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Endless Liquid Refreshment
rabtech writes "I'm very lazy. As part of that continuing effort, I've come up with a guide for installing a soda fountain in the house. I've detailed how to get the equipment, hoses, and supplies, as well as how to install and calibrate the system. Now you won't ever need to move for lack of liquid refreshment! My next project: Food Replicator."
All told, I spent about:
$300 for the system
$50 for the CO2 tank deposit
$200 for various fittings and hose
Reoccurring costs that you don't recoup are:
$16 per CO2 tank fill; should last 6 months to a year
$4 per month for the tank rental (versus $125 to buy a tank)
Water (we are on city water, but it is so cheap as to be listed as "free")
Electricity (again, very little)
Reoccurring costs that you DO recoup:
$50 per 5 gallon box, $25 per 2.5 gallon box. The syrup has an expiration date, so I am trying to stick to 2.5 gallon boxes, since those get used up faster.
Since we only buy a few 99-cent bottles of soda here, this is another plaything if you got over $500 dollars burning a hole in your pocket.
An easier way is to buy soda in bulk, and keep a 2 or 3-liter bottle of soda in an ice bucket next to the couch.
Just not as much wow-factor.
The Pigloo
The whole thing is pretty absurd, hence I feel silly being serious about this...but...making it that much easier to consume soda, which is LOADED with calories(among other things- mostly from sugars), is only going to give you diabetes sooner and plump you up mighty quick. I forget exactly what economists call it, but you're more likely to spend money that's easily accessed. Ie, the bag of chips next to you is gonna get eaten faster than the one downstairs in the drawer.
Seriously, folks- get out and walk, jog, run, bike, skate/skateboard/rollerblade to the local corner store, and carry the 6-pack back. If you're lucky, it'll all balance out. you'll get your daily exercise(what is it, minimum 30 minutes raised heart rate per day?), which means you'll feel better(excercise creates endorphines), and you'll live longer, too. You'll also get to excercise the brain, and reduce eye fatigue, since you'll be moving your eyes a lot and focusing on different things.
There's also cool stuff like(gasp!) water, fruit juice, and vegetable juice. All three are much healthier for you, and(at least IMHO) taste better. I'm not saying switch off soda completely- just go for variety; it's probably the most common thing you hear from nutritionists- eat a little of everything. It's more fun/interesting, too :-)
700,000 people a year die from heart disease. "A little exercise won't kill you" is truer than you think, and eating healthy is great insurance. Ask people who just came out of having heart-bypass operations or their first heart attack, or just got diagnosed with diabetes, and ask them if they wish they had eaten better. I'd be amazed if the answer isn't 100% "Yes".
Please help metamoderate.
Hopefully, the important lesson is this: If you're going to slashdot your server, at least have one capable of handling such an effort.
I got about half of the images broken and the other half weren't even found.
*sigh*
Anyways, for all the flame mongers out there complaining about how it's not "worth it", please. This is what hacking is about. If you sit around asking "Why? This is useless!" how do you expect to have any fun in life?
Flying cars and voice-operated light switches are pretty useless, doesn't mean I wouldn't want one.
Karma: Non-Heinous
I hate to say it, but that's one occasion when the lameness filter worked as intended.
(Not only a fitting double-meaning topic, but a nice subtle X-Men comic book reference ;D )
:p Still, the endless fountain was great while it lasted.
We had a free soda fountain when I worked at ANS - err, UUNet Ann Arbor - err, Worldcom - err, a hollow shell of a building... but I digress. After they put Mountain Dew on tap, productivity incresed... as did the waistlines of a lot of co-workers.
I finally decided one day that the weekend caffine withdrawls (since I was drinking upwards of 3 to 4 liters of Dew a day when at work) and related mood swings were causing too many problems around the house, I quit cold turkey. I lost ten pounds in the next month or so, after having cut over 1000 calories a day out of my diet. Great while it lasted... but then I replaced the raw calories with fat and sugars in the form of chocolate, and gained them all back
Come to the University of Mars! Classes starting soon!
It would be a million times worse to replace the syrup than get a new can/bottle of soda when it runs out, even if it is only every week or so. Plus, fountain soda is definitely not as good as canned/bottled soda.
AS someone who ran a resturant for years, my cost per 12 oz of soda was about 5 cents, not including cup.
Bear in mind, I was part of a chain so we got volume discount. The most expensive psrt of the soda, is the Labor. That is why fill it yourself sodas are so popular. It cost about 25 cents to have someone fill your cup, less if they have a smart set up, but not much less. The average person does not refill, but those that do would have to refill about 5 times for it to start lmaking economic sense.
If you set up your own fountian system, find a local resturant/fastfood place/bar and see if you can buy from them. Even if you paid them 20% above there cost, it would still be cheaper.
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
Good old google.
Researchers Clarify Link Between Consumption
Of Carbonated Beverages and Bone Loss
With soft drinks now the beverage of choice for many Americans, researchers have become increasingly concerned about the link between intake of carbonated beverages and increased risk of bone fracture. A new study exploring this link has shown that calcium depletion -- and ultimately bone loss -- experienced by people who regularly consume carbonated beverages is more likely due to an inadequate daily intake of calcium rather than the ingredients in the beverages.
A team of researchers at the Creighton University Osteoporosis Center studied 30 women aged 20 to 40 who consumed more than two 12-ounce cans of carbonated beverages daily. The team measured levels of urinary calcium excretion after the subjects consumed caffeinated and noncaffeinated soft drinks. Milk and water were used as control beverages.
While the researchers measured little or no calcium loss from the consumption of the noncaffeinated soft drinks or the control beverages, they found that drinking carbonated beverages containing caffeine does indeed cause the body to lose calcium, but only temporarily. A compensatory drop in urinary calcium excretion later in the day offset the small calcium loss from the caffeinated soft drinks.
So what is the explanation for the bone loss observed in people who regularly consume carbonated beverages? The researchers placed the responsibility on the "empty calories" of soft drinks that replace nutrients derived from other foods and beverages. "The most economic explanation for the association of carbonated beverage intake with poor bone status is milk displacement," said lead author Robert P. Heaney, M.D.
The relationship between drinking carbonated beverages and calcium is important, according to the authors, because the National Osteoporosis Foundation recommends that adults get 1,000 milligrams of calcium a day, 1,200 milligrams for teenagers, pregnant women and people older than 50. However, according to the Foundation, most adults only get half that amount.
The study results were published in the September 2001 issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
idrinksoda.com. $100 or so gets you the machine, then they sell you virtually any soda syrup you want, including esoteric stuff. I saw it advertised in a live demonstration at the Seattle Home Show. He mixed up a diet coke for my fiancee (who'd know), and she said it was as good as fountain drinks. The "system" is basically a carbonator and a regular delivery of CO2 & syrup. You put the water in the machine, carbonate it, and put it in the glass with a squirt of syrup. No syrup in the machine, so no lines to clog. Overall cost (not including the startup of the machine) seemed roughly equivalent to $0.50/liter. It wasn't for us, but maybe for you...
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.
The best beer is brewed by Belgian monks. I'd have to say the PNW is the second-tastiest region in the world. It's all a matter of opinion of course, but German beers have never done it for me.
I work in a restaurant too, and trust me, there are some customers that take advantage of the refill at every opportunity. Ironically enough it's the diet drink drinkers that are the worst about this. I guess the whole 'diet food mentality' is "half the calories, twice the portions".