patrick.net

Add me to the boycott list.
And the list is growing...

https://www.thenation.com/article/open-letter-to-nfl-players-traveling-to-israel-on-a-trip-organized-by-netanyahus-government/

I would be careful where price is currently....

Sure, there's danger, but that makes it exciting!

And just look at that rollercoaster ride. The changes in momentum are so pretty.

Wow, blowout earnings and a suitable pop in stock price:

Well, it popped up another 9.5% today because Pepsi is buying them.

I guess that's a good outcome, though I won't get to enjoy being right about SODA anymore. I'll just be another Pepsi shareholder, which is not as exciting.

Also nice that it's a no-tax exit.

Oops, maybe it's not a no-tax exit:

PepsiCo will pay $144 per share in cash, representing a 10.9 percent premium to Friday's closing price of SodaStream's U.S.-listed stock and a 32 percent premium to its 30-day average.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/pepsico-buy-israels-sodastream-3-062811088.html

On the third hand, I bought it in a 401k rollover, so no tax! At least not until I retire.

#BDSFail

This is a hold for me till coke or Pepsi buys them.

I finally have at least a workable alternative to the very expensive little SodaStream CO2 refill bottles.

I bought a carbonation kit from kegoutlet.com for $246 including shipping. That got me a big canister, pressure regulator, and some tubing. No instructions, but not that hard to figure out. Then I filled the canister at a restaurant supply place around here for $20. That CO2 should last at least a year.

Didn't work well at first, just shooting big bubbles into the water, but after a couple of tweaks it is working well enough. I bought a "diffusion stone" from a brew place in Berkeley for $10 and put it on the end of a hose that goes into the bottle. Now it makes many tiny bubbles which dissolve much better than big bubbles.

So now my process is:
- fill small Perrier bottles with filtered water (I got the small ones because they fit under my kitchen sink tap)
- refrigerate five of those until chilled and keep in the bottle slots in the fridge door (cold water is way easier to carbonate)
- when I want fizzy water, I take one out, put the hose with diffusion stone in, and turn on the CO2 at about 50 psi
- shake the bottle for 30s to one minute to get more fizz going into the water (without that, not good enough)



The shaking part is the only downside. I wish I had a mechanical agitator that could do it for me.

Wife is nervous about the CO2 canister in an earthquake, since it is at 800 psi. So I put it in a box with a bungee cord holding it upright. Should be OK unless the earthquake is really severe.

Old plastic bottles leech chemicals into the water. I'd get rid of plastic and go for SS.

What's SS?

Patrick says

What's SS?

, of course!

PS. Just kidding, it's stainless steel.

SodaStream charges a $14 deposit for each container, but then tries hard to evade paying it back if you want to return an empty:

https://www.theguardian.com/money/2019/apr/23/sodastream-recycling-deposit-refund-cartridge

We had to fight to get our cartridge deposit refunded and it’s not worth the hassle

I have had challenges reclaiming deposits from SodaStream. If you pay a £10 deposit for an online order of a gas cartridge they commit you’ll get it back when you return it empty for recycling. However, on four occasions I have had to chase and in three cases they insisted they did not owe me anything. The latest wrangle went on for several weeks. I use SodaStream to avoid using plastic bottles of sparkling water. But all this hassle is leaving a nasty taste. RZ, Arundel, West Sussex

Glad that I escaped from them and now have my own carbonation setup.

Patrick says

Glad that I escaped from them and now have my own carbonation setup.

I just don't get making shit like this at home? Time is money. You're likely not getting it any cheaper in the long run. I drink a lot of beer. I could brew my own. Not worth it. The cheapest place to buy my beer is 1 minute away. I'm not going to spend my time brewing beer. I'm going to drink beer.

I get it can be a hobby, but it's more expensive to make your own stuff. Mass production is exponentially cheaper than what you can do. Save the time and go for a hike, bike ride, walk, whatever, etc. I don't like wasting time. I do like writing so I'm here a lot. But I'm usually doing something.

We drink a lot of fizzy water, so it's well worthwhile. Went from like $1/liter in the stores to 25 cents/liter with SodaStream, to 5 cents/liter now.

And I enjoy escaping from dependencies, so that's a bonus.

Beer is different, being much harder to make and probably not any cheaper when self-made.

Patrick says

Beer is different, being much harder to make and probably not any cheaper when self-made.

Gardening is about the only thing cheaper doing it on your own. Time is money. You're not factoring that in I think. You're likely over $1 in time per liter. Likely more. If you spend 30 minutes with "brewing" it or whatever it is, if your time is worth $50/hr, you're losing money. Hobby fine, making it cheaper, likely no.

Patrick's method increases the acidity of the water, which is hypothetically good for metabolism and immunity.

Canned stuff has that plastic liner in the cans that can be sources of toxins. They find some way to poison the stuff that is mass produced for consumption.

Right, the CO2 makes carbonic acid. I wasn't thinking of any health benefits though, just the pleasant tingle.

Patrick says

Right, the CO2 makes carbonic acid. I wasn't thinking of any health benefits though, just the pleasant tingle.

Bad for the teeth is what I've heard is all. I've looked it up before and too lazy to do so now. But I've read enough to believe it's not great on teeth. You won't be some redneck missing a tooth, but I've heard it erodes enamel.

I have rocks for teeth, so I don't care. But people with sensitive teeth might have issues. No cavities and only dental work was removing a tooth as a child for braces. I also don't do sugar either. This week is the only time all year for me. I'll take some of the kids candy. My oldest will attempt to hit all 800 residential homes in town. We usually put the year old candy out for Halloween and just say grab what you want. I'm pretty strict on candy as dental bills are mucho expensivo. I've currently got a used car in my kids mouth (braces).... fuck that shit.

I doubt the standard fizzy stuff is acidic enough to harm teeth. Colas have phosphoric acid (stronger) and sugar (food for clinging acidic bacteria and flora). Enamel does have a limited re-calcification capacity.

Ceffer says

I doubt the standard fizzy stuff is acidic enough to harm teeth. Colas have phosphoric acid (stronger) and sugar (food for clinging acidic bacteria and flora). Enamel does have a limited re-calcification capacity.

I maybe have a coke a month if that. I've just heard the carbonated stuff is bad. I'm open to being called wrong. The alcohol in beer likely negates that kind of carbonation. I used the bubbly stuff for a while quitting drinking beer. It did not help my teeth is all I'll say. No cavities or pain, but it was different. Agree or disagree, that was my experience.

I picked up the fizzy water habit when studying in Germany. They drink amazing amounts of the stuff, usually from some natural spring with various minerals which are listed on the bottle. But the Germans all seem to have good teeth anyway.

In fact, the Germans seem healthier on average than Americans, in spite of smoking, eating lots of sausage, and drinking lots of beer. Maybe it's higher quality food, or just that they get more exercise.

Patrick says

Germans seem healthier on average than Americans, in spite of smoking, eating lots of sausage, and drinking lots of beer. Maybe it's higher quality food, or just that they get more exercise.

OR:
They truly are the master race.

Well, they are pretty tall, but the Dutch are even taller. Maybe the Dutch are the master race!

Patrick says

In fact, the Germans seem healthier on average than Americans, in spite of smoking, eating lots of sausage, and drinking lots of beer. Maybe it's higher quality food, or just that they get more exercise.

They eat foods with less preservatives. That's why I get whole cow and pig from local farmers. Never meets up with shit in a factory for 2-3 weeks of shelf life unfrozen. Anytime we buy grocery store meat, it's getting cooked in 48 hours or frozen immediately.

I do think beer is good for you. Daily. None of us exist without beer. There was no clean water back in the day. I'd argue there still isn't. There's more chlorine in my villages water than what was in my pool. I was drinking pool water and god knows what else. I know what beer is and it makes me feel fuzzy. Win win. In moderation of course.

Gotta go to a butcher for meat. Not a chain grocery store. It will cost 2-3x's more, but you get better meat. Especially sausage.