Every summer we put together our homemade hot tub in the courtyard. We fill it with hot water from as many janitorial sinks as we can reach with available hoses, and voila, instant party.

This summer we decided to utilize our gazebo left over from Interhovse. Somehow our hot tub pieces magically fit inside the gazebo, with only minor modification necessary. Classiest hot tub ever.

Last summer we had a surprisingly good setup where we pumped water from the hot tub through a hose that led to a set of refrigerator coils on the fireplace in the lounge. This heated the water, which was subsequently cycled back into the hot tub.

There were a few logistical difficulties, such as when one of the hoses popped off the coil and just started spewing water into the lounge. A bunch of us were sitting in the courtyard at the time, and someone walked out of the lounge and asked “is there any particular reason the lounge is being flooded?” Cue everyone freaking out and rushing inside to carry all the now-soggy furniture out of harm’s way. (We even managed to save the rug; thank goodness, it really tied the room together.)

Unfortunately we seem to have misplaced our refrigerator coils, so no automatic heating this year. But I do think the gazebo is an upgrade.

For ages, people have been talking about building a slide from a second story balcony into the hot tub. Maybe next year.