Roto-Rooters top five for 2005

[FromTexas]

Strange items in drains: Cannon shell, cat

Associated Press

CINCINNATI - From crime evidence to a Civil War shell, Roto-Rooter plumbers find some strange things in pipes, toilets and sewers. The subsidiary of Cincinnati-based Chemed Corp. surveyed field technicians across North America to compile 2005's most unusual items.

Roto-Rooter spokesman Paul Abrams said the company's 2,400 field technicians as well as most of its 3,000 franchise workers participated in the survey, which the company began last year to chronicle some of the many unusual stories that get passed around.

Link to story...

 

[FromTexas]

Wow! There is a lot of information that is funny on the Roto-Rooter site. I found the first years (2004) list.

Top 5 Rescues & Recoveries

Each year Roto-Rooter technicians retrieve and rescue some strange items from modern day plumbing. We've talked with Roto-Rooter technicians to compile the top five most recent rescues and recoveries.

With the help of modern-day technology, Roto-Rooter technicians were able to capture some of these rescues via fiber optic cameras, which can snake into tight areas to locate lost items or identify obstructions.

The result was a laundry list of items ranging from animals to precious valuables. Of those items listed, five stories in particular gained popularity in their respective communities.

A Slippery Situation - Grass Valley, CA
A four-foot family pet python slithered into the bathroom and seemingly disappeared. The family called a pest control company, the fire department and others, but could not get any help. A Roto-Rooter technician located the snake with a fiber optic cable camera used to inspect pipes. Once locating the snake, the owners were able to lure the snake out with a mouse for bait.

Keep Your Eye on the Prize - Chicago, IL
A customer called Roto-Rooter when her husband lost his prosthetic eye (valued at nearly $5,000) down their bathroom sink drain. A Roto-Rooter technician used a fiber optic camera to locate the eye, which was perilously near the city sewer line. The Roto-Rooter technician recovered the eye without causing any damage.

Pipe Dreams - Jacksonville, FL
Women who worked in a beauty shop saw a stray kitten fall into an electrical conduit pipe. Although they could hear its cries, they were unable to see or reach the kitten. After four days and several failed attempts to rescue the kitten, they called Roto-Rooter for help. Roto-Rooter technicians fed a fiber optic camera into the pipe, quickly located the kitten, then coaxed the kitten up the pipe using the camera's light.

Diamonds ARE Forever - Dayton, OH
After a customer's diamond ring slipped off her finger and into the toilet bowl, she called the experts for help. Roto-Rooter technicians took the toilet apart and found her prized possession in the toilet's drain pipe.

A Different Kind of Root - Boston, MA
Roto-Rooter technicians were called to remove what was believed to be a large black root. However, upon further inspection they discovered that it wasn't a root at all…it was a clump of human hair - over eight feet long! The mass had accumulated over several years and took the technicians over an hour to remove.

 

[FromTexas]

DIFFERENT NAMES FOR THE BATHROOM
Israelis - House of Honor
Egyptians - House of Morning
Romans - Necessarium
Tudors - Privy/House of Privacy
French - La Chambre Sent (the smelly room)

WHAT DID PEOPLE USE BEFORE TOILET PAPER
A mussel shell, called a scraper. Oww!
The Romans used a stick with a sponge on one end.
Gives a whole new meaning to the phrase "wrong end of the stick."
In the desert, sand was the cleaner of choice. Huh?
In the south, corncobs were sometimes used.

Americans are saying, and doing, more than one might imagine in the bathroom. For some people the bathroom is synonymous with relaxation and romance. For others, it's a room of frustration where valuable items are lost down the drain. Here is what Roto-Rooter's "Bathroom Confessions" survey found:

Almost seven in 10 Americans have experienced a memorable moment in the bathroom. Moments that topped the list include:
Making love
Learning of a pregnancy
Getting engaged
Being told you were loved for the first time
A gigantic fecal passing

Nearly 70% of Americans do something to make their visits to the bathroom more enjoyable. Activities that are most popular include:
Listening to music
Reading
Singing
Talking on the telephone
Eating
Adding ambience, like candles or bubbles

Seven out of 10 Americans say they have lost something down the drain or toilet. Items reported include:
Jewelry or accessories (like sunglasses)
Toiletries (like nail clippers, combs, and makeup)
Medication
Wallet, money or identification
Keys
Cell phones, PDA, or other handheld devices
Reading materials, like books, magazines, newspapers
Photographs or film

 

[FromTexas]

Overall, Americans leave the toilet seat down:
70% of men leave the seat down (30% do not)
89% of women leave the seat down (11% do not)

On average, Americans spend an hour getting ready in the bathroom:
53% of women spend more than an hour getting ready
75% of men spend less than an hour getting ready

Men are more likely to recall private occurrences in the bathroom: Nearly twice as many men (32%) recalled making love in the bathroom when compared to their female counterparts
Nearly twice as many men (18%) admitted clogging a toilet while visiting someone's home when compared to their female counterparts

Women are more likely to seek out the bathroom for rest and relaxation:
74% of women do something to make showering or bathing more enjoyable
42% of women add ambience, such as burning candles or adding bubbles, as opposed to 11% of men

Woman are more likely to lose something down the drain or toilet:
Women most often lost loose jewelry or accessories
Men most often lost wallets, money or identification

Men were more likely to retrieve the item on their own:
Men most often relied on the "reach in" method or created a makeshift device
Women most often contacted a professional to retract the lost item

Knowledge is power...

 

[FromTexas]

Thomas Crapper

Did Thomas Crapper really invent the toilet? The debate over who Thomas Crapper was — or even if there was a Thomas Crapper at all — continues. Below are some of the facts flushed out by Dr. Andy Gibbons, historian of the International Thomas Crapper Society, and Ken Grabowski, a researcher and author who is writing a book on Crapper's life.

Myth: Thomas Crapper as a person never existed.

Fact: Though we do not know his actual date of birth, we can say a man, Thomas Crapper, was probably born in September, 1836, since he was baptized the 28th of that month. He died on January 27, 1910.

Myth: Thomas Crapper invented the toilet.

Fact: Although from 1861 to 1904 Crapper did have a successful career in the plumbing industry, holding nine patents for plumbing-related products in England, he did not invent the toilet. Albert Giblin holds the 1819 British Patent for the Silent Valveless Water Waste Preventer, a system that allowed a toilet to flush effectively. Giblin worked for Crapper as an employee and the most likely scenario is that Crapper bought the patent rights from Giblin and marketed the device himself.

Myth: The word crap is derived from Thomas Crapper's name.

Fact: World War 1 doughboys passing through England saw the words T. Crapper Chelsea printed on the water tanks and coined the slang crapper meaning toilet.

Well, that should be enough...

 

[kwillia]

Ugh... I feel the need to wash my hands...

 

[FromTexas]

Ugh... I feel the need to wash my hands...

You should send Roto Rooter a letter and have them add that to their surveys; how many people wash their hands after going to the bathroom.