Obsession!

This is the mark of obsession. In our neck of the woods, we have hard water. It has enough dissolved minerals in it to almost be classified as a slurry. We have always been a bit sensitive about the water here because we came from an area in Pennsylvania that had possibly the best drinking water in the whole world. Just turn on the faucet and out came delicious, clear, clean, sweet soft water. Delicious.

To its credit, the water here, although laden with tons of stuff, is reasonably good tasting, and it doesn't smell. However, if you let it dry on any surface, it quickly unburdens itself of the heavy load it carries and leaves behind a stalagmite.

I once read an article from somebody who claimed to be a doctor who was fascinated by pockets of population where the people were unusually long lived. (Here is a similar article.) He said his research indicated a high degree of correlation between long life and water sources that were naturally very hard. I never put too much credence in the article since he then went on to hawk some "miracle" product, but I always remember that article when I go to tap here and draw a glass of water.

But this is not about living longer. It's about another memory, one from fifteen years ago when when we were house hunting. One of the what seemed like hundreds of houses we looked at was the home of a nice older couple who were downsizing. What stood out to me was how utterly spotless the home was even though it was an older home. I remember standing and looking at the sinks and faucets and being astounded by the total lack of hard water deposits. It looked as though every sink and fixture in the house had just been unpacked and installed and never used. The memory has stuck with me ever since.

Well, we just recently replaced our kitchen sink and faucet. After all the hard work that that entailed, I looked at that gleaming chrome fixture, and remembering the little old couple, vowed that I would maintain my faucet without blemish for as long as I could. I am now obsessed. Dozens of times a day, I walk past the sink and wipe it down. Sometimes I hover when other people are using the sink, knowing that they will unwittingly leave a drop or two on my pristine tap. On a regular basis, I coat the chrome surfaces with Gel Goss.

So far, so good. So far I have been able to stay ahead of the game and keep the kitchen sink and faucet looking absolutely new. I believe that my whole life has been preparation for this task. I believe that events have transpired to allow me to be in a position to devote myself to the prevention of mineral deposits. I believe that this is why Nummi closed and I was forced to retire. I believe that this is why I was born!

Alternatively, all the hard water that I drink has left some deposits in my brain that have had some unintended effects.

But the faucets are clean.