The visit to Watershed on Wednesday was great. I would rank my 90 minute massage as fair. I'm never NOT going to enjoy a massage, but this therapist had some odd techniques. Early in the massage she kept me draped in the sheet and actually climbed on top of the table and straddled me. It's not like I minded...I was just surprised. She was the most lavish with massage oil that I've ever experienced, literally pouring it on me...I felt like I was in one of those porn massage videos. And at the end, when I was lying on my back, she was moving my head around brusquely from side to side and kind of smashing it into the massage table lol. C'mon lady, a 66 year neck needs to be handled with care! So I probably won't be going back to her.
On the other hand, my friend was all raves about her therapist. She said "she found the tight spot in my glute that normally only my husband can find...and something released and suddenly I was a pile of tears and snot". I've had that happen a few times myself, having a muscular release turn into a sudden emotional release. She has been through a lot recently - her college roommate B. was diagnosed a couple of years ago with early onset dementia and this past summer things started coming to a head. B. was leaving her home and wandering, getting angry at times, etc. B's husband was having trouble dealing with it (he's been going through cancer treatment himself, to add insult to injury). So the decision was made to place B. in a memory care facility. My friend helped with the move and has been going to visit her frequently.
Anyway, after our massages it was time for the bathhouse experience. The bathhouse is down in the basement, a bit of a dark cavern-like feel to it. There was a large soaking pool - probably big enough for about 20 people? The soaking pool was at 104 degrees so it was pleasantly warm but not overly warm - you could sit in there for a good long time and not get uncomfortable. There was a lighted moving mural behind the soaking pool that kept the space from being TOO cavern-like.
There was a large steam room and a jumbo sized sauna - both very very hot.
The jumbo sauna:
There was a smaller pool that was slightly cooler than the soaking pool. If I had to guess, maybe about 90 degrees? It felt cool when you first went in, but after sitting in it a bit, it felt body temperature. Finally, the pièce de la resistance, two cold plunge units. At any given time one was open for use and the other was covered and chilling down, then the staff would periodically switch them. The cold plunge just had room for one person. It was supposedly maintained at 58 degrees.
The first time I went in, I only made it as far as my knees, lol. But we saw a few other people sitting in there for fairly extended periods of time so I decided to try again. The second time I made it in up to my shoulders and lasted about a minute. I think maybe because several people had been in there before me, so maybe it warmed up a bit? Anyway, it was still bone chilling!
As to why people do this, there are supposedly health benefits. Coincidentally just recently NPR had a long article about it - the bottom line was, the jury's out. There have been some studies showing that it may boost the immune system and reduce inflammation, but none large enough to be definitive.
The moment I enjoyed the most? My friend and I were looking at a guy in the cold plunge and noticing how long he'd been in there. Suddenly he rose and his swim trunks drooped, revealing his butt crack. I giggled a little. My friend giggled a little. And then we were off into one of those sessions of uncontrollable repressed laughter - kind of like what happens in church. I should explain that it was supposed to be a quiet environment with no talking above a whisper. It's been a long time since I've giggle-snorted like that. 😁
After over an hour of hopping between sauna, steam room, pools and cold plunge, we both were very noodle-like. Aaaaah, relaxation. I think I'll be back.
Bathroom
Quite a bit of progress this week. The tile and grout and all of the plumbing fixtures including the toilet got delivered, so I have a dining room full of stuff:
The tile guy and his wife spent a couple of days creating the pan for the shower, putting the base on the shower walls and putting down the first layer of the floor. I didn't get a picture of it, but he used this orange stuff with raised plastic disks and then the wires for the radiant heat were neatly placed in between the disks.
Slight snafu - there was supposed to be an electrical inspection before proceeding further, but the city's electrical inspector was on vacation for a week. 😬 The project manager from the company talked to the city and they agreed it would be fine to just send in pictures. Editorial comment - the inspection process is a joke! For the first electrical inspection the guy walked into the bathroom, looked around for about 20 seconds, and said "OK". My project guy said later, "I'd like to think that was because he knew who did the work and knew it would be done right, rather than it being that all inspections are like that".
Anyway, with the OK to proceed, yesterday the floor tile got laid and today it was grouted. Short work day for the tiler so he asked permission to come tomorrow to get caught back up with the schedule.
I was able to lay eyes on the accent tiles now that they're in the house, and I'm starting to mull over paint colors...
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I'd love to go to a spa again. I've only had one pro massage and I loved it. Part of my retirement gift was a spa day. Who knew a eucalyptus steam room would make one horny?
Floor warmer ... marvelous idea, especially with winter around the corner.
Well, if you ever make it to the Twin Cities we'll have to visit Watershed together. You just DON'T want to book a massage with Nikki, haha.
This bathroom has exterior walls on two sides and the air from the furnace is weak, so it's always been one of the coldest rooms in the house. To the point where I actively put off taking showers during the winter. Between adding insulation to the walls (apparently it wasn't a thing when the house was built in 1939) and the radiant heat floor, I'm expecting a big change in the comfort of the bathroom.
So I was talking to a person close to me that is an electrical inspector after reading this. He said that there are a few reasons why the electrical inspection on a bathroom remodel would go quickly like that:
A lot of times he's already talked to the contractor before showing up and they discuss the types of things that would be of concern (was it on its own dedicated circuit, how new was the panel, what wiring was being ran, etc). So that once he walks into the house, there isn't much to actually look at other than verify the stuff from the conversation.
In a bathroom, there just isn't that much electrical stuff anyway...a light switch with a wire run to the light, and a wire run to the exhaust fan and/or maybe another light...a couple of outlets and, in your instance, the wiring for the floor. If the inspection is during rough in (without drywall), there he can look and go "yup, that goes from there to there, that goes from there to there and that goes from there to there". Not much to it. Only slightly more for a finish inspection.
And yes, it definitely matters which contractor put it in (the worst is when the homeowner decides to do it themselves - ugh). He pretty much knows which ones always follow code and do good workmanship and which ones cut corners. If it is one of the good ones and he's already talked to them ahead of the trip to the site, a very short inspection, or even acceptable pictures of work that was done, is super common.
OK - enough defending the inspector. LOL The bathroom is coming along nicely. I'm sure you are getting anxious to get it all done. The spa looked lovely. Kind of had the same thought as Kitten - kind of looked like a big play room at a swingers club.
Wow, thanks for talking to your friend and providing additional perspective. I’m hoping that your #3 point is the one that’s relevant here because that would mean I’ve picked a good contractor. 😊 I mean, I’ve been impressed with them so far, but what do I know haha!
Mmmmm heated floors.... Envy!! 😉
I keep wondering, what happens if they stop working? Time for new floor tile I guess. Hopefully I won't have to face that.
I must say those top two pics look like something straight out of a swingers club! Sounds like a fun time was had by all. Especially when the man candy revealed his ASSets! Heehee. I haven't had a snort laugh in quite a while. Made me giggle out loud just thinking of the two of you trying NOT to laugh. Hahahaha. Bathroom's looking great! Won't be long now.
It would be a great venue for a swinger group to do a "takeover". Hopefully a deep cleaning would occur afterward. 😬 😂
The bath house sounds divine. I've never been to one
Your bathroom is looking good! I'm excited.
Hugs!!
Ah, but you have your lovely pond in a natural setting.
The first major bathroom snafu was yesterday. There was a large slab of quartz composite made, to be the top of the bench in the shower. The tile guy measured it and it was 2 inches too short. 😬
I'm assuming the contractor will have to eat the cost of having a second one made...
Sounds like a wonderful time 😁
I usually don't get massages when I go to a hot spring spa, but I do like soaking in different baths and saunas
I could definitely see going back to just do the bathhouse. Massage + bathhouse was pretty expensive, but bathhouse alone I think is $54.
@smartasswoman
Hot spring spas with different spas and saunas alone are around $30-40 in these parts, sometimes around $20. But then, what with Japan being known for hot springs and spas, there is a lot of competition. Spending an entire day could get costly if you book a massage and have meals at these spas.
@JN63JPN nice, you are lucky! We don’t have a lot of facilities like this. Clearly they can get away with the pricing since they seem to be fully booked going out a couple of weeks.
I have had one professional massage and that was when on vacation in Cuba. I should have blogged about it lol.
Laughed at the butt crack comment. Those moments are hard to ‘un-see’.
Think your renovations will be finished before the first snowfall?
Sounds like your Cuban massage was an interesting experience!
That is a really good question about the first snowfall. The project plan currently calls for it to be finished November 17. Our average first snowfall is November 2, so....odds are no?
Luckily we're having decent weather right now, which has allowed the tile guy to cut tile out on my second floor balcony.
You might just leave the toilet in the dining room. It's not regulation I admit but think of the convenience!
I once looked at an old house for sale on Clarendon Street in Kalamazoo- it's a bookstore now- and it had an old winding enclosed staircase., which while inconvenient was as safe as a staircase can get. You couldn't fall or tumble on it because it was just too narrow and twisting. And even more conveniently there was a toilet in the middle of the wall of the first bedroom, the one at the top of the stairs. There was no shower or tub in the place and the kitchen was sparsely finished just as if it were still 1905.
I also had a toilet sitting in my bathtub for about six months... the water mitigation people set it aside there as they were ripping out all of the water damaged flooring around the toilet. I knew it was too heavy to pick up. I don't know why I didn't get a strong friend to come over and help me put it out to the alley. Now it is in the dumpster!
You had some interesting things happen all over the place.
Sounds like it was a lotta fun.
Kool pics. 👍
Not my pictures of the bathhouse. 😊 They prefer people don't bring their phones in there - which is a good thing. So I had to do a little image searching on the web. I assume these were publicity photos disseminated by the bathhouse.
And yes it was a fun visit...I think it would be a fun place to go for a date.
Love the tile, like a lot. You know me, I tend to comment in order of the post. But…I love them that much I’m starting with it!
Like you, I used to feel like there was no such thing as a bad massage. Until…
This guy put on loose plastic gloves to do the massage. It was horrible. I couldn’t get past the noise and the feeling of the gloves on my skin to even relax for one second.
I can’t even wrap my head around purposely putting myself through a cold plunge. Like I did something similar for charity, with a polar bear plunge in a winter Michigan lake. But, to do it Willy nilly, just because? Ya no.
OMG - like the gloves that food service people wear? That is soooooo wrong! I wouldn’t be able to enjoy it either.
If you spend enough time in the sauna and steam room you really start to accumulate heat in your body, and the cold plunge is like a (semi painful) reset. I decided the cool pool, the one slightly below body temp, was kind of a nice middle ground for doing that, though.
@smartasswoman They were medical latex gloves, but they were so big on his hands, they flopped and left trails on my skin. Or, that’s what it felt like. I never went back there
I know I said plastic, but I couldn’t think of the word latex in that moment. 😝
Polar bear that I am ...I have never done a cold plunge!
@EnigmaInitiative yuck. That sounds just as bad.
I never forget the time I was on a business trip and hurting badly so just went to the nearest massage clinic. The therapist was a tiny woman I guess perhaps about 65YO. I was thinking "Great! She's not going to make a dent in my issue." HA-WRONG!! She climbed on top of me, Dug her elbow in. The draping went flying, so didn't care a bit, she was focused!! You can just never know what to expect. ONE reason I stick with S. 😁
No obviously missing pictures here, not even of your warehouse/dining room.
I would like to find a regular therapist. I had one before the pandemic but he wasn’t QUITE what I needed so it was kind of a good excuse to cut things off with him.
The Spa Pool looks like it's set for a psychedelic experience. You must be excited to see your bathroom progressing it has been a long time.
Yes, it was a bit psychedelic with the lighted moving mural. I’ll admit, I had thoughts that it would be a fun experience to have after eating a gummy, haha. But I’ve decided that kind of imbibing is only for at home.
OK, I'm not seeing images but I'm going to wait a bit and see if they show up.
@mufdiver69er2 yeah they appeared a few minutes after I made that comment - apparently there is a lag with uploading now.
@lonlyforlove2 I think it's very cool that you have the skills to do your project yourself. 😊