Pretty damn handy

I must be coming out of the depressive burst I was having after the last hurricane, because women are starting to all look attractive again. When I was first treated for clinical depression three years ago, one of the things I noticed immediately was how much more appealing everything and everybody looked. The fall was amazing, all the guys were distinguished and handsome (I guess) and all the women were attractive, even the ones who... weren't.

Anyway, I was at lunch today and saw a woman I'd never seen before, and she was terrifically cute: dark brown eyes and brown hair, a nice smile, a really nice voice (she and her cow-orkers were at the next table and I could hear their conversations), just everything... nice. I kept trying to catch her eye and kept missing because her cow-orker was mostly in the line of sight. When they left, I noticed that (yes) she had very cute calves and was taller than average, including being taller than most of the guys at her table.

If I was that interested, I must still be alive, which is good.

Early this morning, I got an email back from a woman in Fairfax I'd written to... about my age, really cute, shorter dark hair, nice smile, and a few cryptic but nice words. She also says she likes cats and a lot of different music. I can be something of a challenge on both counts. It's a little maddening when people send appealing notes early in the morning, and then don't check their email until late at night. It leaves me hanging all day, and as you've probably figured out by now, that's a sure recipe for me to go nuts with curiosity.

Last night I decided I've had enough patience waiting for the water in my house to clear. Several years ago, I had a new well dug because the water level in my 1840 well had fallen three feet because of the 1999-2002 drought. Sure enough, months after digging the new well, the drought ended, but three and a half years later, the water still has an extremely fine haze to it. Anything white or light colored has had this haze washed into it and it never washes out (thanks to some miracle of particle and colloidal science which I have never divined).

I'm fucking sick of it. Every pair of underwear I have looks like I sat in apple cider, or else took a Hiroshimatic dump in them and never got the stain out. By the way, thanks to some random poster on Craig's List for the word "Hiroshimatic." It's a poor week when I don't learn a new word.

Anyway, I am somewhat puzzled by what I find on Home Depot and Lowe's websites. Melody had a whole-house filter that cost her multi thousands of dollars and required some sort of magical and expensive filter every several months, not to mention taking up a large space in her basement. The filters I'm seeing on the web seem to be around sixty dollars, though, and are about the size of a two-liter bottle. The replacements are fifteen or twenty bucks. All I can figure is that the simple ones take out sediment but not much else, and the one Melody has is designed to remove everything under the sun -- chlorine, lead, benzene, all that stuff.

My well doesn't have any of that stuff. It does have an annoying haze. That's the only thing I give a shit about... I don't drink the well water, I drink my absolutely-crystal-clear spring water, as do the cats.

I think it's time to whip out my pipe cutter and my Lowes' credit card and put this crap to rest once and for all. I should probably stock up on filters, because the haze gets worse in the fall.

Sometimes, I am so fucking handy I can't even describe it.