# The very best way to handle bathroom breaks?



## bph (Apr 14, 2009)

Well, it all 'depends'.

Hey, if it's good enough for NASA, it's good enough for me!

BPH


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## Sschell (Apr 14, 2009)

I would hate to be the dude sitting next to you in the exam room!


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## buick455 (Apr 14, 2009)

Raise your hand and they will take your exam booklet and you take your ticket with you to the restroom.

Take the few minutes and go, it is not going to make a big difference and you will be comfortable and make up the time lost.


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## ALBin517 (Apr 14, 2009)

I didn't want to take any breaks so I went into the exam a little dehydrated, like a boxer getting down to fighting weight. 10940623:


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## GulfCoastCivil (Apr 14, 2009)

I'm going to use my trick I use for long road trips. I'm going to take half a dose of Immodium AD with my breakfast. I find it not only blocks up a certain part of the body, but also makes me have to pee less. This is important especially because I want to drink some coffee with my breakfast to get me over that morning slump.


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## TXengrChickPE (Apr 14, 2009)

I say "go if you gotta go". Comfort is important... and I would not be comfortable wearing a diaper, or trying to hold it. Also, being dehydrated could cause a headache, which will cost you more than the time it would take to go pee. That said, I was careful with what I ate for a couple of days before my exam. I am pretty regular, but I know what foods tend to make me less so... and I avoided them.


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## jeb6294 (Apr 14, 2009)

ALBin517 said:


> I didn't want to take any breaks so I went into the exam a little dehydrated, like a boxer getting down to fighting weight. 10940623:


I wouldn't recommend that...for me anyway. When I start to get dehydrated I get headaches and start to feel pretty crappy in general.

If you've studied well, a few minutes for a bathroom break is not going to be a big deal. I think it is actually good to get up for a couple minutes to help clear your head a little bit...


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## jmbeck (Apr 14, 2009)

bph said:


> Well, it all 'depends'.
> Hey, if it's good enough for NASA, it's good enough for me!
> 
> BPH


There is no way I could do this.

I'm the same guy that can't pee in my swimsuit either. Apparently I'm very weird because of this.

I'm not talking pools either, I can't pee in my suit in the river/ocean either.


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## Road Guy (Apr 14, 2009)

I had an XL one of these just before the exam:







Felt good to have my normal caffine drug, and a 5 minute walk to the bathroom was well deserved for 4 hours of sitting in a cheap metal chair.


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## Dleg (Apr 14, 2009)

You guys are nuts. Don't mess with your regular bathroom or hydration habits. You'll feel terrible toward the end of the day if you do (cause that's what I did).


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## Baltimore Joe (Apr 15, 2009)

I agree that it is a good break to get up and go. For coffee drinkers like me, the morning is the issue. I found the morning session (breath module) to be less of a time crunch compared to the afternoon’s depth module. I even brought in water and got up twice to go. I still had time to go back and check some answers. My greatest fear was a headache caused by caffeine withdrawal or dehydration.


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## ALBin517 (Apr 15, 2009)

jeb6294 said:


> I wouldn't recommend that...for me anyway. When I start to get dehydrated I get headaches and start to feel pretty crappy in general.
> If you've studied well, a few minutes for a bathroom break is not going to be a big deal. I think it is actually good to get up for a couple minutes to help clear your head a little bit...



I guess I should have put my "dehydration" comment in perspective.

Most days, I start with a 44-ounce diet cola. The day of the exam, I only had about a pint of water when I woke up. That was recycled by the time I got into the exam and I was set until lunchtime.

It was similar during the break. I drank water before I left the test center for lunch, then again visited the lavatory before going back in for the second half.

So I was not shaking or faint but I didn't have to hourly water the flowers either.


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## MA_PE (Apr 15, 2009)

I doubt very much if a 5 minute bathroom break is going to be the difference between passing and failing.

The key is to not stress yourself out so bad or mess up your digestive system to the point where that you get cramps, or the runs and end up spending hours on the can. That could make a difference.


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## ALBin517 (Apr 16, 2009)

MA_PE said:


> I doubt very much if a 5 minute bathroom break is going to be the difference between passing and failing.


I was rolling and finished the morning in about two hours. So I had plenty of time to spare. But on the other hand, I didn't want to take a break and was glad I didn't have to.


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## jeb6294 (Apr 16, 2009)

When I started the exam and got on a roll, I didn't get up for anything. After my first run through and getting all my "definitely" questions I went back and looked at my "probably" questions. I'd take one more look at the "maybe" and "what the hell" questions to see if I'd missed anything. This is the point that a little bathroom break might be a good idea...give your brain a chance to wind down a little bit and let your eyes un-cross. Sometimes after you walk away for a couple minutes something might make sense when you look at it with fresh eyes.


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## RIP - VTEnviro (Apr 16, 2009)

MA_PE said:


> I doubt very much if a 5 minute bathroom break is going to be the difference between passing and failing.
> The key is to not stress yourself out so bad or mess up your digestive system to the point where that you get cramps, or the runs and end up spending hours on the can. That could make a difference.


What he said. Don't overthink the plumbing. Besides, getting up to take a leak is a good way to stretch your legs and rest your eyes for a minute or two.


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## Road Guy (Apr 16, 2009)

actually I recommend just getting all 40 right in the morning and the just finish the first 20 in the afternoon and get up and leave, that way you can beat the traffic


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## TXengrChickPE (Apr 16, 2009)

Road Guy said:


> actually I recommend just getting all 40 right in the morning and the just finish the first 20 in the afternoon and get up and leave, that way you can beat the traffic


Oh no!!! YKW hacked Road Guy's account! Run for the hills!!!


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## FairhopeEE (Apr 16, 2009)

jeb6294 said:


> ... a little bathroom break might be a good idea...give your brain a chance to wind down a little bit and let your eyes un-cross. Sometimes after you walk away for a couple minutes something might make sense when you look at it with fresh eyes.


Good advice. I recall taking a trip to the head near the mid-point of both sessions, just as much to rest and stretch a few minutes as heeding the call of nature. We were not in the most comfortable room in the world, and I have a hard time sitting for hours on end under the best of conditions. One thing I did have to remember was to not take my blood pressure medicine that morning; it is a diuretic.


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## PE-ness (Apr 16, 2009)

jeb6294 said:


> Sometimes after you walk away for a couple minutes something might make sense when you look at it with fresh eyes.


Or eye, as the case may be.


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## PEPG (Apr 23, 2009)

FairhopeEE said:


> Good advice. I recall taking a trip to the head near the mid-point of both sessions, just as much to rest and stretch a few minutes as heeding the call of nature. We were not in the most comfortable room in the world, and I have a hard time sitting for hours on end under the best of conditions. One thing I did have to remember was to not take my blood pressure medicine that morning; it is a diuretic.


I took "bathroom" breaks - two in each session - regardless of whether I needed it or not. I definately needed the stretch and to walk away from my tiny table for a few minutes. It also gave me time to suck down a red bull.


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## Chucktown PE (Apr 23, 2009)

As I noted on another thread this morning, I was in a meeting yesterday with a guy that had a colostomy bag. No restroom breaks required and you could eat chili cheese hot dogs if you want. The only drawback is that there is no sphincter so you have no ability to hold back the runs, and the colostomy bag is not sound proof as I witnessed during the meeting.


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## Capt Worley PE (Apr 23, 2009)

PEPG said:


> It also gave me time to suck down a red bull.


TMI.


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## RIP - VTEnviro (Apr 23, 2009)

^ In a men's room no less! George Michael and Larry Craig would be impressed.


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## FLBuff PE (Apr 23, 2009)

You could try this:

Linky


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## testee (Apr 23, 2009)

unfortunately, I'm used to holding it in.


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## Sschell (Apr 23, 2009)

ALBin517 said:


> *I was rolling* and finished the morning in about two hours. So I had plenty of time to spare. But on the other hand, I didn't want to take a break and was glad I didn't have to.


you took the test on ecstasy!?! that is impressive!


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## MGX (Apr 23, 2009)

Chucktown PE said:


> As I noted on another thread this morning, I was in a meeting yesterday with a guy that had a colostomy bag. No restroom breaks required and you could eat chili cheese hot dogs if you want. The only drawback is that there is no sphincter so you have no ability to hold back the runs, and the colostomy bag is not sound proof as I witnessed during the meeting.


Do those things have blowoff valves or made like an accordion to accommodate the expansion of gases?


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## Chucktown PE (Apr 23, 2009)

MGX said:


> Do those things have blowoff valves or made like an accordion to accommodate the expansion of gases?



I assume you can manually let out some of the gas if the pressure gets too high. But that would essentially be a fart valve. And I would assume it would smell a lot worse because the air has been in there with the contents of the bag for a while. The guy that has the bag is going back in for another surgery next week to get reconnected and plumbed back up normally so the bag will go away.


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## Supe (Apr 23, 2009)

MGX said:


> Do those things have blowoff valves or made like an accordion to accommodate the expansion of gases?


Could we install a mini HRSG in there and call it green energy?


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## snickerd3 (Apr 23, 2009)

yuk


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## snickerd3 (Apr 23, 2009)

Chucktown PE said:


> I assume you can manually let out some of the gas if the pressure gets too high. But that would essentially be a fart valve. And I would assume it would smell a lot worse because the air has been in there with the contents of the bag for a while. The guy that has the bag is going back in for another surgery next week to get reconnected and plumbed back up normally so the bag will go away.


speaking of farts

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30372491/


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## MGX (Apr 23, 2009)

*ahem*


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## Sschell (Apr 23, 2009)

Poop bags aside...

I think, if and when you use the restroom during the exam, you should announce in a very loud voice:



Chucktown PE said:


> "aaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh, it buuuuuuuuuuuuuuurrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrnnnnnnnnnnnnnnns, it buuuuuuuuuuuuuuurrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrnnnnnnnnnnnnnnns."


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## FLBuff PE (Apr 23, 2009)

^^^Well played, sir. :appl:


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## PEPG (Apr 23, 2009)

Capt Worley PE said:


> TMI.


OK - so I meant "drink a red bull beverage"!

Man - I am getting hammered today. I took some crap on the 'weather' thread earlier today.

At least I won't be getting hammered tomorrow!


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## wilheldp_PE (Apr 23, 2009)

PEPG said:


> OK - so I meant "drink a red bull beverage"!
> Man - I am getting hammered today. I took some crap on the 'weather' thread earlier today.
> 
> At least I won't be getting hammered tomorrow!


After a while, you learn to phrase what you say so that it cannot be misinterpreted by our dirty minds. Or you learn to make clever use of emoticons so that we know that you are thinking as dirty as we are.


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