Hippies Use Side Door

Some dear relatives of mine have recently moved into the area for a temporary stay, and are renting a place in a local college hippie town. The apartment isn't too unusual, but it is certainly rented to people of all sorts who stay for short periods, including, to be sure, a lot of students. The first time I visited, I did not even enter the bathroom. But when I did finally go in, I found it was a mine of interesting tidbits...


For starters, they have what I will call a "flow-through" bathroom. You remember from Lipton tea, right? That was probably even before my time, but I distinctly remember singing some sort of silly song as a kid, and my mom explaining to me the concept of the "flow-through" teabag (in order to increase brewing effectiveness, etc.) But what I mean is that there is a door on one side, and a door on the other side, so that if you happen to be on one side or the other, you can just go into the bathroom without having to walk all the way around your house to get there. Or you can go in and simply "flow through" to the other side. On the downside, you have to close and/or lock two doors, and then remember to unlock or otherwise open the other door before you leave. But still, I can see the advantages. The cat likes it, apparently.



Here is a view where you can see through one doorway into the other.

Also, another slightly odd thing about the bathroom is the way the toilet is placed, seemingly right in the middle of the floor plan. Looking at it, it's hard to see where else you would put the toilet, but for some reason it is not flush (haha) against the wall, but rather freestanding a couple inches out for reasons unbeknownst to moi. And the freestanding TP holder probably doesn't help.


Next up: The shower. If you look closely, you can see that there are two sets of knobs. One for bath faucet. One for shower. My "Aunt" (let's call her) says that this is one of the most annoying things about it, to her...



I wondered if the bathroom had always been a bathroom, or perhaps had been another type of room at some point (say, a really small bedroom?). Probably not, given the "flow-through" nature of the door arrangement. But I was noticing the way the bath and shower element seemed to be built out into the space. And I also kind of liked the archway-type detail above the shower curtain. (This was the first time my "Uncle" had ever noticed that.)

Next to the sink, they had a microfiber hand towel, which was so soft, you just wanted to keep touching it. And I kid you not, your hands would be dry in seconds, but the towel didn't seem to get wet at all. My Auntie loves it, and I must confess that I am a fan!


Finally, the bathroom chamber came equipped with this lovely sign right above the toilet. It's a pretty legit sign, actually. You could put a sign like this in almost any bathroom anywhere. But I think it's significant of the town that they are living in, which, as I mentioned, is a hippie college town. Which means it's full of people who like to save water by not flushing the toilet at all unless ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY. Now, don't get me wrong. I'm all for saving water. And I also, on occasion, will elect not to flush, if it doesn't seem like there's much going on. But there are degrees to this approach, and I think some people take it to the extreme.

Case in point: I once interviewed at a political magazine (based in this same town), and when I used the bathroom there, I discovered an ongoing discussion taking place on a piece of paper taped inside the bathroom stall, debating the merits and detractor qualities of flushing versus non-flushing, including which type of pee was permissible to not-flush, etc. (For example "stinky pee" = flush, while non-stinky = okay to leave. But then you have to decide which is which. You get the point). So that's where this was happening. Which is why I laughed when I saw the sign. Because I knew why it was there and that, yes, some people do need to be instructed to flush the toilet every time. Because a clogged toilet, as I'm sure you know, is not a laughing matter.

Musical "Chairs"

What you are looking at here is the iCarta iPod toilet paper holder. That's right, straight from the Macworld 2007 showroom floor to your sophisticated, musically-enhanced bathroom, this lovely item promises to "enhance your experience." Of what? Sitting on the toilet, we suppose? Brushing your teeth? Dancing around after a shower?

You'll notice that the two arms on the front fold in, so it doesn't technically *have* to be a toilet paper holder. That's more of an extra bonus. Like what else would you want your iPod dock to do, besides play music and charge your iPod? Darn things. Might as well make them do something useful, right?

This guy puts them all over his house, apparently, including at least two in the loo, it seems. The grammar here is a little off. I still want to know what s/he means by, "The high tech is a terrific pink for a house." But, as s/he points out, while the four integrated high-performance speakers are "moisture-free" that doesn't mean your iPod is, so he says he has to be careful when "taking a hot shower." Always recommended.

This one is from my dad - we'll call him Agent P (for Padre). And it's befitting of him, since he's always the one to know all things gadget. And this post is dedicated to Agent C in Mass., who recently suffered the loss of her iPod. RIP.

Roughing it

California has some of the cushiest campsites I've ever been to. Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining. Especially since there was no natural water near by. It's just that I don't remember anything more than a portapotty at the campsites we used to go to when I was a kid - that's if we were lucky. (Oh, and by the way, yes, I did walk to school in 8 feet of snow. Uphill, both ways.) But seriously. I was quite impressed with the facilities at the Juniper campground on Mt. Diablo, where I camped with some friends recently. In this lovely structure you see above, there are a fair number of flush toilets, with sinks and mirrors and, yes, toilet paper, in the units. There were the two outdoor sinks, one of which had warm running water. And - AND! - There were showers.

They weren't showers like you would have in your home, so much, but they weren't bad. They were the Navy type showers, or like the kind I encountered in a hostel in France last year. You hit the button once, and you get about two minutes of continuous water before it shuts off automatically. So that way, you can douse yourself, soap up, then rinse off, without wasting too much water. (Hint: if you keep hitting the button, the water keeps running :). Only major downside is, there was no way to adjust the water temperature. So it was great when I came down from a hot hike to the summit of Mt. Diablo in 95-degree weather, and the water was just a little bit cold. But not so great, I guess, if you were hoping to get a warm shower in the morning.

Now, the only problem with this brilliant watering facility was that it was a fair hike from the campground where we were stationed. There was a faucet for cold water, to use for cooking, etc. And, at the top of the loop, there were two "long-drop" style outhouses. A long-drop is basically a permanent porta-potty. It looks something like this:



I might have mentioned there were two. In fact one of them was "out of order" due to state budget restrictions. I suppose it's good that that one was out of order and not, say, the shower house. I manged somehow to not use the long-drop, and toughed it out with long walks, but in case you're wondering, the entrance looked like this:




And inside it looked like this:




At least the scenery looked like this:

In the Bathroom

This...is my bathroom. I thought I would introduce myself to you by way of the water closet, the loo, el baño. That space which is so personal, so private, and yet, where everything is revealed. I have the standard American white porcelain toilet, as you can see. I made a point of getting a nice, woven white shower curtain - tasteful, but not too much. Goes with the sort of beige wall color. There's a three-section medicine cabinet to the right, which you can't see (very exciting!). And we have a nice bird painting on the wall to the left, hidden behind the door. I recently replaced the shower head with a gentler one, which also happens to be a water-saving shower head. Yay, saving water! And the rug - funny story about the rug.

Looks like it matches the diamonds in the floor pattern, doesn't it? Well, it does match. The thing is, I went to Target, thinking I would buy a white rug, to match the shower curtain, only they didn't have any white ones with a texture that I liked. I got this color, thinking it was a lot lighter beige than it actually was. Only when I brought it home, did I realized that it matched the color in the floor EXACTLY. Kismet! Well, that's how it goes with toilets, I guess. You just have to channel their energy. Tap into your intuition. And you will never be without a sufficient and safe place to relieve yourself.

Well, so that's my bathroom at present. Pretty cosy. I like it. And I look forward to sharing with you stories of many more...