Wash 'n' Dri

This week I spent a few days in Pittsburgh at an industry conference (CESSE), which went very well. CESSE stands for the Council of Engineering and Scientific Society Executives. Not that I'm an executive, but I work with some of 'em... I have to thank my friend Tom who originally asked me to moderate a session at this meeting. I met some great colleagues who work for other publishers and vendors...and have probably roped myself into moderating (at least) next year. But next year the conference is in Vancouver, where I've never been, and where the weather is probably delightful in July. But that's not exactly what motivated me to blog today.

In the hotel (the Omni William Penn, which was lovely) my room had a regular manual flush toilet, but the commodes in all the common areas were the automatic kind. And I sampled the rest rooms on quite a few floors: the lobby, the fitness center, the Conference Level, the William Penn level, and the 17th floor where they served the meals. I'd say that, at least half the time during the week, the toilet flushed as soon as I sat down initially, which means I would get sprayed with (hopefully somewhat clean) water before I conducted my personal business there. So I'd have to wipe for the usual reasons and then to dry myself off from the spray. A minor inconvenience, made slightly worse because this was a panty hose, skirt, and slip week for the poster child for blue jeans and sneakers. I chalked it up to the way the electronic sensors were tuned at the hotel.

So, around 5:30PM I arrived at Pittsburgh International Airport and decided to make a potty break before waiting on the security line. You guessed it. As soon as I sat down, I felt the flushing mechanism engage. Sigh. What does it say about my humdrum existence if I'm looking forward to flushing my toilet at home?