Watercooler Stories

Big Apple has some big clogs

NEENAH, Wis., April 25 (UPI) -- A survey for Scott Tissue reports that New York is the city where residents are most likely to experience a clogged toilet.

Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Fla., Los Angeles and Philadelphia follow. The Seattle/Tacoma area in Washington state is tops for free-flowing plumbing, followed by Denver, Minneapolis/St. Paul, the Orlando, Fla., area and Baltimore.

The survey was commissioned by Scott's Clog Clinic. Company officials say they wanted to make U.S. residents aware of how much they contribute to their own plumbing problems by flushing inappropriate items. And they wanted to honor the nation's plumbers, since Tuesday is National Plumbers Day.

"Our Clog Clinic researchers have been studying toilet-plumbing problems since 1996, and they maintain that clogs can be avoided if proper steps are taken," said Stu Schneider, an associate marketing director.

Clog Clinic researchers say that older plumbing tends to get stopped up more easily, which explains why New York leads the nation. Having a septic tank or low-flow toilet is also a marker for clog risk, and the plumbing in boats and recreational vehicles tends to be more delicate than that in buildings.

Fort Woof named top U.S. dog park

FORT WORTH, Texas, April 25 (UPI) -- Fort Woof in Fort Worth, Texas, is the top dog among dog parks in the United States, according to Dog Fancy magazine and Novartis Animal Health.

Jason Smith, a member of the Fort Worth Dog Park Association, said the city's dog owners are "very grateful for all those who doggedly worked to make Fort Woof the pick of the litter," the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported.

The park was cited for such events as the Halloween Barktoberfest.

There are some 500 dog parks nationwide. Among the other parks getting two paws up were Stanley's Spot in West Virginia, Paw Park in Florida and Carl's Dog Run in New York.

Prince William dubbed 'Posh' at Sandhurst

SANDHURST, England, April 25 (UPI) -- Britain's Prince William has been christened with a new nickname by his Sandhurst buddies: "Posh" because of his plummy voice.

The Mirror reports his brother, Harry, is known as "Taff" among his instructors at the army college in Camberley, Surrey.

"Everybody thinks Sandhurst is full of public school boys but the reality is it's not ... William is one of the genuinely posh lads there, hence his nickname," the Mirror quoted a source as saying.

The Mirror also noted William shares the diminutive with former Spice Girl Victory Beckham, a/k/a "Posh Spice."

Bosomy Chinese create big bra boom

SHANGHAI, China, April 25 (UPI) -- A recent report about bigger-breasted Chinese women wasn't news to bra makers in China -- most of whom started making larger-sized bras last year.

Hong Kong-based Embry Group began reacting to the trend last year by halting production of small-sized bras.

"We don't produce A cups for some bras with larger chest circumference now, as demand is low," said Li Na, an official with Embry, which has counters in most Shanghai department stores, Shanghai Daily reported Monday.

"At the same time, we increased production of C-, D- and E-cup products and found sales booming," she said.

Zhang Jing, a Triumph saleswoman at a major Hong Kong shopping mall, said she's surprised to find many women under the age of 20 need bras with C, D or even E cups.

While there are no figures to prove breasts are larger in major cities than in underdeveloped areas, many salespeople say they have noticed the trend.

The Beijing Institute of Clothing Technology released a report last week saying Chinese women's average chest circumference has hit 83.53 centimeters -- more than 32.88 inches -- up nearly 1 centimeter from the early 1990s. The growth is credited to women eating more nutritiously and doing more sports.