Today, I’m writing—again—about water.

Vienna’s water supply is famously clean. It comes straight from the Alps, requiring no treatment whatsoever. No chlorine, no filtration.

Yes, I read municipal water reports. Don’t judge.

Unfortunately, our house isn’t connected to the local water system. Instead, we rely on a well. Why? It’s a mystery—just one of the “charms” of our rental. The well water is fine for cooking and brushing teeth, but not for drinking. Too much calcium. So, we get our drinking water from a dispenser. A truck delivers five jugs each month.

Here’s the catch: our dispenser doesn’t have a cooling unit. To keep the water cold, we fill bottles and refrigerate them. Simple, right? Not so much.

The first problem is my ADD. I cannot ignore bottles that aren’t full. If I see a half-empty bottle on the counter, I’ll drop everything to fill it. This drives everyone slightly insane.

The second problem is the kids. They’re way too lazy when it comes to refilling bottles. They’re also sneaky—leaving bottles at a level that’s technically not empty, so they can argue it’s “not their turn” to refill. By Sunday, the fridge is full of bottles with just a sip left in each.

And then there’s my Long Island-bred wife, who has no problem expressing (very directly) that these, and other issues, should be resolved immediately.

But let’s look on the bright side. The dispenser is 10 meters from the fridge. That’s a 20-meter round trip. Multiply that by a few daily refills, and it adds up to about 280 meters a week—or roughly 14 kilometers per year. So, at least we’re getting some exercise while keeping hydrated.