OCTOBER 10 • 2019 | 5
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T
he royal flush (10-Jack-
Queen-King-Ace, same
suit) is the best hand to
hold in poker; it is unbeatable.
Kn
owing that playing cards
have a long history, I find it no
wonder that the cards of this
“famous” hand
influence our
everyday speech.
If you have
strong faith in a
venture coming
off very well or
failing misera-
bly, you might
offer someone 10-to-1 odds on
the outcome.
A salesperson trying to
make his pitch might assure
you that his presentation will
take “10 minutes tops.
” Well,
how gullible are you? Many
offers should not be touched
with a 10-foot pole.
From your experience with
cop shows, you are famil-
iar with the signoff 10-4.
It usually signifies understand-
ing. Before you lose patience
with someone, you should
count to 10. If you have been
working really hard, you may
benefit if you take 10; if you
are close to the beach when
you decide to do this, get your
surfboard and hang 10.
Want to signify that some-
one does not know what he
is talking about? Tell him he
does not know jack. Before
you can say Jack Robinson,
he will have a smart retort for
you. The list of specialty jobs
these days shows us that rarely
do we find someone who is a
jack of all trades. Remember,
however, that all work and no
play make Jack a dull boy.
A lovely lass may be a
beauty queen; if she over-
does things, she may be a
drama queen; if she shows
no emotion, she is deemed
an ice queen.
Have you had a day when
everything went right? You felt
like the king of the hill. Got
money to spare? Then you
may want to bet on the horse
races, the sport of kings. Today
it seems that cash is king.
Having eaten sumptuously,
you may declare you had a
meal fit for a king.
When making deals, it is
advisable to keep an ace up
your sleeve. If you are top dog,
then you hold all the aces. The
clincher is to play your ace,
which will be your ace in the
hole.
Just remember that what-
ever you do, play/say your
cards right.
Water for Flint
The story “Israeli Technolo-
gy is Answer to Flint Water
Crisis,
” Sept. 19, page 30,
missed the point. Not that the
technology won’
t work, it just
solves the wrong problem.
The Flint problem is not
an absence of clean safe
water. The Great Lakes Water
Authority is delivering to
Flint’
s reservoirs some of the
highest-quality water available.
Flint’
s pumps deliver it to the
water mains running down
each street, and those mains
have healed after adequate
time with properly treated
water. It’
s been verified with
testing.
Some homes in Flint test
clear. Others don’
t, and some-
times they are next-door
neighbors. The problems are
in the customers’
homes and
property, the last few feet of
pipe up to their tap. Copper
pipes were soldered with lead.
Faucets built before lead was
banned are some of the worst
offenders.
Corrosion control fails in
them because parts move and
rub off the protective coating.
Lead also may have deposited
in formerly safe pipes and
now is leaching. It’
s senseless
to provide alternative sources
for homes that test clear, but
not every home is being test-
ed. Because the test costs less
than a week’
s supply of bottled
water, it’
s foolish to continue
supplying expensive alternative
water, bottled or from some
exotic device, without deter-
mining if it is necessary.
If found necessary, the vic-
tims of this fiasco deserve help
in fixing their plumbing rather
than living with operating and
maintaining their own mini
water treatment plant. Can
Grandma hobbling around on
her walker manage this? The
story didn’
t mention what this
contraption costs and what
operating skill are required.
More or less than new pipes
and fixtures? Salesmen at
exhibits always have the best
idea since sliced bread. Perhaps
it works well for a desert, but
Flint is not a desert.
— Dennis L. Green, PE
Farmington Hills
Sy Manello
Editorial Assistant
ws, you are famil-
i noff 10-4.
if she shows
letters
for openers
Play Your Cards Right