Hot water

Saturday, March 03, 2007 by Dave Winer.

We had another in a series of earthquakes on Thursday night; a 4.2, quite a bit bigger than the previous two or three. It was centered near Walnut Creek, just a few miles from Berkeley.  

In the morning, no hot water. The heater must have a safety feature that turns the pilot light off in the event of a relatively strong quake. Inconvenient to be sure, I like to take a shower every morning, but I can go one day without. I called the repair company whose sticker was on the heater, scheduled an appointment between 2 and 5PM.  

They didn't show up by 4:45PM so I called, they had lost my record, after a bunch of negotiating they sent someone out, he didn't get here until almost 10PM, but it was a simple thing for him to relight the pilot, and next time it goes out I'll know how to do it myself.  

This morning I appreciate hot water about 100 times more than I have in a long time. I have lived without it before, at a hippie commune in Florida where the water was heated by solar power; on cloudy days you took cold showers. But it had been a long time.  

We live at a pinnacle, or is it a house of cards? Someday maybe it'll all come down, maybe for a long time. I know I'll miss hot water. What else?