Spoke too soon

 I had not yet tried to wash and dress for the day when I made that previous post. A few minutes after that, I tried.

No water pressure.

This is always a gamble - one of three things could be: all the neighborhood's water is out, I have a broken pipe, OR given the unreliability of the mail, my payment for this month didn't make it and I haven't got the shut-off notice and they cut my water*

(*Now I think of it - I think the last check for my payment has already cleared, so it couldn't have been that)

Checked the city's Facebook page. Nothing, of course, because city offices are closed, because weekend.

Then, after heating up the remaining water in my teakettle to wash with, and washing and dressing and eating, I remembered I had the information for one of my neighbors, and I texted them: "Is your water out, or do I need to worry about a broken pipe somewhere"

The answer came back: there's a water main break somewhere, no one has water.

I didn't know how long it would be, and one needs to do things like flush the toilet (I have a small amount of bottled water for drinking). So I thought: well, there's snow left, snow will melt to give water. Not POTABLE water, and there may be sticks and leaves in it, but at least it would work

So this happened

 About an hour later (around 9 am) a message came from the city: boil order once pressure returned. And it did slowly return - apparently it was a power outage at a pump station rather than a water main break.

the snow still hasn't fully melted. I guess I keep it until I need to use the shower next (I washed my hair last night and I'm not real sure I want to shower during a "boil order" event)

Also washing dishes is more difficult. I think I mentioned I was doing them all by hand, because there's a crack in the tub of my dishwasher (I don't know, either) and I have to get someone in to look at it and probably I will have to replace a two-year-old dishwasher but I don't easily have the money to do that right now so I'm hand washing dishes. 

Anyway, you have to boil water to wash dishes with so they'll be sanitary, if there's a boil order in place. (Normally I wouldn't worry, I'd just use soap and hot water). So I boiled water but miscalculated how long it needed to cool and scalded my left hand trying to wash the lunch dishes. 

So yeah, I'm not so great as a pioneer-type. I want the proper water back (and eventually, want a dishwasher back, but I think I have to wait a bit on that)

***

And I guess there are still walls to hit in this thing, even though I've been vaccinated with the first dose and my mom goes in next week for her second dose - I hit one just now.

I need to eat dinner but how do I wash the dishes? I don't want to boil water again and risk scalding myself again. I don't want to leave crappy dishes in the sink until tomorrow night. I don't have any paper plates. I'd get carry out but probably nowhere is open given the boil order, and anyway I have leftovers to use up. 

MAYBE I JUST DON'T EAT TONIGHT. Argh. 

I also saw a news story featuring a couple that jetted off to Quintana Roo because "we really needed a weekend in the sun" and I got angry again because it's been over a year since I saw my mom and it'll be at least 3 more months before I can and I am just TIRED and fatigued and this past week was bad and.....ARGH. 

I still can't go eat in a restaurant, not for some months. Church won't be "normal" again for at least six months. Fall teaching will PROBABLY be the stupid half-online business that I am so tired of. 

So not being able to wash dishes even remotely like a normal human just feels like an added burden, to the point of me not wanting to eat because it will only generate dirty dishes.