Michael: The Fix

Frog hides in the grass
Waiting for darkness to fall
And the bugs to move.

Sunday, April 17, 2016

Without water and not knowing when we’d have water again, I thought this would be a good time to head to the store and buy a couple of five gallon jugs. We could use them for drinking water then afterwards fill them up with tap and that way we’d always have a decent amount of water on hand in case the water goes out again or we have a decent size earthquake.

On our walk on the road to catch the bus we saw where the PVC water pipe was busted. It was right next to one of the new power poles that was put up last year but hasn’t been wired yet. There was a large rock marking the spot So the water people know about it, I thought. That’s great, but just to be on the safe side, when we get back from the store I’ll give our neighbor and landlord, Luzmila, a call.

I called Luzmila and she told me the water company were on their way. I told her I knew where the leak was, but she didn’t quite understand me, so I went to meet her to show her.

Walking down the dirt road to the main paved road I met Luzmila and her brother and could see the water company truck parked on the main road right next to the leak. All is well and good, I figured, but we weren’t quite there yet. Luzmila told me they were looking for the leak but hadn’t found it, which led me to deduce, Sherlock Holmes style, that they weren’t the ones that marked the leak with the rock.

We all walked over to the leak. Luzmila called the workers from the small stream bed and showed them the leak right next to the power pole. The workers removed the large rock and a small gush of water spewed out. I’m guessing the power line workers I’ve seen doing some kind of measuring lately accidentally broke the pipe and covered up the mini fire hydrant leak with the rock without informing the water people.

Luzmila said she’d call the water company and let them know about their workers’ negligence, but I don’t expect much will come of it. I’ll talk to her later to see what they said. But at least we have water and a few extra jugs in case another worker or cow breaks the line again.