Have any of the ladies amongst us ever encountered the "squat and squirt" type "facilities?" Especially awkward if you're wearing jeans....worse, ski-gear (Cervinia, 1983)....how do you keep your balance whilst clutching on to your straps with one hand to prevent them falling into the cesspit below?

Any suggestions gratefully received.

It was a very difficult situation for me. I was trying desperately hard not to guffaw.

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Originally posted by Sibling Coot:
Can someone elaborate on the flush-you-out toilet? Are we talking a common or garden water-closet (porcelain throne) that has its floor sluiced as well?

[I heard that in the US there are toilets available that can be pre-programmed to flush so that one doesn't need to do so on the Sabbath. And that in Germany, there are toilets with little ledges that catch the bodily evacuations (rather than them plopping in the water), that then hinge downwards and drop their burdens with no splash].

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Originally posted by daisymay:
The London flush-you-out loos are rumoured to flush the whole interior, ceilings and all. And they are timed, so if you stay there too long..

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Originally posted by Stooberry:
they can't ALL be designed by men...

the 'wash-basin' in the mens' loos at the student union here in manchester looks like a huge circular metalic urinal. many drunk students (and some not so drunk) have made the mistake of peeing in it. any man would've known that that's a really daft shaped wash-basin for a male toilet. hell, i almost made the mistake of going in it when they built it.

oh, and "bottom line"... was that supposed to be a really bad pun?

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Sorry about the unintended pun.

But I remember the washbasin you describe from the supplier catalogs I browsed back when I was a junior flunky draftsman in an architect's office, back around 1971 perhaps, and the design was nothing new even then. Since my 1974 engineering degree made me part of the female engineer population which was something like 1 to 3% of all engineers, the odds are extremely high that the washbasin (and all the various urinals) were designed by men.

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Originally posted by Nunc Dimittis:
The ones in Sydney certainly flush you out - water jets from the ceiling so the whole place is washed out.

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So anyway, for Britishers, think Polo, but presumably Lifesavers are so named after the classic ring-shaped buoyancy aid you get at riversides and on ships etc?

Anyway, the only place where I have seen a much larger women's than men's toilet is John Lewis in Kingston, Surrey, where there are rows of cubicles for women (so my wife tells me!) and only two for men with three urinals. Too much information yet?

This woman told of when she was a girl in 1950s Leeds, living in 'notorious' flats ('apartments' for our American friends). For some reason, she and her friends knew one area of the building as 'the fairy grotto'. They KNEW the fairies went there every night because they kindly left money and 'fairy' balloons strewn around! The girl and her friends would BLOW UP said balloons...

Can someone help me here? I mean the part of the body that comes in contact with the seat is your thigh, right? And most of us know if we have an open cut or sore on our thighs, which might be a reason for not sitting. But the part that, err, counts is hanging out there in the open air, over the water and not coming in contact with anything, regardless of your gender.

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Originally posted by Ann:
Things may be looking up[/URL].

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Strange how the connection of "Looking up" and toilets does not seem like a positive development.

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Originally posted by The Coot:
I heard.. that in Germany, there are toilets with little ledges that catch the bodily evacuations (rather than them plopping in the water), that then hinge downwards and drop their burdens with no splash

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Originally posted by daisymay:
I think the german ones jsut reverse the common british slope as seen in loo pottery - and flush less vertically. You get them like that in UK now.

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No, Coot is largely right, it is a horizontal platform (also known as a continental shelf) but it doesnt hinge, it's just part of the porcelain. The strength of the flush is supposed to be enough to push the contents off the shelf and down into the drain. But sometimes you can be unlucky.

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Originally posted by Ultraspike:
There's also the urban myth about poisonous spiders that are lurking under toilet rims waiting for a nice juicy bit of flesh to sink their teeth into.

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Originally posted by Ultraspike:
There's also the urban myth about poisonous spiders that are lurking under toilet rims waiting for a nice juicy bit of flesh to sink their teeth into.

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My husband grew up without indoor plumbing, and there was frequently a black widow spider living in the outhouse. It stayed high up on the wall and never came near the seat. Still, he was terrified.

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Originally posted by Ultraspike:
And on a related note, why do those self-flushing toilets always seem to flush themselves just as you're entering the stall and then when you're ready to leave they just sit there? I always have to push the flush button myself.

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The Japanese manufacture a toilet seat wherewith one pushes a button and a tube-like device emerges from the rear of the toilet below the seat and shoots a stream of water at the user's rear.
Greta

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I saw a TV show on these toilets. Apparently there are designs, which after they have jet sprayed the user's rear with (warm) water, they emit hot air to dry it all... (I would have said, blow dried - but that no doubt would immediately be siezed upon by the dirty minded amongst us.

I think this thread has been fascinatingly popular, because we ALL have to at least go into bathrooms, and most of us need to use the amenities provided. Clean amenities are very important, and I know people are fascinated when they come across a new version of what they're used to. My Mum had an obsession with pink toilets. Our house was built in the 1960s and so has bathroom decor in hideous colours - like dove grey, pink, lime green and pale blue. In our case the toilet was pink, and was cracked in several places due to age. She spent months combing demolition sites looking for pink loos. Apparently the only place you can still get them is the US.

When she got over to San Francisco, she sent me a letter with a picture of a loo enclosed describing the differences. I couldn't believe it!!!

BTW someone posted a link to urinal etiquette - I scored very well! ('cept the last one) But figure it is a similar sort of behaviour as in a doctors surgery.