American
IDOL
With this week’s surprise departures of Steven Tyler and Jennifer Lopez as judges
of American IDOL, FOX executives and AI producers have embarked upon an
international search for replacements to join Randy Jackson for the upcoming
season (number 12, for those keeping count).
American IDOL’s executive producer, Nigel Lythgoe, announced Saturday that the search
for new judges will be open to amateurs as well as industry insiders. The search process will be chronicled in a
new FOX series titled, American IDOL: The Judges Competition, which will air in
the months preceding the launch of the 2013 season. The link below provides information about the
application process for those interested in competing for the two coveted judge
positions. Applications will be accepted
until September 5, 2012.
Water
Water Everywhere, and Not a Drop to Drink
The city where I live declared a “boil water order” this
week after testing by the State Health Department found an unacceptable level
of bacteria in our water. The problem
was “resolved” in 48 hours, and the ban was lifted. Today, two days since the ban was lifted, I’ve
still not seen a cause for the contamination published.
Here are observations from the two-day water
ban.
·
The water ban order was declared the same day we
City residents received our quarterly water and sewer bills. I wonder if next
quarter we’ll get a prorated credit for two days without water.
·
My water and sewer bill increased 20% last
quarter. I live alone and my usage hasn’t
increased. I pay the city minimum, which
has increased. The bill increase really
doesn’t relate directly to the water ban, but I wish that extra 20% could
ensure a safeguard against contamination of the water.
·
With the boil water order in full effect, a
bunch of my neighbors had their sprinklers going full blast. It’s been a really hot and dry stretch of
weather lately, and the lawns all look horrible, but I’m not sure E. coli was
the remedy needed.
·
When the power goes out, I keep flipping light
switches without thinking. I found that
I have a similar subconscious behavior when it comes to the loss of potable
water.
·
Several bottled water stations were set up in locations around the city to help the disabled and elderly for whom boiling
water may have been troublesome. That
was a really good thing to do, but I bet
traveling across the city in 85 degree heat for bottled water was troublesome
for the disabled and elderly, too.
·
When the ban was lifted, I drank a big glass of
water from my tap after letting the water run for a minute. It tasted like pool water. I think the “fix” was a truck load of Clorox.
·
After rains and flooding from Hurricane Irene
left several towns nearby pretty well uninhabitable a year or so ago, I decided
it was a good idea to have some water and food stored. I’m not really concerned about flooding where
I live, but a natural disaster of any type could make essentials like water and
food hard to come by for a while. I had
a few two liter bottles of water stored when the water ban hit, and
so didn’t have to worry about boiling any.
I’d recommend that everyone make similar preparations while they are
able to, just in case you have to deal with unforeseen problems like the one my
city just experienced.
No comments:
Post a Comment