Grinds my Gears: lack of auto-flush toilets

You know what really grinds my gears?

Where are all the auto-flush toilets in the new buildings? Now, I can only speak for the men’s bathrooms, but still, I would imagine that the women’s are similar in technology. Both the new section of the Brown Building and Marquez Hall require us students to manually facilitate the flushing process. Not only is this an inconvenience for everyone using the facilities, but it also contributes to the spread of germs and disease. I understand that the school spends what likely amounts to thousands of dollars on the flu vaccine for all the students. Wouldn’t a good supplement to flu prevention be installing auto-flush facilities? I recognize that these electronics are not cheap. According to Google, the auto-flush sensor itself can cost $200, but for a building being built in the 21st century, it should be made standard. Luckily, these contraptions can be fitted to the pipes after the manual flush has been installed, so there’s still hope for our lazy race.

You know what else grinds my gears?

Old man winter. First, I don’t know why people refer to him as an old man. I have been alive for 21 years and people have been calling him old since long before I was born. You’d think that he’d have kicked the bucket by now. He also moves pretty fast for an old man. One day it was sunny and mild, the next morning I wake up to snow. Furthermore, any artists rendition of him depicts him as something close to Santa Claus’ evil twin. Once old man winter comes to town, the mood of the entire campus shifts. Suddenly people are no longer having fun outside, but they are inside, not getting sun, and slipping into a mild depression. Old man winter is as close to a dementor as anybody can get. I understand that winter needs to come at some point, otherwise all the ski bums won’t have anywhere to go and cause a ruckus. However, it would be nice if one, he would announce his arrival and two, he wouldn’t come full force all at once. Then, I may be able to get used to him.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is what grinds my gears.