It's been so cold here the past couple of days. After walking from the Metro to the house last evening it took about an hour for my feet to re-warm. They were cold to begin with since our area at work is poorly heated. Then, they got chilled some more waiting for the bus. It wasn't as bad walking to the house, since I was moving, but by then the freeze had set in and there was no turning back.
I guess the cold followed us back from our trip to Pennsylvania this past weekend. Along the way at each stop the wind was whipping and what little snow there was was blowing. That was especially true at the Somerset rest stop on I-70 - the Pennsylvania Turnpike. That rest stop sits atop a hill that catches the wind no matter which direction its blowing. It's the same rest stop where you can see the large, majestic looking wind turbines turning slowly in the wind. Well, not really slowly. If you were a fly at the end of one of the turbine blades I'm sure you wouldn't say it's at all slow. The turbines are just so huge that the turning looks slow and majestic from a distance.
Speaking of flies there were several inside that rest stop too. In the men's room. In the urinals. These aren't your every day urinals, mind you. They are the waterless kind. The kind that uses a floating trap of chemical sealant that allows the waste to flow unimpeded to the pipes below while separating the rest of us from the pipes and all the stuff they contain. No water is wasted to flush things down the drain. The savings in flushes and noise and water must be tremendous.
The flies aren't your every day ones either. Someone got the clever idea of putting a decal of a fly near the bottom back wall of each urinal! Clever. The fly is a target to aim for. I read that maintenance crews at Schiphol airport in Amsterdam reported in 2005 that adding a fly target to urinals reduced bathroom cleaning costs by giving men something to aim at.
Men need that. Something to aim at. Targets. Being the goal-oriented creatures we are. And it's fun, too! Gives you something to do during the down time in the restroom. I mean, you're just standing there anyway so you might as well make a game of it. Men need that too. Fun and games, that is.
We're simple folk, us men. Don't need much. Targets. Games. Fun. Ah! The stuff of life!
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About Me
- Mark Gorman
- I was born in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, along the banks of the Susquehanna River, in the valley made up by Bald Eagle Mountain to the south, and gentle hills and valleys to the north. That place that sheltered me, gave me food and friends, and both physical and spiritual nourishment for 18 years. That is the space where I was physically and emotionally formed. Ever since growing up there . . . because of growing up there . . . I have been inexorably linked to nature . . . to the earth and to all life.