  For the last couple of weeks we gradually started losing our water pressure. At first I wondered if it was due to open fire hydrants, after all its summer but its not a very hot one so that was highly unlikely. And then this Sunday we totally ran out of water in our second floor unit, the first floor has very little pressure and the basement is gradually fading. So what did we do? We improvised a water dance, bought a case of bottled water and went to take showers at the in-laws.
(Who by the way, have obscene water pressure, forget fancy showerheads at that house. ) We also called the city's water department, we are 99.9% positive that this is an outside problem. The last time we had this problem the inside plumbing was given an update and it solved the problem temporarily but we now suspect it wasn't the root of the problem.
An email to our alderman and a call to 311 later the emergency Sunday crew for the water department showed up. One of them came into our basement and put his hearing thingy-device up against the wall to the front of the house where the water main comes from the street. Yeah, he heard the same leak we had been hearing. Weird how we could hear this by a brick wall, I know, its hard to explain you would need to be there.
And when he went outside and inspected the ground near our water main cap his body language and response let us know this was serious. They took note that our home did not have a water meter, and will probably be installing one--shoot. They said they would put a rush on it and would be back to fix it within five days because their department was a little backed up.
What? So I've evoked a vegetative state the last two days in order to keep my sanity. I've made an effort not to talk much to keep from saying negative stuff. This is the first time I share it with anyone, not wanting to magnify the problem by speaking about it. I'm keeping an open mind and wondering what is the lesson in this. Besides the fact that old pipes corrode and leaks occur--grrr. Well today my mother tapped into her resources. If this goes through I will begin to believe that city workers aren't that bad after all. I'll be more sympathetic next time I see one shoveling and the other two watching--they're there for moral support you know ;).
Lesson learned: Its not what you know, its who you know. (Well I knew this but this event just reconfirms it. ) Long story short, someone's supervisor was called, who in turn called back and said they would have a crew on this by this afternoon. Really? No five day wait? I gotta see this to believe it. 
