Phone Phun

It's your big day out and about in The City. Museums, shows, public monuments, the whole thing. All of a sudden you get the call. We're talking about the Call of Nature here. Sure, there are those who think of New York as just a big public urinal, but that's not your style. You want a bathroom with all the amenities, like a door and all that. With that call urgently ringing in your ears—and other body parts—there's no time to waste.

Check out Diaroogle, which bills itself as The Premier Toilet Search Engine. Bring the site up on your smart phone or computer, enter an address, cross street, or neighborhood, and check out the list of public and almost-public restrooms. There's generally directions, a description of what to expect, and for some of them even a photo to check out what you're getting into. And if you know of a great heretofore undiscovered necessarium, they've got a Submit tool to add yours to the list. Good luck!

Okay, so you've heard of dial-a-story and dial-a-prayer. How about dial-a-song? Just call 802-735-2710 (not a toll-free number) and listen to the music. WMUD is a low-power user-supported non-commercial broadcast radio station serving the Champlain Valley of Vermont and New York at 89.3 on the FM dial. In addition to their local audience, they also stream their freeform programming on the web as well as making it available via telephone. Just call 'em up—here's a way to get your money's worth from your unlimited cell phone plan—and bring 'em along with you. The music's all played live, but they don't have talkative DJs to get in your way. Listen to the radio for the music—what a concept!

These guys are free to listen to, no matter which medium you use, but as a user-supported station, we're sure they wouldn't mind if you happened to send them a couple of bucks now and then. And thanks to Bill for turning us on to them.