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From: murphy@hou2a.UUCP (R.GANNS)
Newsgroups: net.followup
Subject: more waterbed caveats
Message-ID: <237@hou2a.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 16-Jan-84 13:06:56 EST
Article-I.D.: hou2a.237
Posted: Mon Jan 16 13:06:56 1984
Date-Received: Tue, 17-Jan-84 02:44:54 EST
Organization: Bell Labs, Holmdel NJ
Lines: 40


           Anyone contemplating getting a waterbed should first try,
           somehow, to spend a night or two on one (..and I mean sleeping).
           Try to do this over a range of temperatures. The prior comments
           made about poor venting of perspiration are valid.
           It's also true that bodies will tend to roll together in the
           middle like marbles in a sink. This is fine for some, but not
           others.

           I found that a standard bed with an extra firm mattress was
           good for a tired back. Waterbeds didn't seem to give the right
           kind of support, but this is probably an individual thing.

           Also consider where you'll put it. They weigh (literally)
           a ton, and your landlord may not like that much mass straining
           his floor. Drainage is also a consideration--when time comes
           to move it, you'll have to empty it. This is not a trivial
           operation.

           Leaks can also be a problem. Here's an example:

                  A friend of mine lived in an A-frame with an upstairs
                  waterbed. At a particularly rowdy party one night,
                  some drunk found a twelve guage shotgun and a load of
                  OO in a closet and, acting much like the south end of a
                  north-bound horse, discharged the 12-bore thru the
                  cieling, right into the you-know-what. What happened
                  next caused at least one person to spill their drink.

                  It was a minor miracle (especially considering the kind
                  of party it was) that no one was on the waterbed at the
                  time the artillery went off.

                  There are several other more straight-forward ways to 
                  put holes in a waterbed that do not require the presence
                  of an idiot. I'm sure you can think of a few.

                  In a nutshell, I found waterbeds not all that great for
                  sleeping.

                                                            Rich Ganns