OT: Foreign aid

[Gramps' shop]

Just got back from 25 days in Italy and couldn't help but notice that 50% o f the toilets are not equipped with seats. It's either a squat or a ride o n the porcelein. And, while we're on the subject of the WC, their version of toilet paper is equivalent to 100 grit garnet.

So ... in the spirit of international good will ... I think we ought to app ly our woodworking skills and ship them a couple of thousand seats in care of the US embassy.

On the other side of the travel coin, it was a magnificent adventure. Got a new appreciation of what "old" really means. The art and architecture we re breathtaking ... and the food wasn't bad either.

Ciao,

Larry

[G. Ross]

Now you know why the sailors call it "non-skid TP". Did you see old buildings with the holes in the outside walls? Those were where the scaffolding rested. The reason they were not filled in is because then it would be a "finished building" and the taxes would be higher than on an "unfinished building". That is what they told me.

[Swingman]

Also why European's use "wardrobes" in their bedrooms ... in most European countries a closet is considered a room and taxed as such.

[krw]

OTOH, on this side of the pond, in many places you can't count a room as a bedroom unless it has a closet.

[Swingman]

True, that ...

[Ed Pawlowski]

Wonderful country to visit. You are correct about the public toilets. The ones in hotels and private residences are closer to our standards. We usually rent a villa for a week or two and all have been good.

In some public toilets though, it was little more than a tray with a hole and a grab rail to hold while you squat. I tried to stop at the Auto Grill on the Autostrade or even at McDonalds in Bologna as you could count on clean restrooms.

Never had a bad meal or bad wine in Italy.

[Greg Guarino]

Looking at the other side of the coin, I have never had any trouble locating a public bathroom as a tourist in any city I have been to in Europe. There is generally a nominal fee (half a euro last time we went) and they were decently maintained.

At home in NYC, on the other hand ...

[Let me interject that in my later years the ease of finding a bathroom has become a matter of greater interest to me than it was before]

... you pretty much have to slink into a Starbucks or a fast food joint. Some of the latter require you to ask for a key, though.

[Gramps' shop]

Greg ...

Pay toilet at Rome Termini on lower level was one Euro and had a seat. Upp er level, 70 cents and no seat. So I guess a sit down is valued at 30 cent s.

Larry

0% of the toilets are not equipped with seats. It's either a squat or a ri de on the porcelein. And, while we're on the subject of the WC, their vers ion of toilet paper is equivalent to 100 grit garnet.

apply our woodworking skills and ship them a couple of thousand seats in c are of the US embassy.

Got a new appreciation of what "old" really means. The art and architectur e were breathtaking ... and the food wasn't bad either.

ection is active.

[scritch]

I've been told that's the same reason you see thousands of buildings in Mexico with rebar poking out of the roofs.