Plumbing, and History

How do I turn on the tap? Let me count the ways...
1. Pull the little lever towards me
2. Pull the little lever upwards
3. Press the little lever downwards.
4. Press a button, either obvious or concealed
5. Turn a handle
6. Hold my hands under the spout and hope something happens
... and I'm sure there are more I've missed. In Australia we more often just have simple handles which have to be turned, so I've been having a fun (and often confusing) time trying to work out just how to get the result I want, ie. a stream of water.

And then we come to toilet flushing. Sometimes there's a lever on the side of the cistern. Well, although I've never seen those before (we mostly have buttons set into the top of the cistern), they were easy enough to figure out. However, then we come to toilets in public places, which have myriads of flushing devices. Some have a lever at the back of the seat, which is easy because we have those at home. Some have a button in the wall, which we also have at home. One I was in had a foot pedal, which I've never come across anywhere else. Many, most disconcertingly, flush automatically, which I am not used to. They're fine if they wait until you've actually finished and stood up, but today I was in one which was a bit over eager, and flushed when I just moved sideways slightly. So now, whenever I go into a toilet which is new to me, I carefully suss out the flushing arrangements before I do anything else.

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I have a tendency to play the "tough guy", so although I will wear lots of layers and gloves when it's cold, I really don't like to wear a hat. However, the other day when we were at Harper's Ferry, it was much colder than either of us had expected, probably under 10°C. Luckily, I had taken a jacket which had a pair of gloves in the pocket, and S had included a hat for me, but I was reluctant to wear it, thinking that I would manage to be warm enough with just the jacket and gloves. However, she persuaded me, and I had to admit that it increased my comfort level.

We drove back from Harper's Ferry mostly in the dark, leaving there at around 5 pm so that we were faced with the commuters travelling home from work in or near DC. I was once again amazed at the sheer numbers of Americans on the road. For at least 40 miles there was a constant 3-lane-wide stream of headlights passing us.

Speaking of cars, something which has struck me quite forcibly since I've been here is the dearth of small cars (and older ones). Almost every vehicle I see is big, chunky, muscular, powerful looking, and fairly new and shiny. Where are all the young women and older women, who typically drive smaller cars in Australia? Where are the poor students, who can only afford to drive a 20 year old, rusty, beat-up 4 cylinder hatchback or small sedan? Where are the young guys, who like to drive large but old-and-being-souped-up sedans? Maybe none of these groups exist here in the US. Maybe everybody just wants and can afford to drive a large, powerful, status symbol car that says Look out, I'm coming and nobody is going to stand in my way.

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Today I visited Old Town Alexandria, in Virginia. (The states I've visited or passed through so far: Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, New York, Massachusetts, New Jersey, California, and I think Delaware briefly. That's pretty impressive for someone who comes from a country where it takes two days to drive through her home state). Anyway, I took the Metro to Alexandria, and wandered through the historic section, sort of following a walking tour guide and noting places of interest. Forgetting that it was November 11th, and not realising that there would be memorial services being held, I blundered into the Museum of Black History to find myself intruding on a service which seemed to be attended only by African Americans. Feeling very conspicuous, I quietly browsed through the brochures on display, discreetly used the bathroom, and snuck out again.

The Torpedo Factory Art Gallery was an interesting place and yes, it used to be a torpedo factory. Visitors can watch artists working in small individual studios in which they also display and sell their work. I was very impressed with one display of photos.

In a t-shirt shop I saw on display t-shirts with a photo of GWB and proclaiming his inauguration in 2005. They didn't waste any time putting those out.

Today I encountered yet another tap option: pull the knob upwards, after turning it left or right to adjust the water temperature. Weird. And in my previous post on this subject, I didn't even mention the many ways that shower taps work. On the subject of showers, it seems to be relatively uncommon here for the shower to be in a separate recess from the bath, but instead it's usually over the bath, meaning you have to climb in and out over the bath side, which can be dangerously slippery. In Australian hotels and motels you'd be likely to have only a shower and no bathtub, while in private homes, especially newer ones, bath and shower are separate from each other (but in the same room). And the main toilet in the house has its own room separate from the main bathroom, although ensuite bathrooms include a toilet.