Friday, June 19, 2009

WHAT'S THE LATEST IDEA IN URINALS?



















Recently I wrote a blog entitled “From bidets to urinals…something for everyone” in which I discussed current new trends in bathroom fixtures and all of the options available to us these days. In this same vain I ran across an interesting discussion thread on one of my favorite forums, Gardenweb/Bathrooms, the other day where the question was pondered…” Any ideas for an unobtrusive urinal?” As the father of 3 sons and a nearly lifetime user of urinals myself I believe I can speak with some authority on the subject but oddly enough what came to mind first was not to find an unobtrusive urinal but one that would stand out instead. I recalled an article from the N.Y.Times a couple of years back about an artist named Clark Sorenson and his many artistic urinal and bathroom creations, reference http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/25/garden/25urin.html?_r=2 and the pictures above. These are not only obtrusive, but beautiful and useful. I’d have one if I could afford one. But most of us have to settle for a more simple solution and from this same thread on Garden Web came ideas such as a PVC pipe mounted on the wall, messy and crude in my opinion, various pictures of commercial varieties of urinals including one that looks like an egg mounted on the wall and one with a lid on it which I am sure my sons would have, unlike the toilet seat they never put down , would have never lifted. Another writer suggested a clapping device be attached to a standard urinal to encourage better aim…applause delivered with a successful aim would make the “shooter” take better aim and possibly improve his self esteem. The very best idea and admittedly probably the most expensive was to install a waterfall in the bathroom to be used as a urinal but the downfall would be that unlike most waterfall that simply recycle the water, used as a urinal would be using water constantly so that the urine could be disposed of. In these days of drought and bad economy we can’t afford a waterfall. In the mountains of North Ga. Where I’m from, a convenient tree as always served as a good urinal, maybe not so good for the tree but we have plenty of them to spare and after all it is the answer to where a bear goes! So maybe a very “green” bathroom would work with a tree conveniently planted in the bathroom for those of us mountain men.
In summation, urinals can be a great idea especially in a home with lots of boys/men but probably regardless of which option you might choose the urinal or its substitute from this list of many alternatives is still likely to cause a stir with your guests and folks in the neighborhood. This is almost as noteworthy as my recently purchased TOTO Washlet which has caused a major stir and talk in my neighborhood as well as a string of visitors marching through my house to see it and to get in line to have a chance to sit on it. How do you think the neighbors would react to the pink urinal pictured above? Wait until they see I have a solid bronze casket stored in the spare bedroom! More on that in a later blog, in the meantime that will give you something to ponder.

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