Friday, March 13, 2009

Living In Paradise

One thing you can say for sure about living on this island. It is never boring.

We have indoor plumbing. But we have to carry the water ourselves. Makes flushing the toilet a lot of fun. Do I have to fill the tank full or is half going to be enough this time?



Is this storehouse of water going to be enough to meet my needs today for showering, doing dishes and flushing the toilets?



And don't forget to take the solar shower down, fill it back up and leave it lying in the sun. Otherwise you are going to have a cold shower again.



So what's really going on? Evidently (the story changes every day) three days ago one of the lines that carries water from Cancun to our island broke. No water has been coming to the island at all. So for the past three days people have been living with water that is stored in the tanks on their roofs. But we didn't know that. At least not until our tanks ran dry yesterday.

Had we known we would have been conserving water like crazy. We would not have done five loads of laundry yesterday. I would not have watered the plants. I would not have washed every dish in my house because they were covered with cement dust from some recent work I had done in the house. I would not have mopped my floors three times.

Nothing in the papers, no notices, nothing. This island can drive you crazy sending around cars and golf carts with loudspeakers announcing for days, nay weeks, ahead of time that the circus is coming to the island. But can they bother to tell you that you better conserve water because the supply of water coming to the island has stopped?

Evidently not.

19 comments:

K.W. Michigan said...

I feel for all of you .. living without water is a real pain in the you know what! Hope it returns soon.

Calypso said...

Dude reads like the story of our lives here in Ursulo Galvan.

We only get water every other day and then it often doesn't work in parts of the day we get it.

I think someone could make some money coming up with an inexpensive simple add on that would read the level of your storage tank.

Five years ago I would chastise many neighbors that left their sinks running 24/7 suggesting one day this would cause a need for either charging for usage (metering) or some other limiting measure.

That one day is here. Sometimes I hate it when I am right!

Anonymous said...

Well on a positive note, I LOVE the tile in your bathroom!

Can't help but think that the solar show looks like a giant catheter bag though!

I heard the water is back on....sure hope so!

Sue said...

Despite my annoyance/irritation/anger with this issue too, I just had to laugh LOUD when I read the part about the circus announcements. Only someone who lives here can relate to that. So true!!

P.S. We still don't have a drop of water. Grrrrrr....

Islagringo said...

kw: the water returned for a few hours yesterday. Just enough to give us hope and then it stopped again. Still nothing this AM.

Calypso: I would go crazy living like this continuously.

MD: Ouch! That would be a lot of fluids in your veins! Still no water.

Sue: did the water not reach you yesterday when they had it on for a few hours? This is a royal pain in the ass. Can't wait to see what happens when the tourists start complaining!

CancunCanuck said...

Water, water everywhere and not a drop to er, flush? Surrounded by water on all sides yet the whole island is suffering, it's terrible! I hope they resolve this soon. At least you've got all your laundry done. ;-)

Life's a Beach! said...

The water issue is insane. But the announcements thing is so true! I used to think the people running all over the island with the loudspeakers blaring were dispensing really important information. Like run to higher ground because the tsunami's on its way. I'd ask locals to translate and they'd just shrug and smile. Oh, that's so and so running for office or they're having a Mother's Day party in the colonias. Paid advertising.

And the water issue IS a royal pain in the ass. (And your tile is lovely!)

Scottozoid said...

brings a different light to the old philosophical saying "is your glass half full...or half empty?"

Anonymous said...

As you know, we are property managers. Try explaining these occurrences to people from the US or Canada who have paid 3,000-5,000 usd to stay in a "prestigious" house in Playacar. "Yes, I'm very sorry, I KNOW it's weird that we would not be advised that the city was shutting off the water, but unfortunately, it's true."

I often question our choice of careers.

Anonymous said...

Wel it may look like a large catheer bag but it also looks like a pretty short shower to me!! I hope you get your water back son!!

IslaZina said...

I learned when I tried to water the plants the first day. Big clue when you have no street level water! And a helpful hint: you can just pour the water into the basin, which creates the flush. No need to aim and be steady like you do in filling the tank. And this lesson from Wilma: Always have baby wipes in the house, for that full body whore's bath!

Sue said...

Nope, we never got a drop yesterday when everyone else seemed to. La Gloria had a dribble, we had nothing. Apparently NOW (this afternoon), we have a dribble - not enough to even climb up to the hose, just at street level. Maybe later?

ElleCancun said...

Ohhh... I feel your pain! Years ago had a similar incident with our tanks running dry, but for us - reason is still unknown. Needless to say we were grabbing pool water to flush our toilets! Shower? I went to the inlaws! As CC put it - atleast you have clean laundry! (hehe)

Anonymous said...

Oh my. Anything yet? Do you have guests in the cabana?

Frankly Ronda said...

The announcement thing is so true. We were taking kids to school yesterday and the street was COMPLETELY blocked - cars lining up all over the place.

What was it? 2 very large trucks with tigers, bears, etc. with the loud speaker annoucing away ...

Isla Deb said...

Yes, I can still hear the "ting-tang-walla-walla-bing-bang" truck circling the island last time I was there. Fond memories...lol. Hope you have water soon.

Steve Cotton said...

Just curious. Ever find any sharks in all of those water transfers?

Anonymous said...

I have a friend who had water problems at the apartment earlier this year and she was buying bottled water to wash with. That got a bit costly. Maybe you need a big rain barrel like my grandparents always had on their farm. The houses with the pools at least have a good amount of water as reserves.

Anonymous said...

gee wayne, can you come do my laundry and clean my apt? i've got plenty of water. your bathroom is beautiful! hope you get your water back soon.

teresa in lake stevens