Speeding Cyclist Almost Kills Pedestrian
1920s Sign Exposed During Third Street Demolition in S.F.
Day Around the Bay
![_Officer-Involved Fatal Shooting in Bayview [Updated]](http://sfist.com/assets_c/2011/07/bullet_casings-thumb-110x110-642500.jpg)
Officer-Involved Fatal Shooting in Bayview [Updated]
Sunday: Watch Women's World Cup Finals at Public House
It's Tuesday again? Already? Damn, how often does the Essefficist have to answer your nagging questions? Nag, nag, nag! You're always after us for the bestest answers to anything that ever crawled up your something-or-other. Don't you think we have better things to do? It's not like we aren't nursing a sore shoulder here! We've been to the chiropractor twice in the past week alone! Do you realize how much ibuprofen we've gobbled up in the last ten days? And how many times we've had to refreeze that ice pack? Damn! Well, anyway, here we are, once again, fighting the pain, digging deep, and giving you the truth. This week, as is so often the case, first water, then urine. Avanti!
Paul Davidson, of SFist's sister site LAist, was apparently a little miffed reading our response to Prune Girl's question last week and wonders, "Why is it that Bay Area folks are so obsessed with water -- primarily LOS ANGELES' water? Maybe there wouldn't be as much of a water possession issue if people in S.F. stopped taking baths so long that it made their toes wrinkle up?"
While technically, the question here is "Why is the Bay Area so concerned about LA's water?" it seems that the real question is why is Paul so convinced that all we ever do up here is watch Chinatown (now playing at the Castro), complain about the Los Angeles Aqueduct and take long baths? Methinks Paul and the 3,694,819 other people who live in the City of Angels doth protest too much. Level-headed Essefficist readers will agree that last week's column betrayed no obsession with water, be it LA's or anyone else's (just a healthy fascination with water's effects on our little piggies), but Paul's question certainly does. And why is that? Let's just say that LA is "a semi-arid desert region with very little native water." Actually, we don't need to say that ourselves because the official website of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power says it for us. So who could blame Paul for being so concerned about where his drinking water comes from?
The long and the short of it here is that California has too many people and not enough water. And to make matters worse, a lot of the people are living a long way from the water. 
It's not like everyone in LA is going to move to Mono Lake or the Owens Valley all of a sudden — not that they'd be welcome, or that it would help — but a time is gonna come when water is going to be the biggest political issue in the state.
Despite Paul's insecurities about his city's water supply and the wild speculations engendered thereby, San Franciscans are not obsessed with water. They are, however, aware of the need to conserve it and aware that Los Angeles has a pretty shady history when it comes to securing water rights. Angelenos, it seems, like living somewhere where it's eighty-five and sunny three hundred and fifty days of the year and they'll take water from the rest of the state in order to do it, regardless of how much they need to trick themselves into thinking that everyone else is nuts and they're okay. But what's going to happen when the Bay Area's population is as maxed out as LA's? Even now, the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta provides drinking water for 17 million people in Southern California!
So anyways, Paul, stop stealing our water, you meanie!
(Ooh, ooh, we're gonna get so creamed in the comments!)
On we go. John asks, "Here's a question: Why does it hurt when I pee?"
Basically, John, the cause of your discomfort is probably that your urine is passing over inflamed tissue in your urethra, causing a sharp stinging sensation. Not unlike salt in a wound, you know? And why the inflamed tissue? It's probably a urinary tract infection. If your name were Sally, or Camille, or Sarah Jessica Parker, we might think you had a vaginal infection, but your name's John (unless, like so many people on the internet, you're lying about your identity), so it's probably a UTI. (Although there are some other things, including medications, a cyst, a or kidney stone, that also could be causing this.) These infections are easily treated with antibiotics, John. Go see a doctor.
More next Tuesday. Email your questions to the Essefficist or post 'em in the comments. We gotta go take a bath. Our shoulder hurts.
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