Today is blog action day

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I had completely forgotten about it. Blog action day is held annually on October 15. This year the cause is water. Water is a problem in many parts of the world. Not just in 3rd world countries but right here in the US. Not everyone has easy access to drinking water even though the country is one of the most advanced in the world.

This is a basic need that we must deal with. What about the dam that broke and threatens the Danube? That is just one of the most recent events in a long string of them. Save water. Don't pollute water. Don't over fertilize so nutrients wash into the local water supply. We can all help.

Rambles and travels with public bathrooms

We have visited several public bathrooms over the past week. There was the really nasty one at the convenience store/truck stop. There was the really nice one at the conference hotel where the floor to ceiling doors on the stalls did not have locks and you just had to hope no one opened the door on you because you really couldn't tell if they were taken. There was the really tiny ladies room with two stalls between all the giant conference rooms that always had a line. There were the ones way far down in the basement of the museum, past the coat check, gift store, etc. that required a good five minute walk.

Most of these were updated with the latest in sanitary touch free devices. You know the toilets that flush automatically, the sinks that turn on automatically, the hand dryers or paper towel dispensers that are motion sensitive. But they all seemed to be lacking in one way - soap dispensers. I did not see one touch free soap dispenser anywhere. So if you took advantage of the touch free everything, you failed on the quest to remain as germless as possible simply by opting to use soap. Is this a marketing opportunity? Don't even get me started on what I think of public bathroom toilet paper. It runs the gamut from extra soft to nearly paperbag....

Anyway, today we are on a quest to obtain bottled water. There is a giant water main leak in metro Boston that has prompted the local water system to provide untreated emergency water for sewage and fire fighting and bathing but it is not clean enough to use for drinking and must be boiled for a minimum of one minute. As we are not home yet, we will take the opportunity to stop here and purchase vast quantities of bottled water (preferably in 2.5 gal jugs) to bring home with us to get us through the coming days. Unfortunately the pipe that broke is 10 feet in diameter and is custom made so its not like they can go to the warehouse and pick up another one. Life continues to be an adventure.

Bottled water

I found this interesting. A local town wants to ban the sale of drinking water in plastic bottles starting next year. Its not the water that's the problem, its the bottles. I found it interesting that they are not the first and there are other places that no longer spend tax payer dollars on bottled water.

I am someone who goes out the door every day with water in a refillable bottle. I don't buy bottled water except in desperation - meaning I forgot my bottle or something. Then I see people buying bottled water daily and throwing out, not recycling, the empty bottles. I find it to be a wasteful habit. Do you ever get to a meeting and find everyone has been given a bottle of water? What's wrong with tap water out of a pitcher? Its probably cleaner than the bottled water any - it is more regulated.

Anyway, enough rambling on that. Today is our fifth wedding anniversary. In that time between the two of us we have had six surgeries, two cancer diagnoses, and numerous other medical fun adventures. But we are still here and happy together. Perhaps we will celebrate tonight.