And It Is Always a Frog
I had to laugh today as a friend of mine uttered the title of this as a bon mot of how life is. And it is always a frog.
We were talking about our various struggles with different funny aspects of Tico life. My recent discovery of termites in our guesthouse and the ongoing discussions about what type of hot water, if any, to put in the house. Do we go with a standard U.S. electric hot water tank that's quite expensive and expensive to operate? A Tico electrified shower head that I've mentioned here before - Central American Death Shower? Or the combination hot water tank on the roof with a solar panel to heat the water? Too many options, none of them great.
My friend Christie started talking about the frog. We all have a frog story here, remember mine? The frog that kept going down the sewer pipe and swimming in our toilet and shower before being evicted via duct tape and mesh? Christie told about the main water line going to their house cracking and leaking. They live in a brand new house in an expensive gated community near Playa Grande, You would think they'd not have issues yet. Well, it's Costa Rica and the Pura Vida boys built that house. Anything goes.
Turns out after they dug up and replaced the water main they decided to take a look into the back up water tank, that essential thing needed here because you never know when you might lose pressure or if they decide to turn off the water for a day. Having a tank is something smart. We have one, but ours is mounted on a tall set of metallic legs a good 15 feet in the sky. Hers I think is either on the roof or the garage roof, much lower down.
They looked and lo and behold there was a dead bullfrog in the tank. "We'd been drinking that water for a long time and it tasted fine!" she told me. We both had to laugh and speculate on how many times we might have been drinking water with a dead frog in it. Really does not make me want to climb the tower, pry off the top and peer in.
But she's right.. it's always a frog somewhere in your life when you least expect it. Sometimes it's just better not to look, but just know it is likely there anyway.
We were talking about our various struggles with different funny aspects of Tico life. My recent discovery of termites in our guesthouse and the ongoing discussions about what type of hot water, if any, to put in the house. Do we go with a standard U.S. electric hot water tank that's quite expensive and expensive to operate? A Tico electrified shower head that I've mentioned here before - Central American Death Shower? Or the combination hot water tank on the roof with a solar panel to heat the water? Too many options, none of them great.
My friend Christie started talking about the frog. We all have a frog story here, remember mine? The frog that kept going down the sewer pipe and swimming in our toilet and shower before being evicted via duct tape and mesh? Christie told about the main water line going to their house cracking and leaking. They live in a brand new house in an expensive gated community near Playa Grande, You would think they'd not have issues yet. Well, it's Costa Rica and the Pura Vida boys built that house. Anything goes.
Turns out after they dug up and replaced the water main they decided to take a look into the back up water tank, that essential thing needed here because you never know when you might lose pressure or if they decide to turn off the water for a day. Having a tank is something smart. We have one, but ours is mounted on a tall set of metallic legs a good 15 feet in the sky. Hers I think is either on the roof or the garage roof, much lower down.
They looked and lo and behold there was a dead bullfrog in the tank. "We'd been drinking that water for a long time and it tasted fine!" she told me. We both had to laugh and speculate on how many times we might have been drinking water with a dead frog in it. Really does not make me want to climb the tower, pry off the top and peer in.
But she's right.. it's always a frog somewhere in your life when you least expect it. Sometimes it's just better not to look, but just know it is likely there anyway.
Comments