Random/innocuous things that cause you great anxiety?

[Lencoboy]

I used to be scared of the sound of cold water tanks refilling on older-style DHW systems after the hot tap had been run for a lengthy period, especially the high-pitched shushing sound of the water running through the pipes in the entire system during said refill operation.

Ditto for the sound of some toilet cisterns refilling.

Also, open-front type toilet seats used to freak me out when I was little, but luckily I never needed to sit on one to do a number 2.

I'm OK with them now though.

[MyNameIsTerry]

I always viewed open front toilet seats as a bit weird.

[Lencoboy]

I always viewed open front toilet seats as a bit weird.

They have always been mandatory in non-private toilet facilities in the USA.

Here in the UK they are generally optional, at the discretion of the site owner(s), and unlike Stateside, non-compulsory.

I've never seen one fitted to a home toilet though, which I suppose could be done if really desired by the homeowner/tenant, but not really necessary, and would most certainly seem a bit of an oddball choice.

Similar to the installation of drain-off cocks (the things you attach hosepipes to and open with a special key to let the water out) not being warranted on upstairs radiators in houses with two or more storeys.

[Carnation]

Me too Lencoboy, with the tank refilling.
Sometimes when the boiler fires up too.

[Lencoboy]

Me too Lencoboy, with the tank refilling.
Sometimes when the boiler fires up too.

At my grandma's old flat in West Bromwich, the central heating boiler was behind the gas fire in the living room, and the sound of it firing up and the flame roaring used to freak me out when I was a little kid. Even my grandma hated the sound of it herself, and was glad to get away from it when she moved to Tamworth (to another ground floor flat approximately half a mile from where we live) in 86.

She had a similar type of gas CH system there, but with a much quieter boiler.

Perhaps my anxieties about certain sounds as a child could partly have been learned behaviours from my grandma, and/or possibly genetic.

My mom told me she was terrified of pneumatic drills when she was a kid, and the one day when there were roadworks near where she lived one suddenly started up while she was out playing, and she rapidly legged it back home screaming in sheer terror!

[MyNameIsTerry]

Drain cocks on higher levels wouldn't be much use since they would only drain off what is above that point. They are used in central heating systems to drain the whole lot out so they are at the lowest part of the run.

There's nothing stopping you putting them anywhere but it would be a bit pointless.

Our new boiler lighting sounds like something off the starship Enterprise.

[Lencoboy]

Drain cocks on higher levels wouldn't be much use since they would only drain off what is above that point. They are used in central heating systems to drain the whole lot out so they are at the lowest part of the run.

There's nothing stopping you putting them anywhere but it would be a bit pointless.

Our new boiler lighting sounds like something off the starship Enterprise.

Exactly Terry.

That's why they're rarely ever seen on upper floor plumbing period, unless it's in a self-contained property like a flat or a unit in an office block, etc.

They aren't particularly handsome looking things either.

[MyNameIsTerry]

I suppose some creative person could always knit a drain cock posing pouch to smarten them up. Business opportunity right there

[Lencoboy]

I suppose some creative person could always knit a drain cock posing pouch to smarten them up. Business opportunity right there

A true willy-waving opportunity!