Washlet
Our toilet seat recently broke. The bolts holding the seat onto the toilet bowl seem to have rusted away. The seat is still there, but it’s not fixed and unmoving. We have to sit on it gently so we don’t dislodge it and accidentally fall into the toilet bowl. So my wife went to the nearby Shimachu Homes home goods store and bought a “Washlet” from the Japanese toilet company Toto. It wasn’t cheap. I didn’t see it until it was delivered and installed on Sunday, May 22nd. Washlets are the high-tech toilet seats that Japanese are increasingly fond of. On mine, clean water is siphoned directly from the toilet bowl. There are options to heat the seat, spray water strong or weak, clean the spray nozzle, a bidet function for women and the shower function for both sexes. A control panel on the right side of the seat operates all the functions.
It's powered by electricity. A short extension cord extends under the door to a socket outside.
Of course, I don't have to use any of these gadgety functions. I can still just use it as a normal toilet seat like the old plastic one.
Some of the more advanced ones do automatic urine testing during use, and then the data can automatically be E-mailed to your doctor (if you and your doctor agree to it). Washlets make me a little uncomfortable. The warm seat makes me think that someone else recently used it. Of course, I don’t have to use any of its technology. I can just use it as a normal seat.