3004: Wells - Revision history

PaintspotInfez: /* Explanation */ Clarifed.

2026-04-22T08:57:21Z

‎Explanation: Clarifed.

2A02:C7C:6D8A:6800:FC7A:E6B7:62FA:8BB7: Change raw gocomics link to archive.org copy due to recent gocomics changes rendering the bare link useless for non-subscribers

2025-12-03T10:19:41Z

Change raw gocomics link to archive.org copy due to recent gocomics changes rendering the bare link useless for non-subscribers

Firestar233 at 23:47, 14 February 2025

2025-02-14T23:47:34Z

Firestar233 at 22:18, 14 February 2025

2025-02-14T22:18:12Z

Asdf: /* Transcript */ complete

2024-11-19T10:53:23Z

‎Transcript: complete

172.70.135.51: /* Explanation */

2024-11-15T00:29:18Z

‎Explanation

HARRISWON2024! at 23:36, 14 November 2024

2024-11-14T23:36:04Z

Apollo11 at 17:08, 5 November 2024

2024-11-05T17:08:35Z

DKMell: minor fixes

2024-10-31T19:40:40Z

minor fixes

CalibansCreations: /* Explanation */

2024-10-30T18:29:28Z

‎Explanation

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 In reality the complex systems of the {{w|water cycle}} dictate the formation of the underground 'pools' that the wells take from and the seeps of underground water that supply them, meaning that it's not really so surprising (nor necessarily quite as simple as it sounds) to get your water from beneath the ground, and is a process {{w|Elephant#Behaviour and ecology|not restricted to humans}}. This theme of things that seem like they shouldn't work, but do, has also been used in [[2540: TTSLTSWBD]], [[2115: Plutonium]], and [[2775: Siphon]], among others.
-The title text points out that in some cases, people intending to drill water wells instead found oil beds. Oil is a very valuable energy source, so they became [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kCfGVLKr5oM very wealthy as a result]. This is the source of the idiom "struck oil" to mean receiving a windfall as a result of a lucky occurrence. But you have to be careful — if you blindly "drink whatever you find at the bottom", as Megan says, you'll [https://www.merckmanuals.com/home/injuries-and-poisoning/poisoning/hydrocarbon-poisoning get very sick] if it's oil rather than water. Oil tends to be buried much deeper than water, but each has its own (different) prerequisites that don't make it equally likely to get either (or both) at any given spot. A [[1662: Jack and Jill|prior comic]] made some related points about ground-hydrology.
+The title text points out a possibility that sounds even ''more'' absurd when abstracted like this: the fact that you could find a highly-valuable resource instead (oil). In some cases, people intending to drill water wells instead found oil beds. Oil is a very valuable energy source, so they became [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kCfGVLKr5oM very wealthy as a result]. This is the source of the idiom "struck oil" to mean receiving a windfall as a result of a lucky occurrence. But you have to be careful — if you blindly "drink whatever you find at the bottom", as Megan says, you'll [https://www.merckmanuals.com/home/injuries-and-poisoning/poisoning/hydrocarbon-poisoning get very sick] if it's oil rather than water. Oil tends to be buried much deeper than water, but each has its own (different) prerequisites that don't make it equally likely to get either (or both) at any given spot. A [[1662: Jack and Jill|prior comic]] made some related points about ground-hydrology.
 This comic bears similarity to a [https://web.archive.org/web/20250116002502/https://www.gocomics.com/calvinandhobbes/1993/06/11 Calvin and Hobbes comic from 1993], one Randall may have been aware of, that points out properties of a common drink that can appear disgusting when the underpinnings are known.

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 The title text points out that in some cases, people intending to drill water wells instead found oil beds. Oil is a very valuable energy source, so they became [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kCfGVLKr5oM very wealthy as a result]. This is the source of the idiom "struck oil" to mean receiving a windfall as a result of a lucky occurrence. But you have to be careful — if you blindly "drink whatever you find at the bottom", as Megan says, you'll [https://www.merckmanuals.com/home/injuries-and-poisoning/poisoning/hydrocarbon-poisoning get very sick] if it's oil rather than water. Oil tends to be buried much deeper than water, but each has its own (different) prerequisites that don't make it equally likely to get either (or both) at any given spot. A [[1662: Jack and Jill|prior comic]] made some related points about ground-hydrology.
-This comic bears similarity to a [https://www.gocomics.com/calvinandhobbes/1993/06/11 Calvin and Hobbes comic from 1993], one Randall may have been aware of, that points out properties of a common drink that can appear disgusting when the underpinnings are known.
+This comic bears similarity to a [https://web.archive.org/web/20250116002502/https://www.gocomics.com/calvinandhobbes/1993/06/11 Calvin and Hobbes comic from 1993], one Randall may have been aware of, that points out properties of a common drink that can appear disgusting when the underpinnings are known.
 ==Transcript==

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-{{distinguish|561: Well}}
+{{distinguish|561: Well|common=Wells}}
 {{comic
 | number    = 3004
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 [[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
 [[Category:Geology]]

← Older revision		Revision as of 22:18, 14 February 2025
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		+	{{distinguish\|561: Well}}
	{{comic		{{comic
	\| number = 3004		\| number = 3004

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 ==Transcript==
-{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
+:[Megan is standing on the left and facing Cueball on the right. Megan has her left palm raised.]
 :Megan: I need water, so I think I'll dig a deep hole and drink whatever liquid I find at the bottom.
 :Cueball: What will you do after you drink it all? Dig another hole?

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 ==Explanation==
 Water is essential to life,{{cn}} and humans have long sought out places to get it. Freshwater surface sources like rivers and lakes most obviously dictate where people live, but are subject to changes of quantity and quality (e.g. the seasons/weather and what other people are doing with(/in) the water, upstream). Water can also be present beneath the surface in {{w|aquifer}}s, gradually having soaked through into various soil and/or rock layers, and may emerge (far more reliably and usably) from {{w|spring line settlement|handy seeps and springs}} where the local ground topology is favorable. But geology and geography don't coincide so usefully everywhere that someone requires water.
 Many modern countries (and a number of historic ones) will have at least some ability to pipe water from areas of high availability (e.g. from areas with reservoirs, natural or constructed) to other places of higher consumption (towns and cities), but not everyone will have [[1599: Water Delivery|piped water]] and may find it better to rely upon a {{w|well}}, a hole dug into the ground, deep enough to reach the local water to lift or [[2963: House Inputs and Outputs|pump]] out as needed. A borehole is similar, but may even puncture impermeable bedrock to access water held (under significant pressure) in rock layers below.

← Older revision		Revision as of 17:08, 5 November 2024
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	==Explanation==		==Explanation==
−	~~{{incomplete\|Created by a MAGICALLY WATERLOGGED OIL DRILL - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}~~
	Water is essential to life,{{cn}} and humans have long sought out places to get it. Freshwater surface sources like rivers and lakes most obviously dictate where people live, but are subject to changes of quantity and quality (e.g. the seasons/weather and what other people are doing with(/in) the water, upstream). Water can also be present beneath the surface in {{w\|aquifer}}s, gradually having soaked through into various soil and/or rock layers, and may emerge (far more reliably and usably) from {{w\|spring line settlement\|handy seeps and springs}} where the local ground topology is favorable. But geology and geography don't coincide so usefully everywhere that someone requires water.		Water is essential to life,{{cn}} and humans have long sought out places to get it. Freshwater surface sources like rivers and lakes most obviously dictate where people live, but are subject to changes of quantity and quality (e.g. the seasons/weather and what other people are doing with(/in) the water, upstream). Water can also be present beneath the surface in {{w\|aquifer}}s, gradually having soaked through into various soil and/or rock layers, and may emerge (far more reliably and usably) from {{w\|spring line settlement\|handy seeps and springs}} where the local ground topology is favorable. But geology and geography don't coincide so usefully everywhere that someone requires water.