You brought back some distant memories. In the winter of 1982-1983 I had to travel for work. I was working at the Nuke plant at Southport, NC. I rented a small trailer and the water heater stopped working. Getting the landlord to do anything was pretty close to impossible. Never got fixed as long as I was there.
Anyway, it was a cold shower if I was to get one. The beginning was pretty tough. But as time went by I got more and more used to it to the point of not noticing the coldness. The cold showers got my body used to the cold outside temperatures. I actually worked in tee shirts all through Jan,Feb, and March. Since the beach was just a couple of miles away, I started swimming in March.
Maybe I need to start doing the cold showers again. Although at 73 I do not need to "take a cold shower" as much as I did in younger days, I am still told to on occasion ............