My Work Bathroom Experience

I recently moved offices at work to a brand new building. It has some problems, like the AC running in my office in winter loud enough to keep me from hearing teleconferences and causing people to tape cardboard over their vents which increases the pressure in offices with no cardboard...

The bathroom has problems, too.

First, the faucet. It's one of those faucets that you press, and a mechanical timer shuts off the stream after a few seconds. Few means about four. This annoys people to no end, since they have to constantly press the handle, and it shuts off invariably just before they rinse the last bit of soap away.

Second, the soap dispenser. The soap dispensers work on a proximity sensor. They are hyperactive, squirting soap whenever you get anywhere near. I wonder if the sensors sense heat and whether washing with warm water sets them off even more.

Third, the sinks. Our shallow sinks measure a single foot across. It feels tight. Along with the hyperactive soap dispensers, this creates a perfect storm where soap squirts out every few seconds as you wash your hands. The sink is so small, you almost can't rinse your hands without receiving an unwelcome plop of liquid soap, quite possibly on your shirt sleeve.

And finally, with a twist, the urinal. There is nothing wrong with the urinal. In fact, I think it is wonderful. There's nothing great about the urinal itself, but let me take upon myself the task of explaining how a urinal can be wonderful.

I am an amateur photographer. As a photographer, I often notice the way light interacts with objects. I really like the way the fluorescent light interacts with the tile and the chrome plumbing. The light is directly above, and it reflects off the tile at a shallow angle so that you can see a bright reflection in the chrome. But the tile does not reflect light directly to your eyes, so the tile itself does not look bright, even though it acts as a secondary, reflecting source for the chrome. This creates what Light, Science and Magic calls invisible light. In addition, the light fades off and forms a gradient along the tile, which can be seen in the chrome very nicely. All in all, it looks very nice, a rich visual experience, a piece of "found art."

The sink experience is getting better. I found the manual for the faucets online and learned how to set the timer. Now they stay on for around twelve seconds. I'll try to find out if the soap dispensers are tunable. Maybe I can put something over the sensor to affect its range and/or direction.