As you all probably know, Dissident and I are going to Japan for 10 days for vacation. Neither of us have kids or pets, so there isn't much to worry about. I do, however, have a giant Japanese peace lily that is a heavy drinker (about 4 cups a day!) and I needed a way to keep it watered while I was gone. I toyed with the idea of running a hose from the faucet to the plant but I had visions of a flooded apartment upon my return, so I opted for a  two gallon drink dispenser to limit the potential for water damage.

The rig is quite simple. I jammed a precisely trimmed piece of metal under the release lever, put the thing on a chair, and let it drip down the center of the plant. The metal shim lifts the lever just enough to get the correct drip rate to keep Fido hydrated but not flooded. After some test trials and fiddling, I was able to get it to flow just right. My only concern is that as the water level decreases, the flow rate will probably decrease as well, so Fido may be slowly dehydrated. I guess I should dump some water out and test that.

Anyway, behold the magnificence: