If his father had been alive, he would have lectured how much gas Phillip would burn if he took more than sixty seconds under the spray. Now, with no risk of running out of hot water or chance of punishment if he chose to use the lot, Phillip looked forward to it. His father’s thrift had nothing to do with the preserving of water and only a nudge towards the saving of money. Amazing his father hadn’t joined the army. The man had lived his life so regimented that he would probably have loved the routine. Phillip couldn’t remember a time his father hadn’t been up at five, and woe betide anyone who slept in after six. Despite the smell of the house, at least his father’s fastidiousness meant little grime. Even long after his mother had stopped cleaning the place to her husband’s exacting stan
