Tell me about your last great purchase.

[Chan790]

This is mine:



A 1L "bobble" water bottle. Possibly the simplest purchase I've made in years, it's a water bottle with a built-in charcoal filter that filters your water as you drink it. bobble costs about $12 and replacement filters are about $7 more; one filter is good for 2 months or 300 gallons, whichever comes first. Doesn't seem that awesome, huh?

It's replaced all the bottled water I drink and it's on pace to save me about $100 this year. It's reduced my waste footprint by about an acre a year. It's so convenient that I'm drinking more water because of it: I never have to stop to buy water or run home to refill at my Brita or lug around 3 or 4 water bottles and I don't impulse drink soda or other crap because I'm thirsty. All I need is a faucet and I have good fresh drinking water. Because of all the water I'm drinking now, I've lost about 10 pounds with no increase in exercise or diet changes. The slimmer me gets hit on more.

So yeah, I love my bobble. It fits my lifestyle and improves it.

[Tikki]

1. An iPAD2...no sale price on it...but, I don't have to...

get up off the sofa and run to the office computer every time the hubby or I ask a
question we don't know the answer to.

We can't leave a question unanswered and we ask questions all day long.


The Tikkis
ps...you don't always get the correct answer or the truth on the internets...but...

[Flaxbee]

2. can you tell a difference in how the water tastes from different faucets?

Or does it all taste pretty good b/c of the filtering process?

I'll check it out --I really don't like using bottled water, but the ground water in this area isn't known for its quality...

[Chan790]

3. I haven't noticed a difference between faucets.

Mostly, I'm using the one at home and the one at work. Those taste the same. I didn't really notice a difference when I filled it at the mall either. It all tasted like generic bottled water...it's not as good as Fiji or Voss (those both naturally have dissolved minerals that improve the taste slightly) but it's also not $3 like those waters either.

Addendum: Suck on the bottle, don't squeeze. Also, short sucks and breathe through your nose frequently. Otherwise you'll deform the bottle, it's designed to be light, flexible and completely recyclable. The trade-off is the bottle deforms easily. Mine is now slightly oblong with a pair of minor creases 180-degrees apart. You can and should clean the filter and nozzle weekly by boiling it for about half a minute. It refreshes the taste and kills bacteria. The bottle itself can be washed with warm soapy water and rinsed well. (Soap will ruin the filter.)

[abq e streeter]

4. Complete set of Hohner Special 20 harmonicas (IOW all 12 keys) from Musician'sfriend

dot com......They did have to back order the A flat but got the package for about 17 bucks per harp under retail. I've been playing with a guy that tunes down a half step, so bought flat and sharp key harps for the first time in eons. Should pay for itself in extra gigs before too long. By the way, thanks for the tip on the bottle. Looks and sounds great. Gonna look into getting one; I have drank nothing but water (with the occasional sparkling water) since being diagnosed as diabetic a year ago, and worry about all the crap in the local water (including, supposedly, leaking jet fuel here).

[bluesbassman]

10. Winner!

:)

[Capn Sunshine]

66. Awesome. How long do yours last?

And have you ever heard the story of Alan Wilson's tuning his harp to play the half step down G note in "On the Road Again? Your mention made a flash go off in mah brayne.

[abq e streeter]

80. just saw this....Most last a long time; sometimes years only cuz I play em till they're really shot

And until relatively recently (last 3 or 4 years, and even that's only off and on) I was doing more singing and sax than harp so they didn't get a lot of wear and tear. I remember a long time ago when I was playing a lot, and mostly harp, that sometimes they'd crap out at as little as 6 weeks, although it seems like I'd usually get several months out of 'em. But they (as I'm sure you remember) used to cost a tenth (or less) of what they do now (47 bucks retail; these were 30 apiece) so it wasn't a major investment to replace a couple of harps. But finally got in this situation where I just had to put some money into a new full set.
Never heard that story about Alan Wilson. Thanks.

[mysuzuki2]

5. I bought a 6 pack the other day

it's gone now.

[JTG of the PRB]

6. Portal 2

Bought it last week, and I'm in love. Such an awesome game!

[Initech]

7. Yes... awesome game.

[Lars39]

11. Is it scary or bloody?

I thought it looked like fun on the commercial. :)

[JTG of the PRB]

53. Not at all. It's a puzzle-solving game.

It's a lot of fun, and the only violence comes when you're being shot at by adorable little laser-sighted turrets (no blood though). Lots of verbal abuse from the less-than-friendly AIs though. :)

[Initech]

8. Plane ticket to Amsterdam in 2009

It was quite certainly a life-changing, eye-opening, and *ahem* third-eye-opening trip. My first overseas trip and I took it with my brother and my crazy-ass friends, it was a blast.

[Kali]

9. you know, I'm having trouble thinking of anything

oh, got a good deal on some used oil field sucker rod about a month ago:7

[MorningGlow]

12. Not the purchase so much as the shipping deal

I ordered a couple of items from Territory Ahead (a t-shirt--they have great quality t-shirts--and a skirt on sale). Not 24 hours later I got an e-mail offering free shipping on any order. So in a "what the hey" moment I e-mailed their customer service and asked if I could get the free shipping deal even though my order had already been processed the day before. And they gave it to me! $10.99 credited back to my card. That ain't hay. I love that company. :thumbsup:

[bluesbassman]

13. Line 6 HD750

It's a nice modeling amp. Has 5 customizable presets that are based on iconic amps like the Ampeg SVT and the Eden Traveler. Lots of tonal variations for different music styles. Puts out 750 watts through 2 4x10's. It's a little loud, but when you play with a guy who has a Hendrix jones AND he plays through a Marshall stack, you better have the juice. :)

[mikeytherat]

26. I've got the LINE6 BassPod XT, but all my amp gear is MarkBASS

If you haven't checked the MarkBASS line, it rocks. I've got 2x10 and 1x15 Traveler cabinets with a MiniMark III 500-watt head.

I sold all my SVT gear years ago - too heavy, and too tired of lugging it all around!

mikey_the_rat

[hifiguy]

37. Check out Bergantino cabinets

especially the AE series with the neodymium magnets. Played the AE212 (two 12" speakers + tweeter - 48 lbs) powered by a G-K MB Fusion (6 lbs, 500 W) at a local guitar shop and rattled everything on the walls while sounding incredible with a Geddy Lee Jazz Bass. Blew my mind, it did.

Gave up on the all-tube vintage amps myself - My '70 Hiwatt DR 103 - 62 lbs by itself and all original except of course for the tubes - was too valuable to play out with anymore, and it weighed a ton. Gettin' too old to honk that kind of weight around anymore, and I got a fortune for it on eBay.

[mikeytherat]

48. Back in the day in my 20s, I had a Mesa/Boogie 1000-watt tube head and a 2x15 EV road cab

Heavy. Very, very heavy. And re-tubing that beast every few months was not exactly cheap. But man oh man, did it sound sweet.

mikey_the_rat

[bluesbassman]

44. In my younger days I had a SVT on top of an 8x10.

I think that rig is directly responsible for one of my blown discs. :( Seriously bad assed sound though. My last rig was a SVTIII with a 2x10 and a 15. Great sound and power, but a little one dimensional and the effect loop sucked so using a pedal wasn't a good option.

I haven't had a chance to play through any Markbass equipment, but I'll keep on the lookout for some to demo.

[mikeytherat]

49. My last Ampeg rig was an SVTIII head with the 4x10 HLF cab (bigger gigs) and the 1x15 (small gigs)

And the efx loop did, indeed, suck. Plus, I had an early 90s SVT ProIII that exploded on stage (flames and everything). That also burned the voice coil on the 15, separating it from the cone (smoke from the speaker cab, too). It sucked, but it really looked spectacular in a Spın̈al Tap sort of way.

mikey_the_rat

[applegrove]

14. I've completely stopped shopping. Can't afford it. Not interested in clothes anymore.

[petronius]

15. My regulator, althought it's been more than a year

http://www.scubastore.com.nyud.net:8090/images/products/fotos/aqualung_05925.jpg

[JonLP24]

16. PS3

Failure rate isn't nearly as high as Xbox, free internet network(where Xbox charges you), wireless(though it could be a lot better when it comes to picking up signals), Netflix.

It is really impressive even with the issues it had earlier this month.

[csziggy]

17. We were given two of the Bobbles for Christmas

Never even opened them up. Hubby does not drink straight water (I bought him a Sodastream for him to make fizzy flavored water), I love the taste of our well water. So today when a young friend was complaining about the bottled water her Mom buys, I gave her the Bobbles.

[Chan790]

20. I actually have been thinking about getting a sodastream too.

I figure that way I can have complete control over about 95% of what I drink in a year.

How do you like the Sodastream?

[csziggy]

28. I like it because it cuts down on the recycling

But I don't drink sodas 99.9% of the time so I don't use it. Hubby likes his fizzy flavored water and he's gotten used to it. Since he's the one that has to haul the garbage to the dump, he loves how it cuts back on recycling. We have five cans and we'd have four of plastic bottles and recyclables when hubby hauled the garbage every six weeks or so. Now it's more like fifty-fifty and he should only have to haul garbage every other month.

He is completely dissatisfied with their flavored water choices - they are more bitter than he is used to and adding sweeteners did not help. I did have one bottle of the root beer and it was pretty good. Some friends had their Dr. Pepper imitation and said it was good.

We're already saving a bunch with the Soda Stream but the choices of fruit flavors are limited, so hubby wanted to try some others. We've just ordered some of the concentrated flavorings from Prairie Moon (http://www.prairiemoon.biz/flavors.html) to see how those are and if they save money. We got the flavor concentrate and will mix up our own syrups, probably with Splenda since that is the non-sugar sweetener we have on hand.

It took about two months to go through one of the carbonators. Another DUer gave me advice and a link to a place to get around Sodastream's proprietary bottles (If you search, you should be able to find that thread), but hubby does not think at our level of use it is worth it. Since the carbonator bottles are recycled by SodaStream, that is OK with us. We're getting most of our supplies from Bed, Bath & Beyond and using their 40-50% off coupons, so that is another big savings.

We keep bottles of water in the fridge so it is cold, then hubby charges them with carbonation and adds the flavor. One site recommended not adding flavor to the fizzy water, but to the glass and just keeping fizzy unflavored water in the fridge. The bottles are also proprietary since they have to be the right size to attach to the SodaStream, so plan on getting a few extra.

[Chan790]

33. Okay, I had done some of my own reading.

and a lot of people complain about the bitter. It's apparently their gas itself that has the bitter taste if that helps you lean towards the valve-change on the bottle. Also, that the valve change basically pays for itself in like six fills so I'd been planning on doing that if I got one anyways.

In terms of syrups, I don't drink a lot of soda (or I try not to) but pretty much any coffee-syrup (like the ones they use at Starbucks or any other coffeehouse) would also work (and be cheaper possibly. ~$6-8 for 750ml of syrup that should make maybe a 50-100 8oz soda servings.), experiment on the right measure to your taste as they're strongly flavored. There are several brands that can be bought in most decent supermarkets (or online.) I like Torani best as a brand, they offer dozens of flavors in both sugar and sugar-free versions. (http://www.torani.com/home/products. Also, on Amazon.)

If you're ever in a coffeehouse and you see "Italian Soda" on the menu, that's what it is. Coffee syrup, seltzer water and sometimes the addition of fruit or fruit juice made to order. My favorite thing to make as a barista because it's easy. Soda water. Syrup. Stir.

[csziggy]

40. I know seltzer water tends to be bitter

And I suspected that was hubby's problem. I showed him the valve change possibilities and maybe he'd go for it in the long run. He's been OK with the lemon-line soda flavor from Soda Stream and I think they have a couple of others he likes. The flavors from Prairie Moon would give him a nice range of flavors if they work.

I drink coffee and my big indulgence are the flavored creamers. I don't use much and only buy when they are on sale so they are the problem that the 2-4 bottles of soda were for hubby. Hubby can't stand coffee so the syrups you suggest won't work for him.

[Chan790]

42. They're not coffee.

They're flavored simple syrups used to flavor coffee, more-or-less the same thing you're using now. I could have been clearer about that. They just have to have stronger flavors to stand out from the coffee. So you just use less syrup for a thinner liquid like soda water.

Next time you're at a convenience store, look on the coffee station, they tend to use them too.

[csziggy]

46. Oh - I see! I'll have to look for some of those

They might be more available than the Prairie Moon ones. While the Prairie Moon prices are not bad, shipping adds a lot - about $12 on an $18 order adds up real fast.

Thanks!

[Sky Llama]

18. A $600,000 Cessna Stationair Airplane...

I fly but most of the times I would rent a plane. I've been saving and have bought my own now and use it for leisure flying and family trips.

And it only cost $600,000. This plane is the best thing I've bought in my entire life.

It looks more or less like this... (I'll have to take a few pictures tomorrow and upload them.)

[av8rdave]

23. Nice! Does yours have the glass in it per the pic?

Are you doing fractional ownership or did you buy the whole works?

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

55. That's a beauty! I am lime-green with envy.

Sigh... I'd love to have an airplane. But flying has become so expensive that I can't even afford to rent any more.

[Zorra]

19. Just got a new Tube Screamer today.

My old one quit after like 25 yrs. Was like an old friend.

[Chiyo-chichi]

21. I have a bobble.

Pretty cool.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

22. my house,

[av8rdave]

24. I'd have to go with my iPad

I have the first version, which does all I need it to do. Since I travel for a living, I SO love something that small and light, and it doesn't have to come out of the suitcase when going through security.

[bigwillq]

25. Lady Gaga's "Born this Way" album

:bounce: I love it!

[nolabear]

27. Sodastream

We drink a lot of fizzy water and fruit juice. We got a Sodastream a few weeks ago and it is AWESOME. Cold filtered water becomes carbonated in seconds and costs nada! Life is gooooooood.

[csziggy]

29. My most recent purchase was a scan wand

That is what I call it - the box says VuPoint Magixc Wand. It's a scanner about 1" square and about 13" long, holds a SDHD card and works off batteries. You can scan pages or pictures without it being attached to a computer. The only hard part is keeping a steady speed as you roll the scanner over the page. You can scan a bunch of pages on the memory card, then download into a computer. It comes with OCR software but I have not tried it yet.

I think it will be perfect for taking to libraries to do research - rather than take notes, I can scan the pages, the title page and the copyright page and have everything together for studying at home.

[Throd]

30. I had lunch at In-N-Out Burger. Double Double with onions. It was truly "great".

[Forkboy]

31. I just moved and bought new pots and pans.

Excitement City, I know. :)

[Chan790]

34. One of my largest categories of decretionary purchases is kitchenware.

I find new pots and pans very exciting. I usually buy mine at Marshall's because they're high-quality and cheap.

[Forkboy]

35. I had one fork and a crock pot when I moved.

I'd rather have bought music, but I can't cook spaghetti on a CD.

Where I was before I couldn't really cook (it was my friend's kitchen, I had a room upstairs), but now that I can cook some good cookware was mandatory. Working on some chicken cattiatore now. Never made it before, so wish me luck. It could end up tasting like Brussels sprouts for all I know. :)

[retread]

82. Kind of like this?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fzAJ0An2AqM&feature=related

[JVS]

32. Concentrated OJ, $1 per can!

[hifiguy]

36. Finally bought a 5-string bass

Decided on the Schecter Stiletto Elite 5 - $800 at Guitar Center.

Searched a bass message board on which I am a regular and there was one, pre-owned but unused - for sale. E-mailed the guy and the next day my check for $550 was on its way. He never played it because he owns a dozen instruments made by the most exotic boutique builder in all of bassdom and won it in a raffle. Great bass, if not the equal of my exotic boutique bass - the same marque as the seller's, BTW - but a total steal nonetheless. So yippee for me!

[Amaril]

38. A futon for my office / guestroom

I bought the extra special 9" thick mattress with springy things in it. It is more comfortable than my bed. It's fabulous, but it's also a bad, bad thing. It is so comfy that I couldn't resist taking a nap on it today when I was supposed to be working.

[PassingFair]

39. Tales of garage sale excellence:

This weekend, we picked up a McCoy mixing bowl
for $4.00.

It's gigantic, 14 inches across.

It looks like this:



One just sold on e-bay for $135.00!

Also got a McCoy cookie jar for $1.00....

The best thing about garage sales...unexpected bargains.

The WORST thing (lately) are the sad, sad stories
of SO many fellow citizens having "estate sales".

People being foreclosed on, dumping personal belongings
and appliances and furniture. So much pain....

:cry:

[peacefreak]

43. Great score, Passing Fair!

I've been collecting McCoy for years--I could afford it when I couldn't afford Roseville. Still some of my favorite pieces.
And I agree about those estate sales...too many people with no money to get by on.

[ScreamingMeemie]

51. I don't know...I think my Rhinestone Jesus totally trumps that one

:hi:

[PassingFair]

68. If your INTO that sort of thing...

I prefer the baby-doll head wreaths myself.

:hi:

[Luciferous]

41. That is a really cool water bottle. My last great purchase was LA Noire on Sunday.

I don't play many video games, but I think it's really great so far- reminds me of Heavy Rain.

[yankeepants]

45. Polarized sunglasses with bifocals

Mr Ypants and I each got a pair from Duluth Trading Co. They are great. No more switching up glasses to read or do close work like tying flies for fishing.

[hibbing]

81. Polarized worth every penny

Hi,
I still switch been my regular and shades, but I will never go with anything but polarized sunglasses. I have progressive, which I guess are what they used to call trifocals. The polarization is amazing, I always had problems with just regular prescription sunglasses seemed like I would have to do the "salute" thing to see anything if I was facing the actual sun, not with the polarization.


Peace

[Heidi]

47. We ordered a case of Cokes in glass bottles today!

:bounce:

[Chan790]

54. I'm spoiled.

The kosher supermarket near my apartment sells HFCS-free Coke in glass year-round. Enjoy, it's the best stuff ever.

[Heidi]

60. Lucky you!

It's really hard to find here, except in restaurants. :hi:

[ScreamingMeemie]

50. Rhinestone Jesus at Barnes and Noble. It's a bank, in the shape of

Jesus...with sparkles. We use it as a catch all/swear jar. Love that little guy.

[bif]

52. A CD by a band called "Braids"

I rarely by music these days. But I kept hearing their music on the CBC show called "The Signal" and I had to have it. I think it was about $4 used so it was quite a bargain.

[hibbing]

56. Bento Box

Hi,
I recently purchased an American made Japanese Style Bento Box. I love the thing, I can bring so many different things to work for lunch all in unit. It even comes with a little container for salad dressing or dipping sauce. Nuker and dishwasher safe (not the lids though), and again, American made.

http://secure.laptoplunches.com/AMAZING/

I got the Bento 2.0

Peace

[pscot]

57. I want to digitize some old photos

so I bought this Canon scanner for $60 at Amazon. It out performs the $7000 Savin in my wife's office.

[Chan790]

58. Ha!

Nice. That's like my 6 month old $100 12.1MP digital point and shoot outperforming my years old $2000 8MP dSLR. I mean I know why, but it still makes me chuckle.

[Brother Buzz]

59. A single speed 18T freewheel for my newest old-school bicycle rebuild

A sweet urban ride on still days.

[Starbucks Anarchist]

61. Otis Rush's "Live and In Concert from San Francisco."

I'm going through an electric-blues phase at the moment and picked it up today. It's his band with a backing big band. What I've heard so far sounds great.

[xmas74]

62. A boxload of clothes from the Salvation Army

that I plan on remaking over the course of the summer. I spent two dollars on everything!

[Yukari Yakumo]

63. PNY Geforce 440 GTX And a LG Blu-ray player

My compy is now the BOSS.

[RandomThoughts]

64. Heh.

My company is now the BOSS

If my company was currently the boss, I would break it up, or resign from it.

Because
I am due beer and travel money and many experiences, and that has not yet arrived.


Although maybe that is RE sign, becuase RE is HeRE.

We are still Here!!!!!!!!!!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ju0UOrnWoZk







Robert Eastwood.

[sakabatou]

65. My Mac Book Pro

But that was a while back.

[MilesColtrane]

67. Ibanez GWB1005 fretless 5 string bass

It sounds incredible.

[bluesbassman]

70. Unfortunate nomenclature, but that's a gorgeous bass.

:)

Is it a bolt on or set neck? Doesn't appear to be neck through. Bet it plays like a dream.

I have a '94 SR800. Neck is so thin it's more like playing a guitar.

[MilesColtrane]

71. Stands for Gary Willis Bass...no connection to the Chimp.

http://www.ibanez.com/BassGuitars/model-GWB1005

That's a bolt on neck.

It's got a Bartolini with switchable passive/active EQ.

For a bass with a single pickup, you can really get a lot of different sounds out of it.

[Bertha Venation]

69. A real goddamn Coca-Cola.

[Chan790]

78. I mentioned this upthread...

but I'm spoiled. The McGruder's on Arcola Ave in Wheaton sells Kosher (ie. Mexican) Coke year-round. 4 for $5 in glass bottles. A short 1/8 walk for me from home.

(I mention this because I remember you're also a Metro DC Marylander so it's your area too.)

[frogmarch]

72. A rubber chicken

for Ty!



He loves, loves, loves squeaky toys.

[dawg]

73. Civilization III for $4.99 on Steam.

Older games are an awesome bargain.

[Blue_Tires]

74. where do you get the bottle?

[Chan790]

77. I got mine at Target but...

I'd recommend buying it straight from the manufacturer instead (http://www.waterbobble.com/) as you'd have your choice of all eight filter colors (more actually as if you look under Kids, you'll find multicolor filters too) and you'd save $3 over the retail price.

I'll be buying my replacement filters direct now that I know I can.

[Kali]

75. ok I just got something and right now I think it is FREAKING GREAT!!!

As some may know, I am bottle feeding a dogie (orphan) calf. He is the most obnoxious, slobbery, head-butting SOB!

So I went to the feed store and got a bottle rack that fits over a two inch board (like in a fence or gate) so he can get as aggressive as he wants and I won't need a freaking shower, ice pack for my hands, or first aid for my stepped-on feet at every damn feeding!

I LOVE it. And it only cost me $6!

[Chan790]

79. Come on, we both know he's going to turn up his nose at it.

That's the way things just seem to go.

[AngryAmish]

76. Rhoomba!

[TrogL]

83. A new truck

It's two weeks old and it's already got scratches and a big dent in the tailgate.