Aqueducts are really nice and all, but I think I’d prefer the plumbing system in 2018 Melbourne. The museum just received enough ancient Roman artefacts for an entire exhibit, and I had the pleasure of designing the display. I love history and all, but one of my favourite things about it is that it IS history. I’m really happy just learning about it from the perspective of my cozy 2018 existence. And you know, I think it makes me more appreciative of what I have right now, so it’s a win-win.
The ancient Romans had it pretty good, I have to say; better than most. At least they HAD plumbing, and many other ‘advanced’ nations didn’t have that for centuries afterwards. I mean, it’s not like here in Melbourne. Drain camera inspections are really preferable to having to go to the toilet in a large hole, and the pit being emptied by slaves, and let’s not even go into the hassle they had to go to to get water that was just about drinkable. I think about that every single time I turn on the tap, or use any of the plumbing.
A drain repair person back in the olden days had the arduous tasks of removing large blockages, because when the aqueducts were first introduced they didn’t exactly come pre-packaged with a bunch of laws. People thought ‘great, a new dumping ground and this one takes things away for good!’ so they just started loading everything in there. There were blockages, pile-ups, and the Emperor had to bring in new laws pronto to stop people abusing the system.
I guess 2018 plumbing is a blessing and a curse. If you abuse it, then it’ll mostly just be you reaping the consequences as your sink gets blocked or your shower pressure drops. But there ARE professionals in Melbourne doing drain unblocking, as a job, and it doesn’t involve climbing huge stone towers to remove…whatever it is they had to remove. So that’s still a net win for 2018, sorry.
-Wayne