How did people survive without modern plumbing?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Pengwuino
  • Start date Start date
Click For Summary

Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the challenges of living without modern plumbing, sparked by a participant's frustration over a broken water line. The conversation touches on personal anecdotes, humorous suggestions for coping without immediate access to water, and reflections on historical bathing practices.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Humorous
  • Meta-discussion

Main Points Raised

  • One participant expresses frustration about the inconvenience of not having water, questioning how people managed without daily showers in the past.
  • Several participants suggest humorous alternatives for coping, such as using Handiwipes or visiting neighbors for a shower.
  • There are light-hearted comments about the participant's living conditions and personal hygiene, with some joking about the smell of rotting fish.
  • Historical references are made to ancient bathing practices, such as the Greeks using olive oil, with some participants noting the need for assistance in such methods.
  • One participant mentions their experience with a broken water line in college, suggesting using campus facilities as a solution.
  • There are playful exchanges about the participant's situation and the nature of their threads often turning into humorous banter.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants generally engage in light-hearted banter without reaching any consensus on the seriousness of the situation or the best coping strategies. The discussion remains playful and unresolved regarding the historical context of bathing practices.

Contextual Notes

The conversation reflects a mix of personal anecdotes and humor, with no serious exploration of the historical implications of living without modern plumbing. The references to ancient practices are not deeply analyzed, and the discussion remains informal.

Who May Find This Useful

Readers interested in humorous takes on modern inconveniences, historical bathing practices, or light-hearted community interactions may find this discussion engaging.

Pengwuino
Gold Member
Messages
5,112
Reaction score
20
I'm mad. Penguins need water and our water line broke! :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad:

I can't even handle 1 hour of this crap, how did people live without showering daily a hundred years ago and in france
 
Physics news on Phys.org
Use Handiwipes. :biggrin:

Or go visit your neighbors. :biggrin:


Ask yourself, what would tribdog do?


Now, if I was thirty years younger, and in your spot, I would call up some of the girls I know, and ask if I could use their shower. o:)
 
Astronuc said:
Ask yourself, what would tribdog do?

Laugh at me.
 
After the line gets fixed, run your faucets a bit, you'll probably have dirt and small pebbles in the line. I've had water lines cut before.
 
Astronuc said:
Now, if I was thirty years younger, and in your spot, I would call up some of the girls I know, and ask if I could use their shower. o:)
You ever tried braking your own water line just to have a plausible excuse? You know Pengwuino, this could be a blessing in disguise, plus a lesson for the future. :wink:
 
Seriously, what did you do to piss off your bird gods?!? Everyday I get on PF and read about you having another problem O____OI would move out of California if I were you...
 
Last edited:
moose said:
Seriously, what did you do to piss off your bird gods?!? Everyday I get on PF and read about you having another problem O____O
It's just a matter of perception. As I said, this could be a blessing in disguise, so long as he doesn't moan and groan about it. I've never heard a penguin groaning or moaning, so I don't think he'll have to worry about anything.
 
Dawguard said:
It's just a matter of perception. As I said, this could be a blessing in disguise, so long as he doesn't moan and groan about it. I've never heard a penguin groaning or moaning, so I don't think he'll have to worry about anything.


But isn't moaning and groaning a good sign usually?
 
I don't see what the big fuss is about. It's not like he actually bathed himself anyways :confused:. We have all seen that sty he calls his bedroom.
 
  • #10
cyrusabdollahi said:
I don't see what the big fuss is about. It's not like he actually bathed himself anyways :confused:.


Which would explain the constant rotting fish smell.
 
  • #11
Trust me, that's not the reason for that smell, if you know what I mean. :wink:
 
  • #12
franznietzsche said:
But isn't moaning and groaning a good sign usually?
Not when there's a penguin and a lack of water involved. Get your mind out of the gutter!

Wait, that was a stupid thing to say, it's impossible to do that here in GD.
 
  • #13
Pengwuino said:
Laugh at me.
Please allow me to elaborate -

What would tribdog do if he were in your situation? :rolleyes:

Is it your water line, i.e. after the water meter, or are you an a well? Evo's right about flushing the line, and if your on a well, you may need to chlorinate (shock) it. I had a friend who got a contaminated well because the drilling company used water from a ditch (near cattle pastures) to get started! :rolleyes:

If it was me, I just go to the local hardware store and buy new pipe/tube and install it myself. Just a few hours.
 
  • #14
Laugh at me.

Its good to laugh at yourself once in a while. Maybe Tribdog was not so wrong. :rolleyes: :bugeye: :eek:
 
  • #15
If I were a penguin in your situation I might go stand out in some public place with a sign saying "Will work for shower."

If anyone takes you up on it, it's almost guarranteed they won't want you working around their place before you shower, and will tell you to do that first. When you're finished just slither out the bathroom window and waddle home.
 
  • #16
Here, Penguin..

http://www.cvs.com/Assets/images_product_large/072367.jpg

just be careful with it.
Warning
AVOID SPRAYING IN EYES AND EXCESSIVE INHALATION. CONTENTS UNDER PRESSURE. FLAMMABLE: DO NOT PUNCTURE OR INCINERATE CONTAINER. DO NOT USE WHEN SMOKING OR IN PRESENCE OF FIRE, OPEN FLAME, SPARKS OR HEAT. DO NOT PLACE IN HOT WATER OR NEAR RADIATORS, STOVES OR OTHER SOURCES OF HEAT. KEEP OUT OF REACH OF CHILDREN. USE ONLY AS DIRECTED. DO NOT USE ON BROKEN SKIN. DISCONTINUE USE IF RASH OR IRRITATION DEVELOPS. INTENTIONAL MISUSE BY DELIBERATELY CONCENTRATING AND INHALING THE CONTENTS CAN BE HARMFUL OR FATAL.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
  • #17
cyrusabdollahi said:
Trust me, that's not the reason for that smell, if you know what I mean. :wink:


 
  • #18
Math Is Hard said:
Here, Penguin..

http://www.cvs.com/Assets/images_product_large/072367.jpg

just be careful with it.
I'm surprised it doesn't say "don't use while asleep", my hairdryer has that warning. :bugeye:
 
Last edited by a moderator:
  • #19
Evo said:
I'm surprised it doesn't say "don't use while asleep", my hairdryer has that warning. :bugeye:
I guess the hairdryer people have heard of Ambien.
 
  • #20
zoobyshoe said:
I guess the hairdryer people have heard of Ambien.
I need to post the article on people eating in their sleep while on Ambien, it's hysterical.
 
  • #21
Evo said:
I need to post the article on people eating in their sleep while on Ambien, it's hysterical.
I do that even without Ambien. It's horrible. :frown:
 
  • #22
Evo said:
I need to post the article on people eating in their sleep while on Ambien, it's hysterical.
I think the worst would be sex while asleep. That's the absolute last thing I'd want to miss by sleeping through it.
 
  • #23
Math Is Hard said:
I do that even without Ambien. It's horrible. :frown:
How do you know it isn't your cat getting into the fridge?
 
  • #24
zoobyshoe said:
I think the worst would be sex while asleep. That's the absolute last thing I'd want to miss by sleeping through it.
Oh yeah, that's the other thing mentioned, people sleeping through sex.
 
  • #25
I can only lever press while sleeping...or that's what I call it when I repeatedly hit the snooze bar on the alarm clock for a 2 hour span without waking enough to realize my alarm has been going off for 2 hours and I'm still in bed.

Pengwuino, just a few hours? How often do you take showers anyway? You're in college, go to the campus gym and use the shower there. When I was in college, they broke a water line leading to our dorm. That's what most everyone there did, just headed to the gym shower (except me...I was already working in a lab and had access to the shower in the animal facilities, which was much cleaner than the gym shower, and no line! :biggrin:)

Not that Astronuc's idea is bad either. :wink: Quite ingenious actually.
 
  • #26
Wash yourself with sand.
 
  • #27
cyrusabdollahi said:
Wash yourself with sand.
:smile:

Or just find a bird bath. :rolleyes:
 
  • #28
The Ancient Greeks used to bathe in olive oil IIRC. They would coat themselves with it and then scrape it off.
 
  • #29
Math Is Hard said:
The Ancient Greeks used to bathe in olive oil IIRC. They would coat themselves with it and then scrape it off.
Of course, it requires a helper to do the scraping, for which I'd refer Pengwuino back to Astronuc's suggestion again. :wink:
 
  • #30
Why do my threads all turn into a collection of anti-penguin insults and propaganda.
 

Similar threads

What Innovations Are You Thankful For . .?
  • · Replies 73 ·
3
Replies
73
Views
6K
Did humans migrate a lot in prehistoric times?
  • · Replies 21 ·
Replies
21
Views
1K
Plumbing Water Softener Troubleshooting/Repair
  • · Replies 8 ·
Replies
8
Views
5K
Did Denisovans really disappear?
  • · Replies 13 ·
Replies
13
Views
4K
Origin of Modern Domesticated Horses Found
  • · Replies 6 ·
Replies
6
Views
2K
A Physics Forum Member in King Arthur's Court
  • · Replies 70 ·
3
Replies
70
Views
5K
Are you a kind, benevolent Master?
  • · Replies 24 ·
Replies
24
Views
3K
Do you also get mad when people disrupt your work?
  • · Replies 3 ·
Replies
3
Views
3K
Physics Finding entry level jobs in physics in Europe, how to get started?
  • · Replies 2 ·
Replies
2
Views
3K
Plumbing Compressed air powered water pressure
  • · Replies 39 ·
2
Replies
39
Views
17K