when you go for a pee ...

Once went on a day-trip with some friends to London, by coach.

We didn't do anything unusual or go anywhere obviously grubby, but I was shocked when I washed my hands later at the colour of the water running off them.

They were nearly as bad as as after a day at the club track. In fact steam-oil and coal dust would have been more hygienic in the pathogen stakes, though eating one's snap with engineering grime on your mitts is not best practice either.

The culprit? No more than lots of door-fittings, handrails and such like in public buildings and The Underground, plus airborne dust.

'

That trip, and those track experiences, would have been about half a century ago now, and I seem to be still here.

I should add the club now has not only a far better track, but also the proper facilities, "downstairs cloakroom" and all, it had lacked for decades!

I worked for Anglian Water for many years in the lumpy water side of things (aka sewage treatment), and you always washed hands before going to the toilet.

Mind you if you did get your hands covered in black sludge, no matter how hard you scrubbed and washed your hands you could not get rid of the smell for ages. This meant eating your sandwiches at lunch time made things challenging! The only cure was to use aftershave on your hands to disguise the pong before eating your grub!

I attended a government training course many years ago and one of the safety videos was about not handling your parts without washing your hands first. Some of the pictures of the consequences of Not doing this were quite unpleasant!

Perhaps Neil would consider a competition for best design for members ..