Flushing without guilt

“Our livelihood is intimately tied to the food we eat, water we drink and places where we recreate. That’s why we have to promote responsibility and conservation when it comes to our natural resources.”  Mark Udall

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As (most) everybody knows, for the 3rd year in a row we are experiencing a severe drought in California. We need to be diligent about saving as much water as possible.
Everybody has got to do his bit said Governor Jerry Brown who calls for a 25% reduction in water use.

I did mine by replacing old toilets with water efficient models and I now can flush without guilt.
Up to now I have been practicing the old mantra: If it is yellow it’s mellow, if it’s brown flush it down.
But replacing old toilets with new ones made more sense.

“Toilets manufactured before 1980, usually need 5 to 7 GPF (gallons of water per flush) and toilets from the 1980s to 90s typically use 3.5 GPF.” 

The EPA approved toilet that I bought uses 1.28 GPF.
Gran diferencia, as Carmen Miranda would say.

IMG_3533Installing a new toilet is not that difficult (when you know how) and especially when you have a trusted friend who can do it for you.
Doing the job takes about an hour and it is a time well spent.

I paid $168.00 for American Standard Cadet 3 at Home Depot.
With an expected $50.00 rebate from the Marin Municipal Water District, that comes down to $118.00.
Modest cost, big water savings and feel-good sensation.

My cat also appreciates the new toilet bowl. She uses it as a playpen and brings her mice toys to be cleaned? or for a little session of waterboarding? I am not sure but Kate is capable of the worst.

But now I can answer the call of nature without any pangs of guilt.

Can you say the same thing or are you still slinking to where the king goes alone and wasting our precious commodity with each gigantic flush?

Save water, Mother Earth is old, tired and thirsty.

Alain

Serendipity

Or the tournament that (almost) never was

Yesterday (Mother’s Day), I had made up my mind to forgo playing in the scheduled tournament and so, around 10:00 a.m. I leisurely strolled into the field just armed with my camera and my good looks.

To my surprise, instead of seeing a bunch of people actively tossing boules and wisecracks, I came across about half a dozen people sitting around and seemingly waiting for something to happen.

Que paso muchachos? I inquired in my usual amiable way.

Well señor, right now we have only 3 teams and an extra player. If you would do us the favor to team up with this person we would have 4 teams and we could get the tournament under way.

It was cold and windy and I really didn’t feel like playing, but I am an agreeable fellow and I went along with their plea.

So eventually 4 doublettes lined up for the annual Marin Mother’s Day tournament.

The steadfast players were:

  1. Henry Wessel and Calvert Barron
  2. Francois Moser and Verena Rytter
  3. Jean-Claude Etallaz and Mireille Di Maio
  4. Alain Efron and Genevieve Etallaz

Three games were scheduled to determine the outcome of the tournament.

Minette and I lost our first game 8/13 but later regained our wits and won the two next games.
Fortunate stroke of serendipity, wouldn’t you say?

Around 1:00 p.m. it was all over. It was the shortest tournament I ever played in.

The final results were as follows:

IMG_3620

1st place: Alain Efron & Minette Etallaz
2nd place: Francois Moser & Verena Rytter
3rd place: Henry Wessel & Calvert Barron
4th place: Jean-Claude Etallaz & Mireille Di Maio

All the money collected from the tournament entries were redistributed to all the players in various amounts according to ranking.

After lunch a few more people showed up and casual games took place.

I was back home around 2:30 p.m. and contentedly counted again the pile of money I had just won.
Net profit: $6.00. Not a bad day after all.

By the way, what do you call a small mom? A minimum.
Happy Mother’s Day you all.

Alain
Mother’s Day campionissimo.

To look at photos of this event and listen to the accompanying background music, turn your computer’s sound on, and click on the link “My Photos” located on the right side of this page. For best viewing, go Full Screen.

Русская рулетка (Russian roulette)

Like everybody else, I have my “bêtes noires” (my pet peeves).

For instance, nothing bugs me more than some self-centered yokel leaving his car door open on the traffic side of the street.
He/she parks, fiddles with god knows what while the door stays open presenting a hazard for a cyclist or another passing vehicle.

selfish-bastardSame story in parking lots.
A wanker parks and leaves his door open preventing anybody else from pulling up in the adjacent space.
I call this type of behavior selfish, inconsiderate and an open invitation to mayhem.

I usually don’t wish anybody any harm, but I would rather enjoy seeing the offending door ripped off by a passing car and sent into a planetary orbit.

I think that to give them a taste of their own medicine it would be a good idea to send such arrogant twerps to Russia.
There they would meet kindred spirits and be treated in kind.

Judging by some videos that I have seen on YouTube, it looks like driving in Russia is akin to a demolition derby.
Everything is permitted. Cars are bumped, flipped and smashed without anybody seeming overly concerned.
There don’t seem to be any rule. “Chacun pour soi et Dieu pour tous.” Every man for himself and God for all.

I am pretty sure that in such an environment an open door yearning to be free would be unshackled within minutes.
And I don’t even think that the offending driver would even stop.

In a polite society, there are unwritten rules to be respected. “Treat others the way you want to be treated” is one of them

If you behave badly, expect the same treatment from others.
If on the other hand if you behave like a gentleman (a courteous honorable man) you will be rewarded with the same respectful treatment.

So for crying out loud, close the damn door and don’t mess with my blood pressure!

Alain

https://youtu.be/vfzFlko6LbY