Sioux Falls is in the middle of a heatwave. We are having consecutive daytime temps reaching well into the +90s. So I thought it was time to turn on the in-ground lawn sprinklers and give my grass, and some dandelions, a drink.

I've found one of the many anxiety-producing tasks for a South Dakotan is turning on the lawn sprinklers every summer. It's like a box of chocolates...you never know what you're going to get.

Get our free mobile app

Like so many people living in the midwest, I winterize my sprinkler system every fall. Every summer I plug in the control box, twist a couple of knobs, turn a couple of levers, and look for geysers shooting up from a broken sprinkler head.

But this year I had a new treat. I went through all the rigamarole of firing up the watering system and was about to cycle through my zones...(that's sprinkler speak for turning the dial to ON)...and I realized I'd sprung a leak in a whole new location.

I shut everything down and went to consult the source of all knowledge, YOUTUBE. YOUTUBE told me I needed a Pressure Vacuum Breaker, Bonnet Assembly Kit. To which I said, “Of course”.

I then set out to find a Pressure Vacuum Breaker Bonnet Assembly Kit in Sioux Falls. But guess what? Gobs of other folks around Sioux Falls also needed Pressure Vacuum Breaker Bonnet Assembly Kits, and they bought them all.

One clerk at a parts store in Sioux Falls said they, “Can't keep them in stock. They fly off the shelves as soon as we get them in. I've never seen anything like it.”

I had no idea. Sure we've seen shortages and panic buying of toilet paper, beef, canning jars, gas, and now...Pressure Vacuum Breaker Bonnet Assembly Kits. Crap.

Look Inside That Big Pit By The Sioux Empire FairGrounds

More From KIKN-FM / Kickin' Country 99.1/100.5