Why the world doesn't work - water - you vs. the city

Today I looked down and realized I was two days late on my house payment.  Yep it is due the 1st and today is the 3rd!  So, I wrote out a check and ran through the front yard to mail it.  Well, I get close to the mailbox and realize it is muddy so I decide to step on the water meter cover because it is solid only I fall right in!  Water is coming out and it is obvious it is flooded. 

I call the city and tell them I think there might be a leak.  So, they send out their one man show to come and take a peek.  So, this guy comes driving up to the water meter area in the city truck.  Lights are flashing.  I watch him for a few minutes and realize he's getting ready to leave!  OH no you don't mister, not without talking to me first!  Sheesh.  So, I get my fuzzy slippers on and run out to catch him.

He looks super happy that I'm home and need to chat.  :)  So, I begin to discuss the situation, the water and how I fell in and how yard is sinking in and the main sewer line is coming through the yard etc.  He listens and objects to everything.  He has determined the water isn't leaking because there is no "bleach" or "chlorine" present in his handy dandy plastic test tube.  He tells me the water is dirty and has been there a long time.  Uhhhh....yes that is obvious that there is a water backup.  However, he tells me it is just "that time of year".  He wants to reassure me so he tells me he is going to pump out the water.  I say great.  So, I grab my 4yr old and we watch him.  This water employee is now even more excited that he has an audience to critique his pumping water skills.  Yes!

So, we watch him take out a home-made pump.  He starts hand pumping out water and then we would watch it run down the street.  He pumped more and same thing.  And more.  And more and more.  Until he tells us that it isn't filling back up very fast so it can't be a leak.  In fact, if it was a leak our grass would be bleached white (even though it is white from the winter still)!  He even let us know that having water bubbling up from the ground there was perfectly fine.  We should worry if it is clear and not dirty.  OH and technically, we were on the other side of the street where the other water department is responsible.  Not this department.  We discussed the terrible construction of the subdivision and he then enlightened me that he lives 30 miles away out in the country on 360 acres.  He knows this neighborhood very well because he did the meter readings for the prior three years. (This makes him a total expert on the construction of the homes in the neighborhood right?)  I did not ask him what his new position with the water department was (since he doesn't read meters anymore). 

Well, given this home is a rental and I have done all I can as a tenant, I decided to thank him for his expertise and move on.  Literally.  So, I'm now on the hunt for a real home that we can call our own.  Somewhere where we don't have to live by HOA rules of where to park and how to mow your lawn.  A place where my kids are safe and we can enjoy some peace.  I don't think I'm ready to live on 360 acres 30 miles away, but it gets my mind to thinking.