In early 2006, I gave up carbonated beverages. Later that year, I had gastric bypass surgery and I shed the exact same number of pounds that my friend Amber now weighs. It is not a usual side-effect of such a procedure but over the next two years, I found my "sweet tooth" going away. I had less and less — and eventually zero — craving for cake, ice cream, cookies, candy and so on…and even fruit got to be too sweet for me.
None of this resulted in any vitamin deficiency — or so my doctors said. But it did leave me with a deficiency of things I could drink. I've never had any alcoholic ones and never liked coffee or tea, never liked anything with artificial sweeteners. As a kid I chug-a-lugged milk by the gallon but in late teenage, my body began a serious non-like of most dairy products. There were other reasons for shunning other liquids and eventually it came down to one and only one thing I could drink…
Water. Not a bad only choice.
What comes out of the faucets in my neighborhood tastes like a buffalo's bathwater — not that I've ever actually sampled that liquid — so I tried buying those pitchers that filter your drinking water. All were acceptable and Brita was the best…but I thought I could do better with bottled H2O. I sampled many before deciding that Crystal Geyser was the best and now I buy it in bulk and usually have 20+ gallons in a closet off my kitchen.
I also buy it under assumed names. The Crystal Geyser people bottle water for other labels. If you go to a Whole Foods around here, you can buy a gallon of Crystal Geyser for (last I looked) $1.49. The Whole Foods house brand is 365 and they sell a gallon of 365 water for 95 cents. It's the exact same water in the exact same bottles with different labels. At times, I've also scored Crystal Geyser water under at least a dozen other names including Trader Joe's, Walgreens, Sprouts and Roxane.
(How to tell: Look at the label for the name "CG Roxane." That's the parent company. And yes, I know they just paid a big fine for illegally storing and transporting hazardous waste containing arsenic. I've forgiven them.)
As you may know, there's no food or drink available at most markets these days unless you feel like chowing down on dryer sheets and plastic forks. I have plenty of food on hand and all of my favorite restaurants that deliver are still delivering…but what about drinking water? I have about ten days of Crystal Geyser under various monikers and an uncertainty as to where and when more might be obtainable. Planning ahead is a wise thing in the current Zombie Apocalypse so I had an idea, just in case…
I just ordered a couple of Brita pitchers from Amazon. They'll arrive Tuesday.
Amazon seems to have plenty of them. They won't make the local tap water delicious but it'll be eminently drinkable. And it might be prudent to always have a couple of them plus filters on hand. Here's a link to Amazon for anyone who thinks this is a good idea.