every last drip

So, little did I know that, while I was here in my apartment asking the plumber to lower the water level in my toilet so it wouldn't waste water, a RIVER of water was gushing down my street. It seems PG&E was doing some work in the area and broke an apartment building's water pipe. Did I mention it was a river? Like, it put me in the mood for some tubing. Of course, when I asked the construction guy (who was part of the fix-it crew) how much water he thought it was, he raised his eyebrows and spoke out of the side of his mouth, "A lot."

Let me tell you, I really felt like a fool going home and insisting that we only flush every other time someone pees, or keeping a big pot of corn water on my stove to soak dishes when the Nile was winding its way around my neighborhood. The big issue for me, also, was that no one seemed to give a shit. I mean, I mentioned the fix-it crew, but they all looked like they were at a barbeque. I'm one little person. They were five big guys with a giant yellow excavator. Come on! Someone ring a bell or sound an alarm. This is an emergency.