Pumps' Perplexities

Some thirty years ago I was a gas repair man......This is a story
about a Propane Gas Toilet.......And yes, they do still make
them.......

The toilet is a self contained device that, after being used,
will incinerate either liquid or solid waste matter......They
are designed to be used where a flush toilet is impractical
due to lack of water supply or proper drainage and sewage......

They are quite simple, really......You use it, close the cover
and the pilot light ignites the incoming gas and burns the
contents of the toilet.......All combusted material goes out
by means of a flue, just like a gas hot water heater......

Well one day, I was called to solve a crisis......Six people
came up to Vermont on a ski weekend and stayed in a small
house trailer which had a propane toilet......It seemed that
the toilet was not functioning properly.......I should note at
this point that for incineration of a liquid, it took one
combustion cycle.....For the incineration of a solid, it took
three combustion cycles to clear the toilet.......

It seemed that all 6 people, in the trailer, decided to use
the toilet for 6 "batches" of solid waste.......They would
"fire" and "fire" the toilet but it seemed nothing was
going away.......I stayed to complete the 18 cycles needed
to "clear" the toilet....And, provided proper instructions
on the use of this device in order to prevent a future
crisis........

Since this repair call was about 10AM on a Sunday
morning, needless to say my afternoon was spent
with a few beers in the hopes that my morning
"visions" would be erased.......Pumps