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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
(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!
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
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".