Dansons in Delaware

Our bathrooms at work are curious. We finally got a mirror installed in early March, that was cool. We also have the stupid towel system where it's like a big cloth paper towel that is wound up and you pull yourself down a fresh piece and the remainder wraps up on the backside or something. But it's horrible because you are always very close to the last person's dirty residues. So I pull out two persons' worth. I'm sure if my French coworkers found out, they would chide me for wasting resources, but I'd rather waste their precious towel resources instead of contracting cholera or scurvy.

But the worst part about our bathroom is the toilets. It looks like any other toilet and even has a real door instead of the stalls in the US. However, the lights are not controlled by a simple switch. Rather, you have to turn a knob that functions as a timer to turn on the light. When it timer goes off, the lights go out and you're stuck in the dark sitting on a toilet. To make matters worse, the timer ticks noticeably as it winds down like it's commandingyou to hurry. And it only lasts about a minute. I haven't been to that bathroom in ages because I go in there and then I'm sitting in the dark, and I haven't completed my business either. So I usually sneak off to some other building and terrorize them. I don't know why the French cannot trust themselves and their American saviors to turn off the lights. I'll bet they don't trust Magnus. He's a Swede and very tall so I could see how this would make them wary.

Magnus Mortberg works in my building in the combustion group. He has been there one and a half years, and I've never heard him speak French in the three months I have been working there. He sends me websites like http://www.i-hate-france.com and is generally a funny, amiable guy. He works with a little fuzzy haired Frenchman who he calls the hobbit to his face. 'Pippin' is a nice guy, but he does kind of resemble a hobbit. I shall ask to see if he has hairy feet. I doubt he lives in a sod house although it would be great for storing cheese and wine and avoiding showering.