There’s something wrong — I think as I sit in my apartment this afternoon, filthy and frigid — with not having water in the building at the same time rain-soaked gales are sweeping the city streets. With all the water coming down out there, shouldn’t we be able to get some of it in here?

The city’s Department of Environmental something-or-other (I saw their truck from the window, but had neither the energy nor the inclination to dechipher the initials) shut off my building’s water at 8:30 this morning in order to work on the pipes for about eight hours. Sometime later in the morning, they had to leave to handle an emergency somewhere else, resulting in the water being shut down ‘til midnight! That means no shower, no clean dishes, no laundry — and, with the hot water radiators not functioning, no warmth.

Oh, well. You know, I live close enough to the Hudson … maybe I’ll start bathing there …