Water Water & The Tool gives out magazines

DJ and I win this weekend trip to St. Louis and we travel down there and are told to leave our car in this parking lot and are taken to this weird walled in fort that looks like a stockade on blacktop. Then we are told we must surrender all of our technological gadgets like iPhone laptops iPad and so forth as we sit on this black top.    

What is concerning me is that the people saying this look like some evil Quakers and I'm explaining that I have to have these things because I have daily updates for the NBA followers and blogs and so forth,   

I see that the large logs have gaps and we could make it through for help but we have no clue where our car is as we were not really paying attention.    

It was about this time when my underarm was having some sort of sensation that was both pleasing and disconcerting at the same time.  I tried to get up and move towards the logs but I was like in some sort of molasses and could not move.

It was at that moment when I realized Iggy was trying to suckle my armpit and Sophie had my legs pinned in bed.  I gave a sigh of relief that my gadgets were indeed not being taken away and then Iggy bit my pit and I was now fully awake at 3:30 and I was REALLY thirsty.

Good bye Sandman.    

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So my Keurig is all de-scaled for another month. I have heard that if you have problems with your Keurig you can call and they will replace your old one for free Keurig 2.0.  Here is the catch.  Keurig 2.0 will ONLY brew Keurig coffee unless you hack the K-Cups. They have a magnetic strip on Keurig coffee and if Keurig 2.0 does not see this - NO WATER FOR YOU!

Well#1 Columbus Water Works

ANYWAY - I was complaining about WHY I get calcium building in our softwater.   Well - I'll tell you.

Well #1 near the Antique Mall was built in the late 40s early 50s and is where our water is softened. Know one really knows why that decision was made but it's there, maybe not permanently though (more on that later).  

Softwater has less calcium then hard water and thus less problems with with scaling and so forth. But it adds sodium. 

In Columbus our tap water has 19ppm of calcium and 106ppm sodium.  Sun Prairie on the other hand has 66ppm calcium and 4 ppm sodium (MUCH better for brewing beer).  ANYWAY - You really do not want to completely take all the calcium out of water as it adds sodium.  Another BIG problem is super soft water eats metal and reduces effectiveness of chlorine. Columbus recently lowered the amount of sodium and upped the amount of calcium in water.      

Well #1 water filter - over 400 years old

I've heard people complain about how much our water costs in Columbus, well, that is because it's soft.  NOW - in 2004 there was a study done about Well #1 and it's aging and the recommendation was something on the order of HEY - THIS THING IS FREAKING OLD! And that was 10 years ago,

Columbus has another well that can be used but then there is no back up.  We have a LOT of water so there is no worry about that.  So we are in the preliminary stages of looking into options and if a new water well is decided on . . . do we soften the water?  Is it time for a change?  

And there was some discussion about fluoride in our water.  Columbus has the lowest legal limit on fluoride use and not a drop more. Many countries around the world have stopped the use of fluoride because you need stable water to add chemicals.  In many countries fluoride is added to salt or milk.  Some areas in Australia have naturally occurring fluoride in their water.

So - back to soft water - would you rather buy a water softener and soften your own water?  Or have Columbus do it.  Personally, The Tool, would like to make his own soft water.          

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OIL WATCH - dropped 4.1% yesterday!  Down to $58 a barrel.  

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our personal balcony on St. John

I see The US Virgin Islands are the 10th best Caribbean Islands, The average room is $262 a night in a hotel.  We rented a little cottage when we went on our poker funded vacation. I say this because I'M FREEZING! My office (room) is the farthest from the furnace. 

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OH - Have you ever wondered why when you go the to the doctor's office they have such crap for magazines?

There was a study and these guys rounded up 87 magazines, old and current, noted what kind of magazine therewere and distributed them in doctors offices.

One month later, only 41 were still there.  People steal them. And they steal the current ones, not the old ones.  I will confess, I stole one once (twice). Once a New Yorker that had an article about why the show Big Brother is so awesome (it really is) and another one that I can't remember.

HOWEVER - I make it a habit to never ever through out a magazine.  I have a stack that every time I go to have oil changed, dentist, doctor or whatever I take a stack and toss them on the tables.

With that said - have a great weekend

The Tool - OK OK you are all wondering about The Tool.

Here is some of the the quotes!

You still get the tool of the day award.
Rod is an embarrassment to all of the elected officials of Columbus.
Rod is an embarrassment to the voters in his district whether they voted for him or not.
Rod is detriment to the political stability of the city.
To block Rod for his indiscretions would only mitigate the detriment.

And THEN it went downhill from there - I believe this is yet another vote of confidence. But no worries, no one takes him seriously . . . except himself.  He's a lovable goofball.

Have a sweet weekend.

The Tool.