Glad to see my point I thought should be obvious was made before I got back. Proper bonding is mandated in code and should always be followed therefore properly grounded.

NEC states that an individual ground rod shall not exceed 25 ohms to ground. In my area I rarely see more than 6 ohms and most times it is is closer to 1 ohm. Your own statement of "hardly bone dry" makes the point much better. The wetter the ground with mineral content lowers the return path resistance.

I can't say the shock isn't impossible in an arid climate with an improperly grounded home. Most arid climates are sandy and have thousands of ohms of resistance in the ground/cm. Even clay/shale can reach 4060ohms/cm. I just can't draw the parallels.

You can correct me if I am wrong. No animosity here.