I've really learned to appreciate the ordinary taken-for-granted sound of water coming from the tap, or a toilet flushing.All week the water company has been shutting off the supply during the day, turning it back on in the evening. After it was turned on last night we had another couple hours' wait before there was any pressure. I was longing for a shower and the dishes sat unwashed and grody in the sink. There wasn't enough pressure to get any hot water. We had nuke-and-eat leftovers for dinner because I can't get inspired about cooking when I have no running water to rinse veggies and wash my hands and pots. I know, whatta wuss I am! Finally in desperation, I settled for a trickle instead of a shower. An hour late, deep into my book, I looked up to see the Capt doing the dishes with plenty of water pressure, and his reward was an excellent shower.
I've also learned to get up before dawn and do whatever cleaning that requires water and make sure the jugs and the mop bucket are filled. By nine the pressure is dwindling and by ten no hay agua. People throughout the world live this way all the time. In fact I once lived for two years in a place where we had to haul all our water, got quite used to it, but wouldn't want to do it again.
Every house has a tinaco, a kind of a rooftop cistern, and water failures such as we've been having can be avoided if there's sufficient storage in the tinaco. (Here's a picture of one, with a cutaway view to show the floater.) Our duplex, originally a vacation getaway but now housing two couples full-time, has only one tinaco, containing 600 liters...not enough. So, the Capt, being a man of action, stopped in at the local plumbing supply in Guaymas, where there was a sale on tinacos, and ordered one for us (about $140), to be delivered mañana en la mañana. We'll put it over the bodega (storage shed) but first we'll have to replace the flimsy corrugated asbestos roof (a good idea in any case). The more elegant houses put a Moorish dome, sometimes covered with mosaic tiles, over the tinaco, but we may not go that far. Elegant, we ain't.
At least this time we have the landlord's blessing to deduct all this from the rent.