You Asked for It

Last week I asked for reader questions and you guys did not disappoint. I got a ton of great questions on a variety of topics. Today we are going to cover a few of those.

Ricky Anderson wants to know:

If you weren’t a missionary, what would you be doing? Basically, tell us about any lives you lead in parallel universes.

I think in one parallel universe I might be a dance instructor called Luigi. It’s not my name but people would call me that. I would specialize in European folk dancing and play the accordion.  I may even have a small monkey trained to pick pockets and generally entertain.

In my free-time study of quantum physics, I believe there can be more than one parallel universe. As long as they are parallel I think the number could be infinite. With that in mind, I would also be a man named Severance. In a post-apocalyptic world I would find the only working coffeemaker left on earth. I would start a hydroponic coffee grove in an abandoned underground parking garage. Then I would leverage that commodity for power and riches. MUAHAHAHAHA!

All seriousness aside, before we moved I was earning my Graphic Design degree. I was working a day job for the paper (Rap talk for money) and as a part-time youth pastor. My goal then was to freelance at home and have more time for the family and youth work.

I have always been the jack-of-all-trades sort. Generally, I have 2-3 projects going all the time. I work on one for a while then let it simmer. You may remember my blue barrel canoe. So, I would probably have a few oddball hacks or builds going on. Not to mention this time of year I would be communing with nature in hopes of filling my freezer with a fine whitetail deer specimen. Thanks, Ricky.

Kris Overtoom asked:

What does the water taste like?  Do you drink water from the tap or buy bottled water?  How long did it take you to get used to the taste of the water if you drink it out of the tap?  Does it taste different in your new home than in your previous home and are the bugs sufficiently different that your stomach had to re-adjust?

We have had several different water situations while living here. Paraguay sits over a huge under ground reservoir, so we were spoiled during the times we had well water. The artesian wells provided us with great water in abundance. That’s not to say there was no adjustment period. We all went through certain sicknesses in acclimating to the new environment. Luckily, we tended to have no more then 2 at a time sick. That time lasted about 6-8 months. It reappears when we have moved to a new locale and lasts for a month or two.

We have lived in two places that are “served” by municipal water. In one the water was wretched. From the tap it could have color or sediment or be cloudy. The tank was also dramatically undersized for the neighborhood. In the summer, when demand was high, they cut the water supply around 8 AM to conserve. It would return at around 10-11 PM, at which time the entire town would begin to store it up and use it for much-needed bathing, guaranteeing an outage the next day. We had a filter at this place but many times we also boiled it.

Our current home has “city” water. It is relatively clean with minor sediment at the tap. However, it is so concentrated with chlorine you glow in the dark after a shower. For this reason we have a dispenser for drinking and use the tap to cook and wash clothes/dishes. Thanks, Kris.

That was fun. I have a ton of these and plan on weaving them into my regular blogging schedule. If you have a question, drop it in the comments or send me an email.

Are there any clarifying questions on these answers? What would you be doing in an alternate universe?

By the way, I have been fine tuning the mechanics of the blog. Its appearance is the same but its performance has been buffed up. Click on over from your reader and let me know how it went. Did it load fast? Was everything on the page?