How could we survive if the people in charge of the budget and the facilities at JCCC were not on the job. Last spring, these people chose to close down the restrooms across from my office. I might think that updating an existing restroom would take a couple of weeks. No such luck. This process dragged on for months.
But do not fear. In place of our perfectly serviceable (if slightly time-worn) restrooms, we go shinier and far-less-functional ones. I can’t speak to the goings on in the women’s restroom, but the men’s fails any reasonable test.
Apparently, we have a serious germ phobia at JCCC. While we all survived from this building’s dawn in 1972 until 2011 by actually touching things in the facilities, we now have motion activated everything. The toilets flush on their own. The sinks spew water only when hands are beneath the spigot. The soap dispenser is motion-triggered as is the paper-towel dispenser. Oh brave new world!
The problem is that none of this stuff really works as advertised. More often than not, the toilet will flush for no apparent reason as I stand or sit in its vicinity. Sometimes it takes two or three flushes for me to leave the area in an acceptable shape. We’re all about sustainable use of water at the college.
On the other hand, the faucets and soap dispensers work only intermittently. To get soap seems to require some sort of incantation. Water spurts out in two-second increments. Hot water, it would seem, has entirely disappeared from the scene.
The problem, it seems to me is that people felt the need to spend money we didn’t have to fix a problem that had not arisen and install improvements that haven’t improved anything. Other than that, they’ve done a great job.
We Come to Praise Facilities Planners
But do not fear. In place of our perfectly serviceable (if slightly time-worn) restrooms, we go shinier and far-less-functional ones. I can’t speak to the goings on in the women’s restroom, but the men’s fails any reasonable test.
Apparently, we have a serious germ phobia at JCCC. While we all survived from this building’s dawn in 1972 until 2011 by actually touching things in the facilities, we now have motion activated everything. The toilets flush on their own. The sinks spew water only when hands are beneath the spigot. The soap dispenser is motion-triggered as is the paper-towel dispenser. Oh brave new world!
The problem is that none of this stuff really works as advertised. More often than not, the toilet will flush for no apparent reason as I stand or sit in its vicinity. Sometimes it takes two or three flushes for me to leave the area in an acceptable shape. We’re all about sustainable use of water at the college.
On the other hand, the faucets and soap dispensers work only intermittently. To get soap seems to require some sort of incantation. Water spurts out in two-second increments. Hot water, it would seem, has entirely disappeared from the scene.
The problem, it seems to me is that people felt the need to spend money we didn’t have to fix a problem that had not arisen and install improvements that haven’t improved anything. Other than that, they’ve done a great job.
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