The week began when my husband’s computer died—its screen faded to black and never came back. (From here on, I’ll refer too my husband as Machine-Man, a pseudonym I gave him years ago that now feels appropriate again.) Machine-Man ordered a new PC from Amazon, but once it was set up, it refused to connect to our Wi-Fi. He returned it, and the next computer proved defective in an even more unpleasant way. The third replacement finally seemed to be just right. Around the same time, as Amazon delivered new computers, my new electric kettle with five temperature settings also arrived. Unfortunately, only the black tea setting—212 degrees—worked; it wouldn’t heat water to the proper temperatures for green tea, oolong, or even a French press. Never mind that I prefer black tea and don’t actually need the other settings. I still want the freedom to choose these if I do. So, I sent it back. At this point, the Amazon delivery driver might as well have parked in our driveway to handle all the replacements and new deliveries.
The week continued with the city water company putting everyone within city limits on high alert. Officials said traces of E. coli had been found in the tap water and instructed residents to boil it as a precaution.
At our house we have the reverse osmosis system that runs tap water through five filtration stages. I was pretty sure we were safe. But I didn’t want to take any chances, so I boiled our filtered water.
The water company cautioned everyone to keep our mouths shut while taking a shower. I don’t know who has their mouth open while showering but I guess it was good to make that point for those who do.
It made me wonder. Was I enjoying my coffee earlier in the day, before the city alerted us, with the added taint of E.coli? People on the Nextdoor neighborhood chat app discussed a potential mutiny. They didn’t want to start buying bottled water because they already had their shelves filled with toilet paper left from the pandemic. Later that day, it was announced that the boiling water precaution was lifted. The threat of an illness that could cause excruciating stomach cramps and potential death had left the water system.
The E.coli bacteria had suddenly self-destructed?
In addition, our solar power system died, insects attacked us, and the avocado for my salad turned black. All this to say–life is unpredictable. Keep bottled water in the pantry, know your Wi-Fi password, don’t step outside, and stick to one kind of tea at one temperature. That way, you don’t need a kettle with five settings. After all, how often do you crave French press coffee and need the water heated to 200 degrees? Well, it’s possible. In that case, the teakettle with the five settings would be handy.
Fortunately, I had containers of water in the fridge since I was cutting down on bottled water. But, I did have a case of bottled water as backup.
Then we developed a leak in the kitchen. Turned out it was our Osmosis system leaking. Of course, this happened on a Saturday. They were closed until Monday. In the meantime, we turned off the house water. But, it continued to leak. Don’t know where all that water was coming from! We had to stay awake all night to empty the water pan every 20/30 minutes. Finally, Monday morning came! We called and the earliest appointment was for Tuesday afternoon. We continued emptying water. Finally, the repair person came. Turns out there was a broken “something” , so the whole system had to be replaced. Well, it did last for 12 years! Now everything is fine.
Grace, I’m happy it all worked out. Your experience illustrates how life can suddenly turn a corner while we were happily going along a straight path.