In California we are suffering a water shortage. In the City of Murrieta we are under mandatory conservation rules. The lawns along my street are dead, or dying, because we are not allowed to water our lawns more often than twice a week, and if there is any run-off onto the sidewalk, we get a ticket. You can also get a ticket from watering down your driveway, washing your car, and apparently for hosing down anything.
I have been complying with the rules of the city, and my lawn is dead as a result. My car has not been washed in months, and my driveway is swept. After sweeping the driveway I then collect the material in a dust pan, and then throw it away. Dirt in the gutter also can result in a fine.
I abide by all the rules and regulations, even though I think it is a little on the extreme side.
Since my car has not been washed, and with my income dropping to a third of what it once was because of the death of the construction industry, my poor little commuter car looks like a rolling dustball. I am not ready to pay twelve bucks for a car wash once a week, either. I already pay that to keep my truck clean.
My daughter borrowed our truck this morning to go to work, and I had to run to the store. I turned on the hose, and for a couple minutes gave my car a quick hose-down just to knock off the excessive dirt the hull seems to be collecting. Then, with a quick wipe-down with a towel, I headed off to the market.
The cell phone rang on the way to the store, and it was my wife calling me to inform me that Code Enforcement had been sitting up the street watching, and came to the house afterward. We were not cited (or maybe we were and will get it through the mail, not that there is a guarantee I will get my mail - half the time I never receive materials sent to me by regular mail, either), but the Code Enforcement Officer seemed very interested in the wet roadway where my car had been moments before.
Are you kidding me? There is a guy with a rusted hulk on his lawn up the street, another with a trail of water for a couple weeks coming out of his water meter, and God knows all of the other things going on in the city, and this guy was just hangin' out waiting for someone to violate water conservation rules?
Where was this guy when people were stealing my "Yes on Prop. 8" signs out of my yard? Where was this Code Enforcement efficiency when my truck in my driveway was vandalized, and a rock went through my living room window? The local police did nothing when that happened, claiming there was not enough evidence. The note calling me a homo-phobe was not enough evidence, either. But when I decide to spray a little water on my car for what was probably no more than two or three minutes? Suddenly I am a criminal, and am under the watchful eye of the local government.
There is a good side to this. At least it isn't as bad as Hemet, which is about ten or fifteen miles north of me. There you have to get garage sale permits. Also, in Hemet, you will be ticketed if you have a "For Sale" sign in the window of your car (unless, of course, it is parked in your driveway, or the vehicle is in motion - then "For Sale" signs are fine).
I am just wondering how long it will be before I get questioned on why I left the water running while brushing my teeth.
-- Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary
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