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Van Horn Advocate

Opinion

Tuesday, Sept. 9, 1997

SQUARELY
PEGGED


By
Peggy McCracken

Battle of faucets puts
traveler in hot water


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Hot!

Cold!

In between!

How in the world are we supposed to take a shower in a motel when we
can't figure out how to regulate the water temperature. Or even how to
get the water to flow.

While on vacation last week, I encountered several different types of
faucets. In the Midland Holiday Inn, I got hot water in the shower and
couldn't figure out how to cool it off. So I took a hot shower.

Then in Houston Hobby Airport's restroom, I soaped my hands and felt
around for the magic handle that turned the faucet on. I never did find
it. The attendant suggested I try another sink, and at that one I got a
flow of water, but am not sure what triggered it.

On the return trip, another woman told me you just have to wait for the
flow. I waited and waited. Then I decided that must be the same faucet
that wouldn't work on my first trip, so moved to another one. I'm still
not sure what made the water flow, but I think it was triggered by the
soap dispenser. I guess you can't wash your hands unless you soap them
first.

When I got to St. Louis, the commode baffled me. I've been startled
before by commodes that flush automatically, either when you get up or
on a timed schedule. But this one didn't flush, and I couldn't see a
handle anywhere. Finally I spotted a small red light on the wall and
pushed it. Nothing. Next to it was a little black button. Bingo! That
was the one.

By far the best faucets I encountered were in my daughter's condominium
in St. Louis. The kitchen sink has one of the simple lever types that
lifts up for flow, turns to the right for cold and to the left for hot.
Same for the bathroom vanity, only the knob is crystal rather than
stainless steel.

Somewhere out there is a maniac who sits up late at night devising
means to baffle us country folk with faucet handles. What was wrong with
the two-handle system, where you turn the left one for hot, the right
one for cold, and both for a mixture that you can regulate?

Gripe though I might, I wouldn't want to go back to the pre-faucet days
when we lowered a bucket into the cistern to draw up cold water that had
to be heated on a wood stove for the weekly bath. Better to turn on the
frustrating faucet, let the hot water run in the bathtub, then wait for
it to cool off enough to bathe in.

I have one more day of vacation, so that will give me one more column.
Don't know what I'll write the remaining 16 weeks in this year.

"Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious
thoughts." Psalm 39:23, NIV.

Editor's Note: Peggy McCracken is an Enterprise writer and website manager whose column appears each Tuesday.

Our View

City leaders positive in zoning decision


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Whether an area should be wet or dry is always a hot issue in Texas.
There are as many differing opinions on the topic as there are different
labels of beer, whiskey and wine.

But, all those opinions fall under three main categories: 1.
Governmental regulations (politics), 2. The right to free enterprise
(capitalism) and 3. Moral choices (religion). You know you have a
volatile mixture when you have ingredients like politics, money and
religion with booze thrown in for good measure.

Texans don't like the government meddling in their affairs. They don't
like the government telling them how to run their neighborhoods nor
their businesses.

Our whole nation is based on the seperation of government from our moral
compasses. Yet the two continually battle for control of common ground.

When it comes down to the bottom line though, the most powerful and
deciding factor usually is money. Economics, more often than not and
whether we like it or not, is the deciding factor in many modern issues.

When it comes to whether or not the one block area on Eddy Street should
be zoned C-2, allowing the sale of beer and wine to go, once again
economics has been the deciding factor.

If the grocery store located there is allowed to sell beer and wine, and
it looks like that is what is going to happen, the store will probably
run a larger profit. If the store makes more money maybe its owners will
improve conditions in the store for their customers.

In a depressed area, such as Pecos is today, improving the economy is an
essential goal. If giving merchants more freedom in what they can sell
and where they can sell it helps the economy, it is probably a good
thing.

In granting C-2 zoning to this area on Eddy Street, Pecos city leaders
have made a positive decision for the city.

Pecos Enterprise
Mac McKinnon, Publisher
Division of Buckner News Alliance, Inc.
324 S. Cedar St., Pecos, TX 79772
Phone 915-445-5475, FAX 915-445-4321
e-mail: news@pecos.net
Associated Press text, photo, graphic, audio and/or video material shall not be published, broadcast, rewritten for broadcast or publication or redistributed directly or indirectly in any medium. Neither these AP Materials nor any portion thereof may be stored in a computer except for personal and non-commercial use. The AP will not be held liable for any delays, inaccuracies, errors or omissions therefrom or in the transmission or delivery of all or any part thereof or for any damages arising from any of the foregoing.

Copyright 1997 by Pecos Enterprise
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