Atlas Flushed

[HenryC]

You can buy a bidet (pronounced bih-DAY) in just about any plumbing supply store in the Miami
area, this common continental convenience was a ubiquitous plumbing fixture in
Cuba, and they were often pointed out to me by my family as evidence of the
hygienic superiority of the Latin race. Those of you who have traveled in Europe
are no doubt familiar with them.

In the old country, bidets were large porcelain fixtures installed in home
bathrooms, although in Florida, the exile community often made do with
simplified pipe-hose-and-valve devices retrofitted onto the standard commode.
But, for the family that has everything...

What I can't figure out is what the remote controller is for.  The web site has sound, turn on your audio.

http://webapps.easy2.com/cm2/flash/generic_index.asp?page_id=36034019

[Bob23]

Hmm...that remote is a puzzler. Maybe when someone else is using the bidet, another person, like a co-pilot, can operate the unit using the remote just in case the captain should blackout. A great safety feature. I wonder if they make a  marine unit for use in CP 23's?
Bob23

[HenryC]

I wouldn't doubt the squared-away houseboat in Mr Greene's post wasn't equipped with one of these beauties, no doubt mated to an environmentally correct holding tank!

[Bob23]

Yep, no doubt. I wonder if the red tank up top is the holding tank? maybe they use an old hand pump to get the stuff up there and then the evaporative effect takes over. Will wonders never cease!
Bob23

[BobK]

In South Carolina we use the remote for the drinking fountain.

[HenryC]

Talkin' 'bout remotes...

When I had my after-market car radio/CD player installed, there were some comments in the instruction book about the "optional remote" that was available for some models.  Now, why would a car radio need a remote controller? 

Maybe teenagers might find one handy for back-seat activities, but grownups should just stop and get a room.

Maybe I'm old fashioned, but remotes seem to be a lot more  trouble than they're worth.  They always need batteries, or they're getting lost behind the cushions.  They never get thrown away, so there's  always a drawer somewhere full of old ones that go to appliances we no longer own.  And of course, the "universal remotes" just push us into another level of abstraction and confusion--a remote for the remotes?

I have a radical idea.  Why not just build equipment that is not operated by remotes.  All the controls are mounted in plain view on the device itself, so they never need batteries and you always know exactly where they are.  What a concept!

[crazycarl]

I totally agree with your opinion on remotes.  We personally have a 5 seperate remotes and a universal remote.  They all work fine,  we just never have enough batteries on hand to power them all.  I find myself always taking good batteries from one remote to power another and so on.  I can remember or first color tv.  We purchased it back in '82 and it was an enormous 19" diagonally!  It had programable push buttons and my friends would always comment that for $20 more, we could have bought the model with a remote.  Our daughter was 4, learning her numbers and she made a great remote.  And, we never had to replace batteries!

[Bob23]

  I agree and maybe I'm an old fart, but I remember the days when you had to get up to change the tv, get up to remove the record from the manual turntable and get up to change the volumn on the tuner.
  Now, my daughter doesn't know how she'd live without a remote start for her car. Electric car windows are another modern convenience we can't live without. Almost everyone eventually has a problem with 'em. But when was the last time you repaired a hand crank window? I did on my old 1987 Toyota Long Bed Extra Cap pickup. Once in 250,000 miles.
   But I do confess to having remotes for the tv. I don't think you can buy flat screens without them, not that I have a flat screen yet.
Bob23


Hmm...progress or regress.

[HenryC]

   Electric car windows are another modern convenience we can't live without. Almost everyone eventually has a problem with 'em. But when was the last time you repaired a hand crank window?

I live in Florida, which is crisscrossed by canals, and every year dozens of people drown when they drive into them.  Their doors won't open because of water pressure, and their windows won't open because the electricity is shorted out. The cars slowly fill up and they can't get out.  There is evidence most of them survive the crash and are conscious of the fact  they are going to die.

They sell little safety hammers so you can break your windows, let in the water and equalize the pressure, providing you can swing them hard enough against the resistance of the water.  But no one seems to consider than when you are upside down, panicky, hurt and disoriented, in a pitch-black car  that is quickly filling up with cold, foul-smelling water, you are not likely to be able to locate it while you are trying to simultaneously disentangle yourself from the seatbelts, airbags, and other debris in the vehicle. I've yet to hear of anyone using one successfully to escape.

I'm a very good swimmer and I know once I get a window open, I can escape, even if I'm operating completely on autopilot.  I also know I can turn a window crank even if I'm in a complete panic, the muscle memory is there because I do it all the time every day. I'm a sailor, and I can't help but subconsciously rehearse emergency procedures and visualize potentially dangerous situations.  I also know that the simpler your options are, the most likely they are to work. It's one of the major rules of seamanship: if you haven't got one aboard, it can't fail when you need it.

I've never owned a car with electrical door or window controls; the last one I bought, a 2010 Nissan Versa, was the only manual one left on the lot and I got it at a discount!  The salesman was astonished I would even take it off his hands. I also keep my vehicles an average of 10 years before I trade them in, so the fewer complex subsystems they have aboard, the less likely I'll need to have to get them fixed down the line, when parts may be scarce or expensive.

I guess this is just a pet peeve of mine.  Most of the mechanical conveniences in our lives were conceived of for marketing reasons, not because they actually make our lives any better or easier.  Remember, I'm the guy who owns a toaster with an LED display and a built-in microprocessor, (no, I am not making this up) and it still can't make a decent side of toast.

[newt]

Your post made me laugh Henry.  I think I understand myself a little more as I dream of buying an antique Porsche with roll down windows....

[brackish]

  I agree and maybe I'm an old fart, but I remember the days when you had to get up to change the tv, get up to remove the record from the manual turntable and get up to change the volumn on the tuner.

Me too Bob, but you have to remember that back in that time, there were only two or three channels to go through.  Now you have to go through several hundred before you determine that there really isn't anything worthwhile to watch anyway.

I've never owned a car with electrical door or window controls; the last one I bought, a 2010 Nissan Versa, was the only manual one left on the lot and I got it at a discount!

I recently helped my youngest son buy his first brand new car.  He asked me to shop online for him since he had a heavy work schedule at the time and I was fancy free.  He gave me his requirements (which made me proud).  There would be no Auto Trans nor power windows on his Ford Focus, he declared the cost of the inevitable repair on those devices not worth the trouble.  I searched a dozen dealerships from Austin to San Antonio and found two dusty units that met his requirements.  When I made an offer on one they balked.  I reminded the sales person that you may have found a rare third standard deviation of the population of car buyers who would actually desire such a car and you better jump on it when it appears.  They took the offer.

[kickingbug1]

   ah, the joys of owning the high tech marvel that is a 52 ford f3.

[Bob23]

Don't get me wrong. I love my 2001 Tundra with electric locks and windows. That's just they way the SR5 4wd comes. No problems with anything in 180k miles except some frame rust but don't get me started on that one!
I can't understand why they don't put in manual overides  on electric windows... guess they want the service business.
I also have a non- computer, non-electric anything carbureted 1984 Accord. Slow as hell, and unfortunately, lies dormant with a bad head gasket. But when she runs, she's still slow as hell, but I guess it's just my small way of thumbing my nose at the high tech electronic world we live in. Maybe driving these old cars sorta takes us back to a simpler time.
Bob23
(Newt: What Porsche are you thinking of buying? I've got my eye on a 1966 912.)

[curtisv]

Bob,

This is off-topic but...

(Newt: What Porsche are you thinking of buying? I've got my eye on a 1966 912.)

I used to own a 1970 911E.  Close to what you are looking for.  The E is for fuel injection (mechanical).  The PO replaced the fuel injection with dual Weber carbs.  That was fairly common as the fuel injection was notoriously unreliable and expensive to repair.  It also wanted 102 octane gas which meant get plenty of octane enhancer and "mix your own".

I didn't think the 912 was made in 1966 but I'm probably mistaken if you've had your eye on one.

Curtis

[Bob23]

   I or the craigslist seller could be mistaken. I remember working on an old 911S back in the day when I was starting out as a foreign car mechanic back in the days when there were foreign cars. 2 Weber 3- barrel carbs, that beautiful Porsche orange-butterscotch color...man I lusted over that car.   
   Now we drive a Camry...how boringly reliable. Maybe it's a midlife crisis thing, but that Porsche is looking better and better.
   Sorry for the thread drift...better than now drifts!
Bob23