Death by Gadget
Rechargeable Water Drama
The Dometic GO Hydration Water Faucet died somewhere between the dunes and the tide pools, just gave up mid-pour like it had seen enough Oregon coast for one lifetime. This wasn’t your grandfather’s camp spigot that you twist until water comes out. This was a self-powered faucet with a rechargeable battery, magnetic base, and LED light that apparently decided our camping trip wasn’t worth dispensing its promised 150 liters per charge. Mo and I adapted quickly enough, tipping the water jug directly into our coffee mugs and pretending this was always the plan.
There’s something oddly satisfying about reverting to basics when a $90 piece of camping technology decides to take a sabbatical. The faucet was supposed to transform any water container into a running water system with just a double tap on the touch button, complete with automatic shutoff after one minute to prevent waste. Instead, it transformed our morning coffee routine into a primitive water-pouring exercise that our ancestors would have found completely normal.
The replacement saga began. Dometic’s customer service apparently operates on the principle that being one month past warranty is more of a suggestion than a hard rule, so they shipped a new faucet with a “goodwill replacement”.
Both the replacement faucet and another mystery shipment (a bike parts, big surprise) were supposed to arrive today, following eerily similar routing patterns through Montana’s logistics maze like they were in some kind of delivery magic show. I spent more mental energy than warranted trying to decode shipping logistics and predict delivery windows, creating elaborate theories about which package would actually show up and whether FedEx had learned anything about Montana geography since my last order.
Then perspective kicked in. Three years of warranty coverage for a piece of camping gear isn’t terrible, even if the timing feels inconvenient. The faucet will arrive when it arrives, the packages will sort themselves out according to whatever mysterious laws govern regional distribution centers, and meanwhile there are trails waiting that don’t require rechargeable water dispensers to enjoy. Let the rechargeable chips fall where they may.