Water, Water Everywhere…or not

A quick lesson in how we take for granted the modern conveniences of life: I used the bathroom a few minutes ago and went to wash my hands at the sink. Nothing. No water. Tried the kitchen. No water. Called the neighbors, who answered with, “Is your water off?” They heard it will be five of six hours—something to do with work at the school across the street. So there I was feeling like Lady MacBeth—desperate to wash my hands. I put a quick post on Facebook saying I had no water and guessed I’d have to drink wine. Jordan lost no time in calling to say she wished she was here to drink wine with me. Big help! She did suggest I fill a glass with ice and let it melt. Done!

I had spotted a jug of water way back in the shelves over the dryer, but I was afraid it was so out of date it wouldn’t be potable. Still, I could wash with it. Moved everything around, got to the jug…and it was empty.

Next step—five small individual bottles of water that someone, not me, had left in the fridge. I did everything but plunge a knife directly into the bottle—could not figure out how to open it. My magic gadget that opens everything didn’t work; running a knife blade around the seal didn’t work. The thing had a clear plastic cap on it—so you could drink and re-seal I guess, but I couldn’t figure out how to do it. Finally, with a knife blade, I popped it off…and wasted precious water. But I washed my hands. Mission accomplished. Surely when you set off on a picnic you’re not supposed to take a knife blade for prying off the top of the water bottle! Bottled water, especially a jug, just went on my grocery list.

Discovered I can do all my nightly “toilette” ritual without water except brushing my teeth—will use just a bit of that precious bottled water for that. When they tell me five hours, I don’t quite trust them.

Meantime, I now deserve that glass of wine.

On a serious note, we read directions, instructions for emergency preparedness kits everywhere, from magazines to the Internet. I don’t know about you, but I usually shrug it off thinking, “I’ve got all those things.” Now I know better. Going over a checklist and checking it twice.