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Those BRIGHT motion activated lights, or how to pee in 5 seconds

MARSKA

CF 2023, 2024, 2025?
Time of past OR future Camino
Sept/Oct 2023
In Spain I learned to hate motion- sensor lights.
You know, the BRIGHT ones the are triggered the second you open the door making it impossible to leave the dorm in the middle of the night without annoying everyone in the room? Or how about the ones in toilet stalls that turn off after 5 seconds so you have to wave your arms & jump around with your pants down in order to re-light the room? Ah- the indignities.
 
A selection of Camino Jewellery
The focus is on reducing the risk of failure through being well prepared. 2nd ed.
I have a special in my heart for those people unable to close the door again behind them when they went out to the brightly lit hallway in the St.Domingo d.l. Calzada albergue to go to the bathroom during the night. A very, very special place.

There i learned not to chose the bed next to the door if i can help it.
On other occasions i learned to always take my phone with me (there have been bathrooms with no light sensor in the stall...) and to always check for paper before comitting.
 
I have a special in my heart for those people unable to close the door again behind them when they went out to the brightly lit hallway in the St.Domingo d.l. Calzada albergue to go to the bathroom during the night. A very, very special place.
Hmmm- if that special place is in your heart, you’re a far, far better person than I…
 
The one from Galicia (the round) and the one from Castilla & Leon. Individually numbered and made by the same people that make the ones you see on your walk.
In Spain I learned to hate motion- sensor lights.
You know, the BRIGHT ones the are triggered the second you open the door making it impossible to leave the dorm in the middle of the night without annoying everyone in the room? Or how about the ones in toilet stalls that turn off after 5 seconds so you have to wave your arms & jump around with your pants down in order to re-light the room? Ah- the indignities.
The municipal Albergue in Xunqueira de Ambia on the Camino Sanabrés has a large perspex transom light above the door of both dormitories with motion sensor lights in the hallway. There is no escape!
 
how about the ones in toilet stalls that turn off after 5 seconds so you have to wave your arms & jump around with your pants down in order to re-light the room?

Ahhh, the spanish bathroom windmill, a move that only the experts know! 🤣!
 
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Maybe there is a way to disable them? I stayed in St. Domingo dl Calzada...

I cannot understand why the albergues who think 9f everything forget about those lights,,,,
Yes, light sensors can be a nuisance sometimes, but if it bothers you, bring it to the attention of the hospi or leave a note, or mention it in the guest book. Best not to take such things into your own hands though, same goes for moving beds around, adjusting heating controls etc. Sometimes, things are how they are for good reason. I admit, flapping around in the dark isn't fun, though..
 
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I have wondered as I walked why the albergues have such things, they are unnecessary. All pilgrims should have a torch for night time toilet visits and in the event of a fire there will either be no lights at all or emergency lighting will come on to show the way to the exit.
 
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Slightly off topic, but for those of you who've been to Grañón, there's a light on a timer in the bell tower stairway. When we were serving there at Christmas one year, some neighborhood boys began playing with the control box as a "joke" on the pilgrims. The staircase was pretty dangerous in the dark. Phil and the local priest caught up with boys and Phil snapped their photo while they were tinkering with the mechanism. He then took the photo up to the bakery and the baker said she would have a word with their parents. It didn't happen again while we were there.
 
It's not just when you are using the toilet. At Arres last summer the timer on the bathroom light would make the light go out while people were showering. You had to open the shower cabinet door to reactivate the light which was sometimes a little revealing in the shared bathroom.
 
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€2,-/day will present your project to thousands of visitors each day. All interested in the Camino de Santiago.
Yes I ran into the lights going off while in the shower somewhere along the way. I recall having a WTF response.

Seriously I know electricity is holy cow expensive in Spain and I would never mess with any automatic timers or controls.
 
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Seriously I know electricity is holy cow expensive in Spain and I would never mess with any automatic timers or controls.
Off topic and unrelated but this reminded me of my Catalan camino where two albergues had the wall outlets connected to the overhead lights. I almost didn't notice and my phone wouldn't have been charged. (I charged it in another room.)
 
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The one from Galicia (the round) and the one from Castilla & Leon. Individually numbered and made by the same people that make the ones you see on your walk.
In Spain I learned to hate motion- sensor lights.
You know, the BRIGHT ones the are triggered the second you open the door making it impossible to leave the dorm in the middle of the night without annoying everyone in the room? Or how about the ones in toilet stalls that turn off after 5 seconds so you have to wave your arms & jump around with your pants down in order to re-light the room? Ah- the indignities.
For the former, sometimes there is nothing you can do. But I try and open the door just the minimum I need to squeeze through and close it behind me as quickly as possible.

For the latter, it's such a pain when waving your arms is not enough. I started to bring my phone with me so that in a worst case scenario I could use the phone's flashlight.
 
This might be one reason why @Rick suggested red light (not sure what else he might have had in mind, ha ha!) ;)

From the site of the Rothney Astrophysical Observatory operated by the University of Calgary:

Flashlights are welcome at the RAO, though red light is preferred as it does not affect the telescopes and allows you to maintain your night vision.
 
Get a spanish phone number with Airalo. eSim, so no physical SIM card. Easy to use app to add more funds if needed.
Sometimes I think it is so nice sitting in the dark half asleep doing what nature intended.

There is no snoring or rustling plastic bags and you can usually take your time without someone rattling the door every couple of minutes or so as often happens. Ahhh solitude!

Just don't nod off.

Oh goodness, there are mosquitos here.

Camino life - it's all fun.
 
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It's not just when you are using the toilet. At Arres last summer the timer on the bathroom light would make the light go out while people were showering. You had to open the shower cabinet door to reactivate the light which was sometimes a little revealing in the shared bathroom.
Or shower next to a very tall person in the next stall as did I recently in Berducedo. She had worked out a complicated basketball manoeuvre that turned the light (located outside the cubicles in the main area), back on . The shower stall lights lasted a full 45 seconds before deactivating. By the end of our showers she had made several new friends and scored a few goals for the centre cubicle.
 
But the point of the thread is that many albergues have bright lights that automatically come in with a motion sensor.
On and off. The mice in the kitchen flicked on and off all night at one albergue I stayed at a few years ago. Nothing you can do there. But when you use a bathroom, use a headlamp.
 
That's the thing really. Conserve energy and reduce costs or run electric lights for no purpose if no one is about. You can't please everyone all the time.
The simple answer is for everyone to sleep with eyeshades, and folks who get up to use the slightest light available. This is usually a headlamp, pencil torch, or smartphone illumination.

The entire point here is to NOT disturb others, as you would not wish to be disturbed.

It works for me when I use albergue style accommodations.

Hope this helps.

Tom
 
The focus is on reducing the risk of failure through being well prepared. 2nd ed.
The simple answer is for everyone to sleep with eyeshades, and folks who get up to use the slightest light available. This is usually a headlamp, pencil torch, or smartphone illumination.

The entire point here is to NOT disturb others, as you would not wish to be disturbed.

It works for me when I use albergue style accommodations.

Hope this helps.

Tom
A little more difficult with a CPAP machine to sleep with a sleep mask. Overall it is the hazard of albergue selection. Sometimes good, sometimes more difficult to sleep. The price is right, but comes with its own unique sleeping challenges.
 
The one from Galicia (the round) and the one from Castilla & Leon. Individually numbered and made by the same people that make the ones you see on your walk.
The simple answer is for everyone to sleep with eyeshades, and folks who get up to use the slightest light available. This is usually a headlamp, pencil torch, or smartphone illumination.

The entire point here is to NOT disturb others, as you would not wish to be disturbed.

It works for me when I use albergue style accommodations.

Hope this helps.

Tom
Agreed Tom...but this thread is about motion sensor lights in the corridors and toilets and not about your disturbing anyone on your nightly "visit" exiting the sleeping quarters. This is caused as soon as you open the door
In an ideal world everyone would mitigate disturbance by self help (shades and earplugs). In an ideal world everyone would have a low level light with them. In an ideal world everyone would know where the light switches were in the dark and, more importantly, turn everything off when you have finished.
The observation is that when motion sensor lights are installed they are too bright, too sensitive to a door opening and the setting too short in the shower/toilet area
These problems of disturbance are not caused by the client and, in the case of toilets/showers, is an inconvenience and not necessarily a disturbance.
 
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Agreed Tom...but this thread is about motion sensor lights in the corridors and toilets and not about your disturbing anyone on your nightly "visit" exiting the sleeping quarters. This is caused as soon as you open the door
In an ideal world everyone would mitigate disturbance by self help (shades and earplugs). In an ideal world everyone would have a low level light with them. In an ideal world everyone would know where the light switches were in the dark and, more importantly, turn everything off when you have finished.
The observation is that when motion sensor lights are installed they are too bright, too sensitive to a door opening and the setting too short in the shower/toilet area
These problems of disturbance are not caused by the client and, in the case of toilets/showers, is an inconvenience and not necessarily a disturbance.
Exactly. Thanks!
 
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We are all correct, each in our own way - sort of like the parable of the three blind men and the elephant. One thing that is certain, at least IMHO, is that these activity-based light switch sensors are not likely to go away anytime soon.

I agree with all of the commentary.
 
making it impossible to leave the dorm in the middle of the night without annoying everyone in the room?

this thread is about motion sensor lights in the corridors and toilets and not about your disturbing anyone on your nightly "visit" exiting the sleeping quarters.
It seems to me that one of the things this thread  is about is disturbing anyone when exiting the sleeping quarters, as the bright motion-sensitive lights spill into the dormitory. At least that was what I took from the quoted portion of the original post, and it informed my initial response.
 
It seems to me that one of the things this thread  is about is disturbing anyone when exiting the sleeping quarters, as the bright motion-sensitive lights spill into the dormitory. At least that was what I took from the quoted portion of the original post, and it informed my initial response.
Yes...I did also.
 
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Yes...I did also.
I saw your "not about..." in the text I quoted above as saying the opposite. It was the placement of the "not" that fooled me. If you had written "and about your not disturbing anyone..." it would have read very differently than "and not about your disturbing anyone...".
 
I saw your "not about..." in the text I quoted above as saying the opposite. It was the placement of the "not" that fooled me. If you had written "and about your not disturbing anyone..." it would have read very differently than "and not about your disturbing anyone...".
If you had needed clarification it would have been better to do so by DM.
 
I have a special in my heart for those people unable to close the door again behind them when they went out to the brightly lit hallway in the St.Domingo d.l. Calzada albergue to go to the bathroom during the night. A very, very special place.

There i learned not to chose the bed next to the door if i can help it.
On other occasions i learned to always take my phone with me (there have been bathrooms with no light sensor in the stall...) and to always check for paper before comitting.
Good rules for a long and healthy life. 😂
 
The focus is on reducing the risk of failure through being well prepared. 2nd ed.
In Spain I learned to hate motion- sensor lights.
You know, the BRIGHT ones the are triggered the second you open the door making it impossible to leave the dorm in the middle of the night without annoying everyone in the room? Or how about the ones in toilet stalls that turn off after 5 seconds so you have to wave your arms & jump around with your pants down in order to re-light the room? Ah- the indignities.
LMAO ! You have to admit, it’s one of the indignities we all face on this and other situations in the various things we take for granted in our home life. My favorite is trying to get out of the top bunk and missing the step to get down safely and then Karpluk on the floor with a large bang boom and wake everyone up. Someone moved the ladder!
 
I have wondered as I walked why the albergues have such things, they are unnecessary. All pilgrims should have a torch for night time toilet visits and in the event of a fire there will either be no lights at all or emergency lighting will come on to show the way to the exit.
Maybe a warning about such should be added to the online listings of albergues. :)
(I’ve apparently had the good fortune of never staying in an albergue that had one.)
 
The one from Galicia (the round) and the one from Castilla & Leon. Individually numbered and made by the same people that make the ones you see on your walk.
Electric bills in Spain are exorbitant. Use your headlamp.
??!!??
My water and heat bill in Burgos averaged €65/month Feb/Mar/Apr In Indiana, New York, Oregon, they have always totaled well over $100.
 
Yes, I was wondering that myself. I’ve spent quite a bit of time at sea, and our lights all switched to red after 2200.
One of the Navy ships I was on did not. Had to learn to get around the same way blind people do. With a bit of effort, one might scope out the layout before dark and plan how to navigate without light. If blind people and Navy people can do it …
 
The focus is on reducing the risk of failure through being well prepared. 2nd ed.
My phone’s flashlight is so <censored> bright that instead, I just call up an e-mail for its white background
I have an Android phone. I have two ways to get dim light with it.

1) My Lockscreen has a red background and I have these two settings on:
Display > Lockscreen > Lift to check phone
Display > Lockscreen > Tap to check phone

2) The Magnifier app's main screen allows you to turn the flashlight on and off and it has a slider to adjust its brightness.
 
LMAO ! You have to admit, it’s one of the indignities we all face on this and other situations in the various things we take for granted in our home life. My favorite is trying to get out of the top bunk and missing the step to get down safely and then Karpluk on the floor with a large bang boom and wake everyone up. Someone moved the ladder!
Oh yeah! And being a small woman, many times I couldn't reach all the steps.
 
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