I did the wood-fire-under-the-charcoal-briquets once at a BBQ/party. As I set the charcoal aside to build the wood fire, a couple of guys were standing to the side, watching me with sneers.

"Isn't it kind of stupid to try to cook over a little wood fire?"

Then I started adding the briquets one at a time, and they 'wandered off'.

The party-giver's husband came over and watched.

"It's too simple. I would never have thought of it."

* * *

A few years back, one of my neighbors had some major plumbing problem and had to turn their water off at the street to prevent more flooding. Later in the day, they came over and asked (embarrassed) for water to flush the toilet.

I picked up his two buckets, walked back to his house in the rain, pulled the lower part of one of his downspouts loose and stuck the bucket under it. Then I told him to come over if they needed more drinking water, as they had an asphalt shingle roof, which I don't think is good for drinking.

When all else fails, stop and think.

Sue

Excellent. Alot of this stuff I wouldn;t have thought of. I think of downspouts and water storage only because my grandparents always kept several barrels around their house, garage, and barn, but still I probably would've been the guy at your door looking for some terlet water

However, I wouldn;t call any of these ideas "thinking outside the box". Rather, I would say they were found rummaging around inside.