Return of the Dryptsplytta

We stopped in London on the way to Istanbul, so I could carry out my duties as program chair of the Brazilian Studies Conference, held at King's College, London from August 20-23. But not really on the way. The least expensive ticket we could find, and therefore the one we purchased, sent us from Dulles to Atatürk Airport in Istabul for a four hour layover, then onto Heathrow. This was an absurd way of doing things, but saved us money, will allow us to get a direct flight on the way back, and gave us another crack at the complimentary Turkish delight dispensed at the start of every Turkish Airways flight.

After our enlightening layover (insert clichê here about Istanbul as crossroads of world, Istanbul as meeting place of East and West, or pungency of bathrooms at Atatürk) and an uneventful flight to Heathrow, we arrived at our London quarters at midnight, London time. Those quarters were undeservedly posh, thanks to Mary's unfailingly generous friends in South Kensington. And when I say undeservedly posh, I mean this was the London townhome featured in Flushed Away. But as that fine film showed, even the poshest of flats can have the occasional tiny plumbing problem.

We ate, showered and did our best to fall asleep, thrown off not only by the time change but by the resonant drip coming from the shower. I was reminded instantly of the Dryptsplytta, a tool—or really a strategy—developed by the great Douglas G when staying at a creaky old hotel in Eureka Springs, Arkansas (where he was in town to celebrate our wedding—Mary's and mine, that is). Like most would be sleepers plagued by a dripping shower in the echo chamber of a well-tiled bathroom, he tried at first to put out a little cup to catch the drip, but that quickly filled up and amplified the drip. The he tried a towel to soak it up—ditto. Only then did he realize that by placing a tube of hand cream sharp-edge up, positioned just so, he could split the drip. Divided, the droplets rolled noiselessly down the sides of the tube to the tub floor.

I quickly implemented the Return of the Dryptsplytta, and we slept like babies. Actually, I was so on edge thinking about conference program details that I didn't really sleep well until several days later. But then I slept like a baby.