Friday 22 August 2008

Friday Flush 22.08.08

Just a quick flush today cos I'm practically running out the door.

A man in Canada is in a critical condition after being hit with a toilet cistern lid. What an ignoble way to go. Wasn't there some famous general who was killed when he was struck by a roof tile? Does anyone know if that's true? I'm sure I heard it in a history lecture once upon a time.

The hunt is on for New Zealand's finest loo and entries are now open. Toilets are judged on all the usual criteria - cleanliness, signposting, appearance, amenities offered - and also, oddly, car parking.

Americans are apparently multitasking on the toilet; they're checking their emails and listening to music. 88% use at least one electronic device in the bathroom! The survey also found that women tend to spend longer in the bathroom than men. Recent efforts to curb water use in the shower has had little effect, with people spending just as much time in the shower as they did 4 years ago.

An incredible strike across all of Scotland by local government workers has disrupted many services. The strike, over set pay increases being below inflation levels, means that schools, which will be left without janitorial staff, will not open, as well as forcing the closure of art galleries, sporting facilities, cemeteries and public toilets. I encourage you to read the article, and especially the comments that follow it. You'll learn more about Scottish politics in five minutes than you ever thought possible.

And finally in this very brief flush this week, in Macedonia, government ministers who do not provide enough toilet paper for their staff could face fines of up to E1000.

Have a good weekend! I'm off to Sydney on this fine cold rainy day.

3 comments:

FoodieFi said...

Re Americans multitasking, but not saving water: the shower wee - a great example of the former and a solution to the latter. Maybe they're still put off by that Seinfeld episode and cries of 'you're the urinator!'

The Bog Logger said...

Can I take it then that you're a proud urinator? :-)

My mum used to say that weeing in the shower is bad, because shower drainage isn't designed to handle urine. Which is of course bollocks as urine is sterile and certainly can't be worse than pouring, I dunno, fragranced bleach based cleaning products down the shower.

I can see why people don't pee in public showers though - there's a sense of 'oversharing'. However, doesn't it make sense to pee in a public shower before you get in, to sterilise the floor? Somehow, I don't think that'll catch on.

FoodieFi said...

I often think people have odd ideas about where water from different taps and in different sinks comes from and goes to. Like people who won't fill up a water bottle in a bathroom - it's the same stuff as in the kitchen, surely.

There's great logic to the sterilising suggestion, but I can see it struggling to catch on. Similarly, a 'Urinator and Proud' T-Shirt may not be a topseller...Hehe, how about a 'I urinate and I vote' bumper sticker??