave