When I came careening around the curve home this evening, I wondered what that white stuff on my lawn was. I checked the mail and parked the car and moseyed over there to look at it.

It seems as though the lid was off the clean-out valve near the street, and that white stuff appeared to be paper towels.

I didn’t want to get too close, having had encounters that didn’t end well with those things before so I stood on my tippy toes and peered down the pipe, where I could see some murky liquid about three feet from the top.

Now. I am an Aquarius, and I’m convinced that’s why I’ve sprained my ankle a bajillion times and I’m always having water incidents (and if I come to your house, you’ll probably have one shortly thereafter).

There was also a largish rock there that wasn’t there before. I know it wasn’t there before because a few weeks ago when I had that big leak in the bathroom (see! another water incident!), I spent a good bit of time walking to and fro past that thing.

Since I knew I hadn’t been here all day and the dog isn’t tall enough to flush the toilet or run the dishwasher, I thought I might better call the county water department, because it has been my very personal experience that these do not get better, they only get exponentially worse.

I expected my call to be an exercise in futility, but no. It was downright pleasant. I might call them again tomorrow, just to have somebody to talk to.

The gentleman on the phone was pleasant and knowledgeable and told me that he would send someone out to check on it and what time. And sure enough, they arrived at 10:30, another man knocked on the door to let me know they were working on it, and that they’d be out there for another 40 minutes.

And now they have fixed it and are gone. Just like the man on the phone promised. Just like what I pay for every month. I could not be more delighted.