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glockmail
10-14-2013, 10:04 PM
Last weekend I held a party for my wife's 50th birthday, along with a friend of mine who also turned 50 this year.

I took Friday off to get set up. I knew that lots of folks would be drinking beer and I don't have a "powder room", so to reduce the load on the master bathroom I built a "mens comfort station" in the back complete with a urinal made out of a milk jug and ten feet of hose, a tarped booth for discretion, a flashlight for lighting and a table with warm water, soap and paper towels for clean-up.

I also built a dog run for the several pets that would be tagging along from an old zip line cable, strung between trees 6' off the ground.

Friday night my son brought his new girlfriend, so there were five of us for dinner. I was focusing on the big Saturday night meal so pulled a frozen salmon out of the freezer and cooked that along with the veggies. That salmon had been in the freezer a while so I spiced it up with some teriyaki, honey, and soy sauce. I didn't bother to marinate as I left it in the package in the refrigerator during the day to defrost.

For veggies I had my daughter prep what was available, put two tablespoons of vegetable oil and 1/4 cup of water in my cast iron grill pan, tossed in the veggies, cranked some pepper and sea salt over them and slammed that on the grill along with the fish.

For Saturday my friend did a low country boil for lunch and there was about ten of us sitting outside on the deck. It was awesome and set the bar high for my dinner that evening.

By about 4:30 23 people showed up. We started by opening the first of about a dozen bottles of wine, two types of imported cheese, and leftover shrimp from the noon meal. I started to heat the grill about 6pm for a 7pm dinner.

Another friend of mine worked the electric oven and baked sweet potato fries and cheese crusted eggplant, both his recipes. I began by preheating the grill on high for ten minutes then cooking two six-pound filet mignon roasts in the 500 degree cover to sear. I cracked salt and pepper on them both sides and then prepared more teriaki, honey and this time, Worcestershire sauce. After about 5 minutes and one turn I got a 700 degree flamer going so I turned the gas down all the way, brushed and turned the beef to lock in the char and keep it from burning further. After the roasts were about 2/3 done I tossed on four boneless chicken breasts, then raised the gas level to about 1/2 and continued cooking, and gave the chicken the same spices as the beef. My daughter prepped more veggies and I piled the old grill pan high, and worked a spot for it on the grill for the last 20 minutes.

Didn't have many leftovers but did get a lot of compliments.

My wife just told me that my son's girl said that I was a great cook, especially with the salmon, and she doesn't like fish. :laugh:

The comfort station worked great. My wife didn't like the idea at first but saw how it kept our bathroom manageable, with out all the male drunks splashing.

glockmail
10-15-2013, 10:16 AM
Here's how to make a temporary urinal. All you need is an empty gallon plastic milk jug and ten feet of old garden hose.


Drill a hole in the jug cap the slightly smaller than the hose. Jam the hose in through the top so it sticks in about 1/2".
Cut the bottom out of the jug. Screw the cap/ hose assembly onto the jug. Position the jug so the hose is on the side facing you and the handle is away from you. Trim the sides of the jug facing you in a shallow V shape.
Find an old tube of painter's caulk, cut the top off, grab a few fingers full of it and smear it around the hose and cap from the inside. Spread it out so the hose becomes the low spot in the jug.
Get a 1x1 x 4' long hardwood stake and stick that through the jug handle. If the jug rotates on the stake then get a bigger one, or duct-tape it to prevent rotation.
Find two trees close together, on a slight slope and parallel to the contour.
Hold the urinal with the hose on the bottom, rotate the stake slightly to move what is now the top of the jug towards you, selected a desired angle (10 degrees or so) and drill two horizontal holes 1/4" in diameter through the stake at both ends, the same distance apart as the trees.
Use 16 penny common nails through the drilled holes to mount the assembly to the trees at the desired height on the uphill side. Lay the hose on the downhill side to drain.
Use additional lumber, branches, sections of scaffolding, whatever, to make a three sided booth with the urinal on the common side.
Use a tarp at least 6' wide and long enough to cover the tree sides, plus the third side stretched at the top to form a flap. The flap is now your door.
Hang an LED flashlight on one of the trees inside the privy.
Hang a 5 gallon campers water jug with a spigot end on a nearby tree. Nail a short piece of 1x2 board horizontally on the tree for a paper towel hanger.
Add a 5 gallon pail for a trash can and you're done.

:laugh: