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06/17/2004: "Government Protecting Us"
It is common for folks to think that the government is looking out for us. Sometimes it's even true. But not always.
I'm presently being hobbled by the city water department. They won't install a water meter at a house that I have plumbed. The house had burned, an investor bought it and is rehabbing it, and he hired me to run new plumbing in the house. I pulled a permit and did the work. But when I was ready to turn on the water and test the system, there was still no meter.
For those of you who are plumbing-illiterate, the meter is an eight-inch-or-so gizmo that goes on the water line, usually in a sunken box out near the curb in front of the house. The water from the city system runs through the meter and on through the pipe up to the house. The meter, of course, measures how much water flows by. If the meter isn't there, there's no connection between the city's water and the house.
When the investor calls the city to request water, they tell him "The house was condemned and we removed our meter. Before we can set another one, we have to receive a notice from Code Enforcement." Code Enforcement, however, doesn't do anything but inspect my plumbing and give me a green sticker if everything is okay--and they can't inspect it until the water department sets a meter.
This used to be called a Mexican Standoff, but the thin-skinned sissies among us probably wouldn't appreciate it, so I'll call it a Swedish Baptist Standoff. (You may say absolutely anything against Whites and/or Baptists.) Whatever the name, it's your tax dollars at work.
The solution? Swipe a meter from an empty house that's up for sale, install it at the job site, get the inspection, and quickly return the meter. Thus government turns its citizens into sneaks.
It's time for a revolution. Check out the Constitution Party.
