Yesterday I paid my water bill, which I
admit isn't the most exciting or interesting of all possible
activities. Still, there you have it.
A few days ago I got the bill in the
mail and was at first a little surprised and shocked. Not by the
amount, which was around $25, but by the bill coming on a postcard
with the charge and amount of water used and all that visible to
anyone.
Then, by the time Minardi found a spot
or two on our way back from the mailbox to home, I laughed at myself.
Why would I be offended at having this information out in the open?
Sure, utility and other bills had always come all sealed up,
protected from prying eyes and I'd grown used to that, but then I
started wondering why.
I mean, really, why was I so worried or
secretive about my water bill?
There are some things I'm not likely to
talk about, but most of those are because of shame I feel. Somehow,
though, that feeling of being my business and no one else's seeps
into areas of my life where it's not really relevant.
I have no idea how much water or
electricity or whatever anyone uses, but I think that's because I've
never asked. I don't think anyone else considers that a secret, but
it's not one of those things I see a lot of people sharing.
Anyway, for years I paid for water
usage online through the Los Angeles Dept of Water & Power
website. My current water provider, Bighorn-Desert View Water Agency,
has a website where I can do that, but it's a pretty basic website
and only takes payments through a third party who charges about $4
for the privilege.
That's not too bad in and of itself,
but it also works out to nearly a week's worth of water. I don't
necessarily object to paying for the convenience, but not when it's a
substantial chunk of the bill.
So, Minardi and I climbed into the Jeep
and went to their office, which is only a few miles away. I had a
secret plan for doing that, anyway, since when I was there before
they had a display of desert wildflower seed packages that you could
buy for a dollar courtesy of some local something or other. When I
was there to start my water service, I picked up a couple of those
packages, gave one to my sister for her new home, and had used the
other to seed a portion of my property.
I've been thinking I seeded a very
small patch, too small to fully take advantage of the impending
flowery beauty, so I thought I'd buy some more and try to do the
whole thing all over again, this time maybe correctly.
Also, I needed to pay the bill without
that service charge for using a debit card.
As luck would have it, the service
charge applies both on the website and also at their office since the
payment is processed by the same third party. So, I paid in cash.
Worse, they were evidently out of those
wildflower seeds since I didn't see them anywhere. But, in what I may
learn to be a constant feature, this month they were selling
Bighorn-Desert View Water Agency calendars. I'd love it if each month
there was some different one dollar thing I could pick up when I paid
my bill.
Well, I sorta had been thinking about
getting a paper calendar and this one, from what I saw while glancing
at it, looks to have all the days on it. With calendars I like to
save the surprise of what the next month will bring, so I didn't look
at all the pictures, but I saw that January features a pleasant view
of the “Ames/Reche Groundwater and Recovery project,” which, to
my uneducated eye, looks like pretty much every other picture of this
high desert. There's no buildings, no facilities or pipes or tanks,
just some flat land bordered by mountains.
I also noticed that I have photos of a
snake and, for some future month, a roadrunner to delight me later
next year.
So, yeah, I have much to look forward
to. Of course this may mean I'll end up with two or more calendars if
I get one for a Christmas present, but it will have no effect if I'm
lucky enough to get some warm slippers.
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