This is a special urinal that lets you have all the fun of "peeing in the snow," without waiting for a winter night.
The urinal is about the size of a bathtub but with low walls like a shower stall. It is filled with shaved ice, the kind that is used to make hot-weather treats. The shaved ice melts and pits like snow when you pee on it. The user stands by the edge of the urinal to write. Artistic types will want to draw, and entrepreneurial guys will want to leave their logo.
There's an ice maker/shaver continuously refilling it, and a drain in the bottom continuously letting out the runoff. The low walls, about 5" high, are enough to hold the right thickness of shaved-ice-snow.
It would be nice if the user could stand in one spot and just rotate as he writes, so the unit will be arc shaped. The user stands in the inner curve of the arc.
Frills include a placard with some nice calligraphic fonts that you can try to copy.
If the user wants to start fresh, they hit the rake button, and a rake comes by and flattens the snow - kind of like an automatic kitty litter raker.
Measures to keep it fresh - urinal cakes hidden in the snow, and a pitched bottom to improve flow.-- robinism, Feb 05 2005 More about shaved ice http://www.1-800-sh...om/machinehelp.html [robinism, Feb 05 2005] Prosthetic that Mustardface was suggesting http://whizzy4you.com/ [robinism, Feb 05 2005] Magic Cone http://magic-cone.com/ [tiromancer, Feb 05 2005] P-Mate http://www.p-mate.com/Since it came up... [tiromancer, Feb 05 2005] Can't say as I've had the experience, but now you can. http://pi.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/snow.html [half, Feb 05 2005] For [Pericles] http://cgi.ebay.com...tem&item=5554736267 [Detly, Feb 06 2005] [+] Graffiti becomes a part of the process. So well thought out. What a vision. A urinal cake, I mean croissant for you!
(Covers head and runs from [blissmiss])-- Mustardface, Feb 05 2005 Condiment face;
I once posted an idea called "perch and point", where men, upon stumbling into the loo, could lay their dukies down on the perch, and point towards the jackpot, leaving 2 hands free to do things like pick their teeth, or nose, or make their hair look neater.
I got pummeled for it.
Now you know why I get green with envy when other people, (men), can do urinal jokes but not women. Hence also the reason I still feel icky, when men post anything to do with PMS, or female hygiene products.
Don't duck...just understand, I thought my "perch and point" was better than any of this week’s mens urinal humor. That's all.-- blissmiss, Feb 05 2005 Blissmiss, your "P&P" idea sounds hilarious and thought provoking (I'm trying to picture the shape of the cradle.) If I had been around, I would have voted for it.-- robinism, Feb 05 2005 [blissmiss] Well, that explains a lot I was confused about. Be encouraged that I thought [robinism] was female. I even contemplating putting an idea in for a prosthetic that would allow females to enjoy drawing in the snow.-- Mustardface, Feb 05 2005 Mustardface, I'm encouraged that you thought I was female, because I am.
There already is a prosthetic like you were talking about. (see link)-- robinism, Feb 05 2005 rob's a girl? Well I'll be damned.-- blissmiss, Feb 05 2005 I don't know nothin' bout peeing in the snow either. But I once saw a stand-up comedian (Richard Pryor?) act out the motions of writing his name in the snow, and it was so funny that it stayed with me.-- robinism, Feb 05 2005 For those of you who, due to gender or other unfortunate circumstances have missed the experience, now you can do it virtually. (link)-- half, Feb 05 2005 Now that is one sick link, half...hehehehe-- blissmiss, Feb 05 2005 Now I can feel the onset of my own gender identity disorder.-- Detly, Feb 05 2005 I couldn't care less about writing my name in the snow. I want to see some snow first!! :(-- Pericles, Feb 05 2005 Sorry to hear that my snowball didn't make it Pericles.-- 2 fries shy of a happy meal, Feb 05 2005 [Pericles] - see link. I'm a bit worried about the "expands to 100 times it's size!" claim - you wouldn't want to inhale the stuff.-- Detly, Feb 06 2005 Thanks for the snow [2 fries] and [Detly]. Both your attempts blew a chill of blizz to my heart. :)-- Pericles, Feb 06 2005 random, halfbakery