I'm happy to see you feeling a little more chipper, Marci! First, the olive oil is for soap! I hope you won't be ingesting any of it in soap form. There are pure, 100% olive oils with no additives available and might just be your ticket to survival. Heck, before you work too hard, you might just test a small sample of the pure variety on your skin and see if there is a reaction.

In the states, our ground water has varying degrees of mineral content, chiefly iron, which tastes foul and puts an orange cast on laundered clothing and plumbing fixtures. We call that water "hard" and to "soften" it, we have large tanks in the home that filter the water through pellet salt thus removing the prominent minerals and their more pungent properties. Users of private wells are generally in more rural areas and typically prefer "soft" water. Users of the municipal "city" water systems have filtered water directly piped into their homes, eliminating the need for a water softener. So ends your first lesson in USA 101. There will be a pop quiz.