jolly friends, all right

Last summer while browsing the_list, Donnelly found a source for rain barrels. A simple, often impersonal discovery, no doubt like riding a train, visiting the farmer's market, or browsing the bulk-foods aisle at Freddy's—provided you are not her. While her days may be filled with activities similar to yours and mine, the characters that join her for the journey exceed expectation, as evidenced by the obsessive-compulsive-affected manager of production-scale liquid food stuffs. This guy met us after work in front of a plain warehouse in Milwaukie to complete what might have been a ten minute transaction, assuming he didn't say a word. He did. An hour later, we left with two 50-gallon food-grade plastic barrels, plenty of anecdoctal instruction and at least one story about hunting in northern Minnesota. If the amount of time which elapsed between the moment we got home that evening and the afternoon two weeks ago when I finally properly plumbed those barrels is correlative to the duration of that gentleman's story time, it would have been better for everyone if we hadn't heard the one about the big buck. However, the barrels are finally working properly. Just in time for the rain, too, but using today's storm as a measure for the season, we're going to need a bigger boat.
Here's what you need to get one going (one of everything!):
(1) 50-60 gal. poly barrel: ~$25
(1) 2"x3"x3" polystyrene downspout adapter: $2.27
(1) 1/2" hose bib quarter turn (full turn works too, but the quarter fit our application best and as your uncle Rex says, we prefer ball valves): $7.73
(1) 2" pipe/thread adapter: $1.23
(1) 3"x2" flexible coupling: $5.97
(1) sock or pantyhose or similar to act as filter if you roof has lots of friends (ours doesn't): unknown
assorted stones for newtonian assistance: free from the crawlspace (see previous episode)
Total: $42.20
I would consider this an expensive installation—your_P probably would have done it for less—but considering these puppies retail for one or two bills (I've learned from my neighbors that this is short hand for $100-$200), I guess we're doing alright.