Volume 15 - Day 221/144, 2023 - Wednesday

My elderly curmudgeonness is festering up to the surface. This morning when I walked outside with the dogs, I could smell the smoke from the Cedar Park fires. At the Curious House, we have been in Stage 3 water restrictions for a while, and will be for at least another 3 weeks. All the areas around have been asking for water conservation, and we are doing what we can. Stopping bathing is a sacrifice I am willing to make. So, I was surprised this morning, during our walk, to see two men from the water department opening up fire hydrants. On my way to the office, I saw them down the street, and I stopped (very politely) to ask them the purpose of letting the water flow. The response was, does your drinking water taste good. Well, you may or may not know that, I do not drink much water, especially tap water, because, well, you know what fish do in water. He explained that they occasionally need to 'bleed the dead water' from the lines, so that our drinking water would be properly palatable. My words, not theirs. In my humble opinion, it is another case of poor planning on the part of the city. Does dead water kill grass? Could it not be directed to some sort of containing truck to be used for another purpose? I never heard of dead water. According to the Googles, there is such a thing as dead water, but not in fire hydrants. Okay, so, whatever...that is it for this post.