We have talked about
water before: floods in the basement; floods in the street; our shower, our RO
unit that wasn't working and so I was drinking, basically, effluent, among
other things. Well Tex, I am going to beat that same drum a bit more in today’s
blontry.
I guess it is self-evident
that clean, potable water is a key building block of society. Cities often arise
(Delhi as an example) because of proximity to water. Well, it can happen that
cities grow to the point that they are larger than available water can support
(Delhi as an example). It turns out Delhi has a significant water issue. It is
worse in the summer but it exists to some extent all year round.
First there are some apartments
(fairly nice one’s too by Delhi standards) that do not have running water. There
will be a sink shared by several apartments. Water is carried in for all uses.
Second, even if there is running water, the quality of that water varies quite
dramatically from place to place. Rarely is the water quality up to US
standards but some parts of Delhi definitely have better water than others.
Finally, there are whole neighborhoods that have long periods where there is no
water. Water is trucked in tankers each morning and people queue up with
bottles and buckets to get the water they need for the day.
Well, where there is a
need, someone will step in to meet that need. Enter the water mafia. Apparently
there are cartels, is a cartel (I am not sure if they are actually all part of
one group) that controls water. Whatever neighborhood, building, or individual
that is more able or willing to pay is the one who gets preferred access to
water, which is supplied by the private water cartel. I never know how much
credence to give the various conspiracy theories, but here’s the water one.
Yes, water is an issue but it need not be as bad as it is. The water mafia gets
buildings and neighborhoods approved by zoning with inadequate provision for
water so they can sell it privately.
Our water pressure issues
aside, we live in a home and neighborhood where access to water has not been
an issue. Our water pressure issues have been related to the kind of weird (by
our standards) way water gets moved into the building. First, water is piped
into a cistern. When the cistern gets low, the faucet is turned on and it is
refilled. Then, water is pumped from the cistern to holding tanks on the roof
of the building. From the holding tanks, water comes into the house through
cold water pipes or through a “geyser” into hot water pipes. The geyser is kind
of a combination or hot on demand and “small” holding tank. Our pressure issues
have had to do with 1) the cistern not being refilled; 2) problems with the
holding tanks; 3) problems between the holding tank and the geyser. So, yeah,
pretty much throughout the entire system.
One other thing about
water. Initially when we moved here, I also made sure I drank bottled water. I
was told that at work it was okay to drink the water at the campus because they
bring large bottles of water into the campus. So, I shifted from bottled water
to the campus water. All was okay until a couple of months ago when I spent a
few days with GI issues. Someone asked me if I had been drinking only bottled
water. I said, yes, except at work where I also drink water the campus
supplies. He laughed and said, well, there’s you trouble. Apparently as a way
to save money, they often just fill the large bottles through the tap. Yikes! So,
back to bottled water again.
One last, non-water
related topic. Diwali is next Thursday. Preparations have been going on for the
last couple of weeks, as I mentioned in an earlier blog. Friday night Rae and I
went to dinner with our friends the Slocombes at one of the malls and they, of
course had their Diwali decorations up. The lights were very pretty but I was
particularly impressed with the 40 foot statue of Rama. In some Hindu
traditions, Diwali is primarily a celebration of Lord Rama, his wife Sita and
his brother Lakshmana’s return from exile. Clearly, those in charge of
decorating this mall had that in mind as they were decorating. He looks pretty
triumphant, to me.
With that, I’ll pass the
baton to Rae.
This week I was educated
about a piece of furniture in our house.
I will just say that I’m sad, embarrassed, and excited about this new
information. When we were looking at
places to live we had thought we wanted 3 bedrooms. Our place has two bedrooms plus the basement
which was going to be an added bonus and help compensate for the lack of one
bedroom. Little did we know that our
basement would be a huge let down and an area that we just don’t use; well we
do store a few boxes and our Christmas tree down there. I had thought that it could work as a third
bedroom on those rare times when we would need one, an art/craft area, and a
good exercise area, WRONG. Even after
being cleaned up and repainted it still smells musty and I just don’t trust
that we won’t have another unexpected flood.
We have, on three different
occasions, had enough people staying here that we needed three bedrooms. So for someone that meant an air mattress on
the dining or living room floor. I’ve
felt bad at those times that we didn’t have a 3rd bedroom. We still don’t have three bedrooms but it
turns out I do have an additional bed that I wasn't aware of. YAY! Someone was visiting me the other day and
they asked me if my couch was a “converter”, hide-a–bed. “No, I wish it was but it’s just an
uncomfortable couch”. I lifted the top cushion
to show her there was no pull out mattress.
She then told me that she really thought it was a converter and began
removing the next cushion under the top cushion. Then she began pulling on the front panel of
the couch. I thought, “Oh dang, I hope
she doesn’t break our couch”. I’ll let
the pictures tell the rest of the story.
I haven’t actually laid on it yet to see how comfortable it really is but it can’t be worse than an air mattress that goes flat by morning. I’ll just end my blontry by apologizing to those who have stayed here and been given a, by morning, hard tile floor for their bed.
I didn’t do it on
purpose. Come back, we’ll treat you
better.
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