Favorite Things: Nalgene

I have no idea how it's said, (nal-geen, nail-jean??) but I do know that I absolutely love these bottles. They're extra tough, dishwasher safe, widemouthed, and last forever. I've always despised the old squeeze type water bottles due to the fact that the water always ended up tasting like plastic and I never could drink from them without inhaling a bunch of air as well (I know... I'm "special").

These Nalgene bottles are made specifically so that plasticy taste is NOT leeched into your beverage. I dig the wide mouth variety because it's easier to add a bunch of ice for hot days and I just prefer to drink from them over the narrower variety.

Sam's Club has a pretty good deal on a Brita water pitcher packaged with two narrow mouth Nalgene bottles for about $25. If you're lucky, you may find the same deal I did on closeout from Sam's: a Brita on-tap water filter with an extra filter plus two wide mouth 32 oz. Nalgenes for $15. Awesome deal.

Because pee isn't as important

Isn't it beautiful? You know you're getting old and tame when you get excited over a toilet purchase. However, in my defense, it is a really cool crapper. This is what's called a "dual flush" unit. Basically, it has two different water usage levels: 1.6 gallons for solid waste and 1.05 gallons for liquid waste. In case you didn't follow, solid waste is poo-poo and liquid waste is pee-pee.

I don't know who came up with this thing, but they spend way too much time in the bathroom. How did they figure out how much water is needed to clear pee? I figure it had to be a guy standing in the bathroom with a case of beer repeatedly pissing, flushing, then bending the rod in the tank to find out the "break point" for when the pee didn't flush. I want that job.