Tag Archive for: Water

Cute swag drops a subtle hint?

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At this time last week, I was in Chicago at an annual techy hobnob for water folks, the American Water Works Association’s ACE10. (I was a presenter at a workshop on social media for utilities–a great day and some great people! More on that soon.)

My impression, mega-condensed: lotsa pipes, lotsa pumps and lotsa water geekery. All–and I mean ALL–displays were blue. At my lunch table the conversation was about algae, and everyone seemed to think that was a perfectly awesome subject to pair with dining. Now, this didn’t seem to be a swag-heavy event but I did manage to pick up a few things. (Good thing…those little Snickers bars turned out to be my lunch several days later!)

And the magnifying glass was handy, as I needed to get a closer look…

What’s this? WHAT!? Is this adorable little  droplet giving me the one-finger wave? Is there such a thing as subliminal swag? I guess they somehow knew I wasn’t a purchasing decision-maker for pipes and pumps!

Aqua Building Chicago Illinois

Aqua in Chicago: 82 Stories of Inspiration

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Aqua Building Chicago Illinois

Aqua Building, Chicago, Illinois

While visiting Chicago recently, my hotel was right next door to the much-praised new Aqua building…and really, I just couldn’t get enough of staring up at it’s unusual form.

The 82-story, mixed-used building was designed by Jeanne Gang, principal and founder of Studio Gang Architects. It is her first skyscraper project and the largest project ever awarded to an American firm headed by a woman. Good start, Jeanne! Gang has cited the striated limestone outcroppings that are a common topographic feature of the Great Lakes region as inspiration for the sculptural, undulating slabs that give the building its exciting, water-inspired design.

Typo on water tower

Water Tower Typo Turns Heads

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Typo on water tower

We’ve all been embarrassed by a careless typo now and then, but rarely is the goof the talk of the town. As one commenter on this story noted, this job obviously went to the low bidder!

From nbc15.com:

A painter for the Illinois-based Neumann Company Contractors forgot the second T in Stoughton on the city’s new east side water tower.

A company spokesman says almost everybody in the profession makes a similar error at some point, but not all of them do it with a 6-foot tall letter on a 190 foot tower.

The spokesman says the painter had the correct spelling, but forgot the T when he blocked out the letters. He works right to left, so he starts at the end of the word and works backwards. After he painted in the N and the O he realized he was missing the T.

Neighbor Richard Budden says even little kids know how to spell Stoughton. “(He) told me that they spelled Stoughton wrong. I went out and looked. By God, you’re right. He’s only in third grade. If he can figure it out then the painter should be able to figure it out.”

Neumann Company Contractors says they will have to let the paint dry and then repaint the last three letters. It will not cost the city any extra money.

The spokesman says the painter is actually from Wisconsin and the Illinois company man joked that’s what he gets for hiring a cheesehead.

Clueless American Football Brutes Chug Crystal Geyser

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World Cup fever is everywhere, and excitement for this international marketing sports event is exploding… even in the USA where many don’t “get” the game itself or why it’s “erroneously” refered to as football. What a prime opportunity for non-US marketers to poke a little fun, as in this Hong Kong-produced ad for Crystal Geyser, “Wrong sport, right water.” (Notice the scoreboard: USA vs. Europe!? I think I missed that match!)

album cover art carney Music for Men Working

h2o mp3: The Song of the Sewer – Art Carney

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album cover art carney Music for Men WorkingToday we raise (or lower?) our glasses to the king of sewer workers, Ed Norton, as portrayed by Art Carney in the iconic fifties teevee classic The Honeymooners. The versatile Carney also recorded prolifically in the 1950s for Columbia Records, including the 1954 hit “The Song of the Sewer” sung in character as Norton.

Lyrics
Art Carney as Ed Norton, Sewer WorkerI work in the sewer,
It’s a very hard job.
You know they won’t hire
Just any old slob.
You don’t have to wear
A tie or a coat.
You just have to know
How to float.

Chorus:
We sing the song of the sewer
Of the sewer we sing this song.
Together we stand
With shovel in hand
To keep things rollin’ along.

I work down the manhole
With a guy named Bruce.
And we are in charge
Of all the refuse.
He lets me go first
While he holds the lid.
I’m telling you, sheesh…
What a sweet kid.
A funny thing happened
To Bruce yesterday.
The tide came along
He got carried away.
He come out in Jersey.
But it’s O.K. now.
Cause that’s where
He lives anyhow.
My father he worked
In the sewer Uptown.
I followed his footsteps
And worked my way down.
That’s how I began
In this here industry.
I just sort of fell into it.
Sheesh, lucky me.

My Water Bill: The State of the Chart

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LOL! I haz cheezburger! Last week, I shared with you some witty water charts from graphjam.com*  and of course, that inspired me to create one of my own. Now, many charts are created at the site* but only a select few make it to the site’s feed…and mine did! (If I’m excited about this, does this mean I have little- to no life? Whatever!)

*update: now a dead site

Here’s my creation, titled “Factors Affecting My Water Bill.”

Heads Will Roll but Wheelchairs Will Not

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Don’t call them handicapped, call them stair-challenged! In the Du’OH! News category this week, spotted in the real-ink version of the Kansas City Star and online at mankatofreepress.com, the parched and wheelchaired crowd will need some serious new torque in Hudson, New York:

In April, officials in Hudson, N.Y., proudly unveiled their state-of-the-art water fountain for the disabled in the county courthouse, a fixture whose installation was agreed to in a 2003 settlement with federal officials enforcing the Americans with Disabilities Act. However, the fountain was installed on the courthouse’s second floor, which is accessible only by stairway. In defense, county officials said the fountain had several features for handicapped people other than those in wheelchairs.

Great Moments in Politics: Water Joke Faux Pas

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I’ve been accused of tactlessness on occasion but even I wouldn’t have repeated this one! However, since U.S. National Security Advisor Gen. James Jones (Ret.) already did (while giving the key note speech at a Washington Institute For Near East Policy dinner in April) we’ll simply forward the flub for it’s water humor newsworthiness.

From blog.foreign policy.com (with more blow-by-blow details of the ensuing kerfuffle here)

Telling the following joke in public, at a meeting of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy no less, was not National Security Advsor Jim Jones’ finest moment in public service:

I’d like to begin with a story that I think is true, a Taliban militant gets lost and is wandering around the desert looking for water. He finally arrives at a store run by a Jew and asks for water. The Jewish vendor tells him he doesn’t have any water but can gladly sell him a tie. The Taliban, the jokes goes on, begins to curse and yell at the Jewish storeowner. The Jew, unmoved, offers the rude militant an idea: Beyond the hill, there is a restaurant; they can sell you water. The Taliban keeps cursing and finally leaves toward the hill. An hour later he’s back at the tie store. He walks in and tells the merchant: “Your brother tells me I need a tie to get into the restaurant.”

The White House clearly felt uncomfortable with the joke, and edited it out of an official transcript of the event.

An Ode to the Glorious Flagler Water Orb

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Stanley Drescher was a man with a dream and a vision. His vision was one in which Flagler Beach, Florida’s plain-Jane water tower proudly displayed the town’s moniker for townspeople and tourists alike. Through tireless fundraising, hard work, indifferent city leadership, red tape and poetry (yes, poetry!) Stanley’s dream is about to become reality. From msnbc.com,

Drescher — whose love of the tower has moved him to write poems about it — raised the money just five months after announcing his desire to see the oceanside structure bear the city’s name. Most of the funds came from selling commemorative plaques about the fund drive to businesses, which enlisted sponsors who paid $100 to have their names engraved on the plaques, too. The plaques state, in part: “The tower tanks you.”

Stan Drescher and the soon-to-be-awesome Flagler Beach water tower (Photo: David Massey via The Daytona Beach News-Journal)

Why would this goal be so difficult to achieve? How did a sense of public duty turn into taking a load of public doody?

Drumming up support for a project so close to his heart wasn’t easy, Drescher said. “It was very, very difficult,” he said. “It didn’t happen overnight.”

Community organizations weren’t interested in hearing his pitch for the tower on the city’s south side, he said. And an attempt to raise the money through the sales of vanity license plates failed.

City Commissioners wouldn’t accept the money unless donations were tax-deductible and came from a nonprofit group. They wouldn’t match the money Drescher raised. The reaction from city commissioners was a surprise, Drescher said. “I never dreamed they would turn me down,” he said. “They put a lot of restrictions on me.”

Drescher’s love of poetry came into play in the campaign as he authored a number of poems about his trials, even reading some of them in the public comment portions of city and county meetings. From his composition, “The Beginning of a Quest”

“I had my work cut out for me/I saw every person/But no matter what I did/Effort seemed to worsen

We walked in all directions/’Til we got swollen feet/And all the while determined/Not to accept defeat.”

With victory at hand, Mr. Drescher notes “I have to find another project. Maybe I’ll form a poet’s society.”

Super! Can I join? Here’s my first contribution: I think that I shall never see/A tower with the town’s marquee…

Flagler Beach via armisteadbooker on Flickr

The Visual Water Dictionary: Bank Stability

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Confused about wonky water terms? No prob! The Visual Water Dictionary attempts to cut confusion on ambiguous water terminology with easy visual references.

Today’s Term: Bank Stability

Bank Stability refers to the conditions and properties of a river or stream bank that either resist or counteract erosion,  such as water flow, type of soil, trees and vegetation cover.Some warning signs of poor bank stability include steep banks, exposed soil, soil that has fallen into the stream, leaning trees and exposed intrastructure.

Visible signs of poor bank stability (via trailvoice on flickr)

Often confused with…

No credit for you when when bank stability is eroding. (via sameold2008 on Flickr)

Bank Stability (in the financial sector) refers to the conditions and properties of a financial institution that either gain or erode capital (i.e., your money/life savings.) Some warning signs of poor bank stability in the financial sector include soiled pants,  steep losses, fallen investments, leaning politicians and exposed fraud and criminal mischief.