Bathroom talk

So this morning Wagner wanted me to show him where to place all accessories in the garage study bathroom. We got the towel bar, medicine chest, and hand towel ring situated easily enough. Then he said, "Where do you want the toilet paper holder?" This was a matter of critical importance to me, as I definitely wanted to avoid situations like I've encountered in the past where you have to twist around and reach behind you to get the toilet paper.

So I sat down on the toilet (somewhat gingerly; the bowl has been installed but not the seat yet), reached my arm out to where I thought a comfortable place would be to grab the toilet paper, and told Wagner, "Right there!" He just shot me The Look and said, "Okay, but that's really very strange." "What do you mean?," I asked. "It's just that most people put their toilet paper holders over there," he replied, pointing to a spot that was much lower and further back.

So apparently I have weird bathroom preferences. I pointed out the whole logic of having the toilet paper at arm's length in front of you, so that you don't have to twist around in contortions every time you go to the bathroom. Wagner then started reassuring me that I should place the holder exactly where I wanted it, no matter how unusual such placement was. But the last thing I want is a weird bathroom that would be mocked and rejected by all the other bathrooms out there. So we compromised and put it somewhere in between. ;-)

While we're on the topic of toilet paper, I have to share my excitement over the toilet paper holder we got for the master bathroom. It's an ingenious design that does NOT involve one of those blasted little spring mechanisms, which I hate with a passion. The spring things in the middle always seem to pop open and fall apart in two pieces when you change toilet paper, and they always seem to be either too tight (so you have to exert the strength of ten to get it to fit in the bracket) or too loose (which means they keep falling out). But as bad as the spring mechanism kind of toilet paper holder is, they're still orders of magnitude better than the hook-shaped toilet paper holders, where every time you pull on the toilet paper the whole thing comes flying off the hook and rolling across the floor.

So you can imagine my heartfelt delight when I discovered a beautiful toilet paper holder at Ferguson's, the Moen Icon model, that operates with a simple pivoting arm mechanism. When it's time to change the toilet paper, you just swing the arm up, swap out the rolls, and then set it back down. Why every toilet paper holder in the world is not like that, I don't know. Here it is in all its beauty: