Comments on My Open Wallet: Free Water, Expensive Notebook

In college I got a truly nasty eye infection when ...

2009-11-28T08:19:29.189-05:00

In college I got a truly nasty eye infection when water from the fountain on our dorm floor splashed into my eye. In those days your choices of sources for water were the bathroom or the fountain, which was often plugged.

Since then, I've tried to avoid water fountains. On the other hand, I won't pay for tap water, which is what's in those bottles: we already pay for water with our taxes, and so it's redundant to pay more for plain water packaged in plastic.

If you go into any fast food place and ask for a cup of tap water, they'll give it to you. Most multi-spigot soda machines have a tiny switch on one of the outlets that dispenses plain cold water--just ask for a cup so you can have a drink of water. In my state, where the heat can kill you, restaurants are required to give people tap water without charge.

Water fountains are totally socialist. LOL!

2009-11-23T09:16:31.191-05:00

Water fountains are totally socialist. LOL!

Ah, I have drunk from that fountain... In Europe,...

2009-11-23T01:22:30.023-05:00

Ah, I have drunk from that fountain... In Europe, socialist and suspect though we may be, we rarely see such things. Water fountains are one of the things I like about America. And, as you note, they are free.

It's not the water that's bad at water fountains, ...

2009-11-20T10:58:23.982-05:00

It's not the water that's bad at water fountains, it's the germs on the faucet piece. My microbiologist's favorite classroom experiment is to send students around campus to culture various items (doorknobs, chalkboards, dirt samples), and the water fountain tap is always a crowd pleaser for the dramatic germ growth it generates. I suppose if you're not immunocompromised, you'll be OK, but between that experiement and having witnessed a student allow his assistance dog to drink directly from a water fountain tap I've been too grossed out to be able to use them. BLURGH.

Crystal, I've always liked notebooks, ever since I...

2009-11-19T16:01:18.207-05:00

Crystal, I've always liked notebooks, ever since I was a kid. Back then I didn't have much to write in them, but now I keep a journal, and keep to-do lists, blog notes, drawings, etc...

So many people complained at my job about using th...

2009-11-19T12:22:31.964-05:00

So many people complained at my job about using the water fountain that we now have a water/ice machine...if I use the water fountain, people give me funny looks. It's the same plumbing!

What is it about notebooks that draw you in? I keep buying nice, blank notebooks, but then I never feel like I have anything important enough to write. My daily lists get put on post-its and basic pads from work. I feel like a dragon hoarding its treasure for no reason...notebooks that are just waiting to be used...so odd. :-)

I saw an episode of a TV show called Food Detectiv...

2009-11-18T19:53:22.067-05:00

I saw an episode of a TV show called Food Detectives that investigated the cleanliness of water fountains. They found that the water from water fountains is actually cleaner than from water coolers because of the way the water fountain stream goes in an arc. Obviously, it was a pretty informal study, but still interesting.

We have a water fountain at work, by the bathrooms...

2009-11-18T17:13:21.367-05:00

We have a water fountain at work, by the bathrooms, people don't use it either. We have free water from the sink that people prefer to use. I wondered as well, now I think it is the germ thing

How weird--There is a traditional water fountain n...

2009-11-18T13:47:11.372-05:00

How weird--There is a traditional water fountain near my office, and I've been filling my glass there for weeks. It's not as cold as the UV-treated, processed, filtered water in the kitchen, but it's clear and tastes fine and is much closer. As I went to fill up my glass for lunch, a woman stopped me, shouting "No! Don't use that! It's bad, bad water!" I froze, startled, and she continued on her way so I didn't get to ask her WHY it was so bad or point out that I've been drinking it for weeks with no ill effects at all (in fact, drinking water that's not freshly melted ice is probably better for me). But now I'm a little paranoid--is there really something wrong with the water from that fountain? Does everyone else know something I don't?