I really need to fix my guttering. Theres a spot above the front door that leaks. It only leaks if there is a reasonable amount of rain tipping down though, more than just a shower. This got me thinking...

What if I could tune this problematic guttering to spray that overflow water into fancy patterns, swirling fountains, or clean jets aimed at a pond in the garden? What if I could have four pools, graded to the weather, and four separate spouts fed them? What if I could use this to state how heavy the rain was? "Look dear, it's dinging down a 3er out there". An end piece for a standard gutter should be formable from copper to direct overflow in this way. The pools could look great - every garden benefits from a pool or two. We're not talking mammoth lakes here, just little foot or two across garden ponds. I guess any newts that took residence in the big pool might get a shock during a 'grade four downpour' when the jet turns on - bet hey - they can swim. I'd pay for that. Some artisan gutterer turns up at my house with his copper bending kit, his intuition, and an apprentice to dig a few ponds in 'just the right place'. Think how cool your neighbours would think you were. "look John, next doors house looks so PRETTY when it rains!"

This would really fit with my liking for arbitrary measurement. When making coffee we talk about a '3 spooner' or a '4 spooner'. When we recently got all new cutlery the meaning of 'spoon' changed. Our terminology didn't. It just feels more organic. I like the thought that a 'pool 2 day' at my house is a 'pool 4' half a mile away. Personal units of measurement are so much more touchy feely than metric units.