I got up, let the dog out, and put the coffee on (or so I thought – I’ll get to that in a minute). The dog barked – “let me in, you filthy human!” – and I obliged. Off to the shower I went. Water, soap, scrubbing – I think we’re all pretty familiar with how showers work. My showering was working as to be expected, until something bad happened – namely, the water turned brown. (No, I was not extremely dirty.) Apparently either 1) the city maintenance folks were flushing the hydrants or 2) a water main broke (which happens here more often than one would expect).

Now, if it was a simple matter of hydrant flushing – which I believe it was – it wasn’t that big of a deal. It wasn’t as if I were bathing in raw sewage. However, the fact is, it was still dirt in the water, and it’s troublesome trying to take a shower in dirty water, ya’ know? So, I hopped out of the shower and wrapped up the cleaning process with a wash cloth¹. While doing that, though, something far more important than personal hygiene struck me: did I make my coffee with that dirty water?! My heart sank. There was no real way to no other than trying it, which I was not willing to do. I’d have to dump out a whole pot of coffee and start over.

Forgetfulness, however, had saved the day. When I went to the kitchen, I discovered that I had put coffee into the machine and filled it up with water, but I’d forgotten one crucial step: turning the machine on. I was able to get out some water with a tablespoon and check its color in a clear glass – success! It was clear. Coffee crisis (these are bad, trust me) averted.

I really should pay more attention to the public notices in the newspaper. I could avoid situations like this morning…

1. The hot water was still quite clean, probably because a bunch was stored in our water tank. I assume that’s the case, anyway – a plumber I am not. While it was easy to use a hot wash cloth to finish bathing, the idea of finishing a shower in purely hot water was not overly appealing.

Today’s Arlo and Janis comic, however, sums up my feelings about that hot, black substance far better than my words above. This is, for all intents and purposes, me in the morning:

I wonder if substance abuse counseling is offered for coffee addicts…