Online Gallery

It should be noted that this is a gallery of what is on my mind. That means there may or may not be any photos, if that is what you were expecting.


Tastes Different

The events of this morning have prompted me to write another article sooner than my usual weekly entry. This morning I woke up, staggered into the bathroom, picked up my toothbrush, applied the toothpaste, turned on the water, and brought my toothbrush toward the running water for that inital wettening of the toothpaste. Just then the running water turned orange. My arm brought the toothbrush back before it could touch the water, an example of the cat-like reflexes I possess even after having just woken up. I turned the water off and on again. The water turned orange and returned to normal. For those of you taking notes, the indigenous soil in the area is a red-orange clay.

This is not my usual morning routine. I don't normally have to dodge orange water. My mind immediately recalls a report I heard on the local news (the local area being North Alabama as noted in a previous article) that because of the recent slew of rain, algae has grown on the surface water of the river where the city draws its water. It had made the water smell and taste muddy (that's right, taste!). The city is working on the problem, but experts still assert that the water is safe to drink.

I guess that means the next time it rains, I can just go outside with a drinking glass and scoop up some puddle water and wash down some previously eaten pretzels. That's what the tap water is like. If that doesn't sound refreshing to you, then you must be one of the normal ones. I prefer that the water has no smell when I brush my teeth or when I cook maccaronni and cheese.

I also have an unimportant side note. You may have noticed that I do run my toothpaste under the water before I start brushing. I know what you are thinking, but bear with me. I thought everyone did that. That is untill I spent the night at my friend's house that one time. He noticed me doing that thing I do and said, "I used to run the toothpaste under the water."

I asked, "Why did you stop?"

I don't remember his response. That's probably because it didn't really matter. I run the paste under the water to soften it and allow it to get wet so it lathers up better when I brush. It makes me feel clean.I guess in his own way, he's trying to save water. He tends to be like that. For example, I asked him for a Kleenex. He got mad and started to lecture me on how they should be referred to as tissues and not by a brand name. As if he had some close relative I didn't know working for a rival tissue company (Maybe he does). And if you were wondering, the tissues he had were Kleenex tissues, too. End side note.

You're right. That really didn't go anywhere. One more point, and this has to do with the main idea of the article. A recent report stated that tap water and bottled water were no different from each other health-wise. The both apparently are equally safe to drink. Weather that is true or not seems to depend on where you live.

Written 6/26/2001 by Chris Taylor

Back to the Main Page
Made with mac.