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zeborahHad a lovely relaxing day/night with friends and their baby, who did an impressive projectile vomit all over my clothes. Just felt a bit guilty about putting said clothes through my friends' washing machine and wasting water, though they assure me they're on a separate water system there. Anyway, nice and relaxing and then mid-afternoon Monday I went to catch the bus home and got a cellphone call from my painter to say the supply pipe to one of my outdoor taps had burst bigtimes so he'd called in a plumber to look and put in temporary repairs (which arrangement I ratified verbally and most gratefully) but there might be no water overnight. I said no problem, I've got about 12 litres stored in the pantry again anyway on the "Disasters: they can always get worse" principle.
(The pipe was apparently heavily rusted. The earthquake may or may not have exacerbated the problem. I suppose I can try passing the cost on to EQC and see what they say. The bill, while not insignificant, won't break the bank otherwise.)
Since I was doing shopping on the way home and buses remain highly irregular both painter and plumber were long gone by the time I got there (a bit exhausted from the long ride and irritated from a fellow passenger determined to complain about slow buses rather than be grateful that we have buses at all, or at least just read a book while waiting as I'd been doing before he interrupted to complain at me). The bill left for me was quite emphatic, with all-caps and everything, that this was a temporary repair only and the pipe needs proper replacing as soon as possible. But water still worked, once it had run rusty-orange and cleared again, so that was good.
Also when my sister came to spend the night she brought 3 litres of actual drinking water, which my mother had fetched from somewhere without contaminated water.
The water pressure was a bit dodgy though, so I wasn't overly surprised when I attempted to take a shower this morning and found there wasn't enough pressure for the shower to work. (It's an electric system, heats the water as it comes through, so presumably doesn't work unless there's sufficient water to heat; certainly this seems a wise failsafe.)
Had various things to do today and worse yet, various buses to catch to do them. I ended up just not going to choir tonight because I'd barely got home when I'd have had to leave -- the last bus crawled horribly slowly around Moorhouse and Fitzgerald. Plus and also I've been tired to the edge of tears all afternoon so holding them back through choir too, especially knowing I've got another long day tomorrow, would be too much. I could probably have made a bit of time to call the plumber from work, but right now it's actually far easier to just revert to earthquake mode and have sponge baths.
After all, it's not like I need to even fill the tank in the toilet--
[Interlude: in which she remembers that it's time to empty the toilet, and goes for a walk while there's still a smidgeon of light left outside. Four litres of water plus the amount of waste that four litres of water deals with seems to be about the right weight to carry semi-comfortably around the block. The chemicals had dissolved everything into a clear brown liquid that thus thankfully poured smoothly and also mainly smelled of chemicals; the emptying station itself smelled a little stronger, but actually I dislike the potent citrus of portaloos rather more. Fortunately I'm not, as some are, averse to the smell of hand sanitiser and indeed it was lovely to have some right there.]
--and I have plenty of clean clothes and dishes so could last a while on my pantry water. However the painters, judging by how they moved some stuff out of a sink I rarely use, seem like they do need water more than I, so I guess tomorrow I'll phone the plumber and see if he's available to finish the job.
I have a mug of fresh water at my feet (segueing on from a quarter-mug of wine. I rarely drink wine even at meals but today's the third day in the last half-year when I've got home and decided that it would be appropriate to swallow some wine. I think it's more for the gesture than anything else) which Boots is expressing interest in. This isn't proof that her waterbowl needs refilling, as she expresses interest in most things I eat or drink, but it reminds me that it does in fact need refilling. And that our tapwater is currently chlorinated. Fortunately the kettle is full of cold boiled-the-heck-out-of water, and if you don't think chlorine is part of heck then you haven't heard the reaction of 350,000 ChurChurians to the news that our precious aquifer water is to be so tainted. (Gastro bug, meh. Chlorine, NO, THEY BE STEALING OUR WATERS!)
<holds head a bit>
Days like today are why I bought chocolate and pizza at the supermarket the other-- No, wait, yesterday.
(The pipe was apparently heavily rusted. The earthquake may or may not have exacerbated the problem. I suppose I can try passing the cost on to EQC and see what they say. The bill, while not insignificant, won't break the bank otherwise.)
Since I was doing shopping on the way home and buses remain highly irregular both painter and plumber were long gone by the time I got there (a bit exhausted from the long ride and irritated from a fellow passenger determined to complain about slow buses rather than be grateful that we have buses at all, or at least just read a book while waiting as I'd been doing before he interrupted to complain at me). The bill left for me was quite emphatic, with all-caps and everything, that this was a temporary repair only and the pipe needs proper replacing as soon as possible. But water still worked, once it had run rusty-orange and cleared again, so that was good.
Also when my sister came to spend the night she brought 3 litres of actual drinking water, which my mother had fetched from somewhere without contaminated water.
The water pressure was a bit dodgy though, so I wasn't overly surprised when I attempted to take a shower this morning and found there wasn't enough pressure for the shower to work. (It's an electric system, heats the water as it comes through, so presumably doesn't work unless there's sufficient water to heat; certainly this seems a wise failsafe.)
Had various things to do today and worse yet, various buses to catch to do them. I ended up just not going to choir tonight because I'd barely got home when I'd have had to leave -- the last bus crawled horribly slowly around Moorhouse and Fitzgerald. Plus and also I've been tired to the edge of tears all afternoon so holding them back through choir too, especially knowing I've got another long day tomorrow, would be too much. I could probably have made a bit of time to call the plumber from work, but right now it's actually far easier to just revert to earthquake mode and have sponge baths.
After all, it's not like I need to even fill the tank in the toilet--
[Interlude: in which she remembers that it's time to empty the toilet, and goes for a walk while there's still a smidgeon of light left outside. Four litres of water plus the amount of waste that four litres of water deals with seems to be about the right weight to carry semi-comfortably around the block. The chemicals had dissolved everything into a clear brown liquid that thus thankfully poured smoothly and also mainly smelled of chemicals; the emptying station itself smelled a little stronger, but actually I dislike the potent citrus of portaloos rather more. Fortunately I'm not, as some are, averse to the smell of hand sanitiser and indeed it was lovely to have some right there.]
--and I have plenty of clean clothes and dishes so could last a while on my pantry water. However the painters, judging by how they moved some stuff out of a sink I rarely use, seem like they do need water more than I, so I guess tomorrow I'll phone the plumber and see if he's available to finish the job.
I have a mug of fresh water at my feet (segueing on from a quarter-mug of wine. I rarely drink wine even at meals but today's the third day in the last half-year when I've got home and decided that it would be appropriate to swallow some wine. I think it's more for the gesture than anything else) which Boots is expressing interest in. This isn't proof that her waterbowl needs refilling, as she expresses interest in most things I eat or drink, but it reminds me that it does in fact need refilling. And that our tapwater is currently chlorinated. Fortunately the kettle is full of cold boiled-the-heck-out-of water, and if you don't think chlorine is part of heck then you haven't heard the reaction of 350,000 ChurChurians to the news that our precious aquifer water is to be so tainted. (Gastro bug, meh. Chlorine, NO, THEY BE STEALING OUR WATERS!)
<holds head a bit>
Days like today are why I bought chocolate and pizza at the supermarket the other-- No, wait, yesterday.
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no subject
Date: 2011-03-29 09:02 am (UTC)They came round here with chemical toilets on Sunday, I think while I was dropping you home, but they didn't ring the doorbell despite the huge notice on the door. Then Sass tried to ring yesterday and got the hold music until it switched to the after hours message. I think Dad was going to try ringing today but I don't know if anything happened. According to the paper this morning they have 40,000 chemical toilets so they figure they will give them out in case another aftershock damages the sewers some more. So perhaps getting one doesn't mean that it is drastically urgent that you actually use it.
We need to coordinate shopping trips. Also, I can get you water. My work colleague is filling our bottles once a week and it doesn't need to be boiled.
no subject
Date: 2011-03-30 08:05 pm (UTC)If you're going shopping on Saturday let me know, otherwise I'll just do it when I'm in the north and have to wait for buses anyway. Drinking water isn't so much a problem: being just one of me I don't need much and boiling isn't that much of a nuisance now I'm in the habit.