A pithy comic strip about life, love, lust and puthy cats.

Est. 1985

Extra, Extra!

Busted Flush

By Jimmy Johnson


A short poem today, for a short post. This is from 1996, 20 years ago this month. Someone asked me about this strip in an email the other day, wanting help finding it. At the time, I wasn’t sure where to look, and it was just as well. I would have sworn I drew it no more than 10 years ago. Yeek.

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354 responses to “Busted Flush”

  1. Jackie Monies Avatar
    Jackie Monies

    Men and bathroom habits.

  2. Jackie Monies Avatar
    Jackie Monies

    Oops, my bad. I and others posted over on yesterday’s page.

    Sort it out.

  3. sandcastler™ Avatar
    sandcastler™

    Don’t blame us for creating plumbing that is self accommodating; had we waited for a woman to do it, the chamber pot would still be fashionable.

  4. emb Avatar

    It was a woman who taught astronomers a standard way to measure interstellar distances. Peace,

  5. Ghost Rider 6 Avatar
    Ghost Rider 6

    Jackie, discontinue your proscribed meds, force fluids, and call your physician ASAP ref your allergic reaction. Taking a dangerous narcotic Benadryl™ dope tablet probably would not hurt.

  6. sandcastler™ Avatar
    sandcastler™

    Busted flush in Baton Rouge, waitin’ for a train
    And I’s feelin’ near as faded as my jeans
    Bobby thumbed a diesel down, just before it rained
    It rode us all the way to New Orleans

  7. emb Avatar

    And a woman, some two generations ago, who taught male primatologists what was really going on in the sociology and reproductive dynamics of langurs* and baboons, with implications for lions [the only social cats] and other social mammals. Besides, she gave better talks than the men at a symposium I attended at Gustavus Adolphus College some 20 yr. ago. *new word in dictionary

    Peace,

  8. MontanaPhil Avatar
    MontanaPhil

    I haven’t asked women about this, but, with men, the sound of running water frequently encourages the desire to urinate.

  9. Ghost Rider 6 Avatar
    Ghost Rider 6

    Re today’s retro…guilty, in the past. No longer do that. Don’t ask me to explain why, either then or now.

    Blew my food budget last night on Asian dumplings and hand-roll sushi. No grilled oysters for me today. Will probably have to eat at Gruel-in-the-Box. Woe is me. 🙂

  10. Smigz Avatar
    Smigz

    Jackie, I so often want to write “What Ghost said.” Truly, stop anything that could be causing the reaction and call doc; wait on line till they resolve the issue.

    emb, I’m with you on Strunk and White.

    MontanaPhil, I’ve never known a woman to have that reaction to the sound of water. Women also don’t do the little boy pee jiggle. We just casually cross our legs and think “Where the heck did I see a restroom?”

    sand, how is your sweet Loon?

  11. curmudgeonly ex-professor Avatar
    curmudgeonly ex-professor

    eMb, was that meeting at Gustavus Adolphus one of their Nobel conferences? I managed to get to 2 of same and found them quite to my liking.

  12. TruckerRon Avatar

    There’s a small indy truck stop out there in NM or AZ off of I-10 where the sign encourages both sexes to flush frequently when “doing a dump” — narrow pipes was given as the reason.

  13. Ghost Rider 6 Avatar
    Ghost Rider 6

    I suppose “narrow pipes” can be a good thing or a bad thing, depending on the circumstances.

  14. Ghost Rider 6 Avatar
    Ghost Rider 6

    Jackie and others who may be interested, from the Cabela web site: Bass Pro Shops and Cabela’s Incorporated (NYSE:CAB), two iconic American outdoor companies with similar humble origins, and with a shared goal to better serve those who love the outdoors, today announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement under which Bass Pro Shops will acquire Cabela’s for $65.50 per share in cash, representing an aggregate transaction value of approximately $5.5 billion.

  15. Jackie Monies Avatar
    Jackie Monies

    Maybe narrow pipes has something to do with the reason some men dribble?

    I am taking benadryl and not taking any new oral medications, the only new med was the antibiotic by injection and whatever was in steroid cocktail injection which usually counters allergies. Was to wait to start the Z pack in a couple days.

    Looked at both legs to hips and I am covered in big red blotches randomly so assume rest of me is as well. Took 3 benadryl and calling doctor. Just looked, chest and other parts similarly blotches.

    Need Ghost here to play doctor. I am taking shower and new pajamas for now. And the benadryl.

  16. Nancy Kirk in AZ Avatar
    Nancy Kirk in AZ

    Do try to keep us posted, Jackie. We worry.

  17. Ghost Rider 6 Avatar
    Ghost Rider 6

    As my sister used to say, if you are broken out like that on the outside, just think what you look like on the inside.

    Ghost plays doctor good.

  18. Jackie Monies Avatar
    Jackie Monies

    I do imagine Ghost does. Lots of practice.

    Just bought tickets for Kris Kristopherson at Cain’s Ballroom in Tulsa. Waited so long they are probably in the hallway but still………..

    On subject of tickets when did they enter stratosphere, one way to the moon?

  19. Sideburns Avatar

    Given a safe location, emb, feral house-cats will live together, helping to groom each other, and the females will help care for the kittens while their mothers are hunting. (They’re quite affectionate by nature, which is why they make friends with humans so easily.) Lions, however, are the only felines I know of that aren’t solitary hunters.

  20. Jackie Monies Avatar
    Jackie Monies

    Took shower, still itch. Look like My Little Pony after the five year old colors her with pink paint like a dalmatian.

    Covered in big spots from head to toe and itching. Put on short pj’s just in case so more spots visible. Not for esthetics but to see when they grow or shrink.

    Also retaining fluid, big increase in weight overnight. Drinking fluids however not that much.

    Love y’all. You know that don’t you?

  21. Ruth Anne in Winter Park Avatar
    Ruth Anne in Winter Park

    Jackie – does your doctor know about all this?

  22. Ruth Anne in Winter Park Avatar
    Ruth Anne in Winter Park

    As I was saying on the previous page before I accidently deleted it all…

    The bad news is that we are in fact in Matthew’s expected path; the good news is that, barring a change in direction, we’ll be on the west side of the storm which is generally less intense. Bob and I are both native Floridians, with parents who were the same, so we’ve been through this before and know what to do.

    In 2004, commonly referred to as “the year of all the storms” (3 hurricanes for our area), the worst part of the experience was lengthy power outages. We hope that will not be the case this time. Most of the large oaks on our street died of old age and storm stress years ago and their replacements aren’t that big yet. The city has done a lot of work to upgrade the power lines too. Just in case, I’m making blocks of ice using all my old square Tupperware containers.

    There are a few other noticeable differences, especially with electronics:

    2004 –
    Communication: old phone on land line with cheap cellphones as back-up
    Information/entertainment: battery-powered radio and TV, using the latter sparingly as it depleted the batteries quickly; books, of course
    Lighting: flashlights; oil lamps, including some that came from our grandparents; camping lantern
    Cooking: gas grill and camp stove

    2016 –
    Communication: still have the land line but can’t find the phone; cellphones still cheap but much better, used more for texting than talking; social media
    Information/entertainment: iPad and tablet used with mobile wifi hotspot; books, of course
    Lighting: same as before with the addition of a variety of LED devices
    Power for all of the above: solar-powered chargers! (got a great deal on a set from REI)
    Cooking: same as before

    At least this time, the weather will be much cooler after the storm has passed.

  23. Jackie Monies Avatar
    Jackie Monies

    Yes, called doctor. Waiting for call back from nurse. Drinking water.

    Expect to live. Bought tickets to Dwight Yoakum concert in November. Love his guitar work, good performer.

    Since I am planning to have knee surgery I expect to stay home. Some anyway.

  24. Jackie Monies Avatar
    Jackie Monies

    What is opinion of Bob Dylan or Temptations concerts? Not great tickets but ok ones.

  25. Ghost Rider 6 Avatar
    Ghost Rider 6

    Jackie, you need something with more efficacy than Benadryl. Also, pronounced edema is not normally associated with an allergic reaction. Not to pry, but have you been treated for congestive heart failure in the past?

    Personally, I’d rather hear the Temptations belch in an elevator than attend a Dylan concert.