"There are traces of sedatives in New York City’s water. Ibuprofen and naproxen in Washington, D.C. Anti-epileptic and anti-anxiety drugs in southern California....So how are all these drugs getting in the water in the first place? Some fraction of every dose a person takes passes through unmetabolized and is evacuated by the body and flushed into sewage systems. Sewage treatment plants are meant to remove the more familiar kinds of pollutants, and typically do not remove pharmaceuticals from waste water as it is cleaned up and released back into the environment, eventually to find its way into other water supply systems. In some places, treated sewage water is reused directly for drinking water after several filtration processes to make it safe, although none of the systems in wide use effectively remove pharmaceuticals."

We don't know what we are more disturbed by: the drugs we are consuming or the apparent inadequate filtration system.  The article goes on to point out that your Brita filter isn't going to make the difference.  Seriously. 

We have SmartWater within an arm's distance, but even that didn't come from outer space.  On the one hand, this is highly disturbing.  On the other hand, we can't really say we're surprised.  Maybe Diet Coke drinkers will out live everyone after all!
 

So I've been out sick since Monday with the "flu, chest cold, I'm sure it's from China" sickness. BigHead brought it into the house and it hit all 5 of us. Like a brick. I think Bighead and I got divorced 3 times in 3 days. He is a big sick baby and I'm even bigger a baby, but so what?! I had to take care for all 5 of us, I'm sure I told him to leave at least 20 times just so there would be one less body. After hearing him cough for 4 days, I'm over it. What # have I not used in this truth? 2? Ok, 2 is the number of Christmas gifts that I have bought for my family. I planned on doing it all week long, but nooooooooo! Instead, The Shanghai Snot invaded. So the 2 presents that I bought were Slankets and were put to good use 6 days before Christmas. After 3 days at about 102 temp, the only thing that broke my fever was my big ass bottle of snobby SmartWater and The Slanket.

The Truth is SmartWater and Slankets are for my survival. Being married is giving me a headache. Happy Holidays! :) See ya next year!

xoxoxo

As I sit here and replay the night before, I realize that the last portion of the night in my apartment is a blur.  I can't forget the cute curly-haired boy whose hunger for treats seemed a bit insatiable.  And I am reminded of some of the absurd, inebriated conversations we had when I find my Astrology book on my kitchen table.

Thank you, N, for the delicious blueberry pancakes that you made for me this morning.  They really hit the spot, as did my large bottle of SmartWater, and the nicotine fix.  I sweated out most of the alcohol in my body by furiously cleaning my kitchen and bathroom.  I then proceeded to get ready to accompany my mom to church - yeah that's right, CHURCH - because that's what decent civilians do on Sundays, right?  Right???

Church was a good time for me to sit and ponder upon what I was going to write in my blog.   I use that time to think about the things that I never have the time to think about as I effortlessly block out the Filipino preacher's cultish admonishments.

I settled on the this because I feel like crap and it takes less brain cells to write about feeling like crap.  So, for now, here are my Sunday Lethargic Musings:

I can't believe I missed my kickboxing class today.  I'm going to be a big, fat whore.

What the hell was my red paper clip used for last night?

Why does the cute, curly-haired boy have to have a girlfriend?

Why is D still hanging out with that 23-year-old boy?

Shit, I never got to read my Sunday LA Times.

I don't want to go to work tomorrow.

Oh crap!  Forgot to call C back.

Gotta go to bed NOW!

I don't want to go to work tomorrow.

Why does the cute, curly-haired boy have to have a girlfriend?

Ok, ok.  I'm going to bed.

I should note at this time, that my tap-water standard is from San Diego.

The Contendors:

• Kirkland Signature - Premium Water
• Spring! - Dannon Spring Water Bottled Water
• SMARTwater by Glaceau
• Penta Water
• Evian Water by Danone
• Aquafina by PepsiCo
• Dasani by Coca-Cola
• Voss
• Arrowhead Mountain Spring Water
• FIJI Water

The Winner: FIJI Water (Runner up: Voss)

FIJI

FIJI water is considered the original premium still water and despite the chic new kids on the block, it’s still the best. Back in 2001, I visited the ice flows in deep Canada. If you bring a container, you can catch the melt as it flows through the ice crevices and taste what I consider the gold standard of pure water. Of all the waters I’ve ever tried, FIJI s the one that gets the closest to that standard. Good even at room temperature, FIJI tastes clean and clear, has a perfect mineral balance that tastes crisp and refreshing with almost no aftertaste, and goes down smoothly like premium vodka. Like some waters also in this category, FIJI feels like it’s easily absorbed into your body. My only slight gripe is that it may feel a little too unnaturally smooth once you get up and above room temperature and starts feeling less and less like you’re drinking water.

Voss

Voss is undoubtedly one of the best premium waters out there and is always a great choice at a restaurant. Sharing many of the characteristics as FIJI, Voss is great at room temperature and has a cleansing palette. Unfortunately, it loses the top spot to FIJI for its slight metallic aftertaste.

Penta Water

Penta water is one of those waters you’d love to hate. Its claims towards bodily health are laughable and got to the point where it’s banned in some countries for false advertising. It loves to go on and on about its patented filtration system that is so unique, it somehow justifies it having a price higher than FIJI, although it really just sounds a lot like an everyday centrifuge. Marketing aside, Penta is a surprisingly decent water. It tastes pretty good and is fairly refreshing, but it must be served slightly chilled. The crux of this however, is even the worst waters taste pretty good if you get it cold enough, so Penta’s advantages are marginal. An okay premium water, but the price will have you scratching your head.

SMARTWater

Smartwater is an interesting mix of premium and non-premium characteristics. It's well balanced, easy to drink, and more refreshing than non-premium waters; however, the taste is a mix between an off-taste tap and a fresh premium water source. My initial sense was that they over filtered it, and in a zealous pursuit of ultra-pure water, they only added the minimal amount of minerals back in to avoid tasting completely bland. Back in one of my internships, I had access to ultra-pure HPLC water (< 1ppm) and it tasted like cardboard. I should advise at this time that you do not try any significant amount of truly ultra-pure water because it will cause your cells to burst and that iron-like taste in your mouth is blood. So anyway, while this is a very decent bottle of water, there's not much in it so it somehow feels like you're not drinking anything particularly interesting.

Aquafina / Dasani

Aquafina and Dasani are almost equal as top performers in the non-premium water category. Aquafina is slightly more refreshing, making it good in regaining fluids from exercise, but Dasani tastes better. Aquafina is very temperature sensitive, and its taste starts to seriously degrade at room temperature and above. Hot Aquafina is almost as mineral-y as tap water in terms of taste, but retains its smoothness. Dasani (PepsiCo’s answer to Coca-Cola’s Aquafina) is much less temperature sensitive and tastes fine at a little above room temperature, but is much less refreshing and doesn’t seem to absorb as well.

Kirkland Signature Premium Water

For people who fridge their water bottles constantly, Kirkland can’t be beat. It tastes like every other non-premium water: like filtered tap; but sometimes that’s all you need. The taste is non-offensive, and the wholesale price makes it extremely reasonable. If you ”just want water” Kirkland is the way to go. For those who are particularly price sensitive, a Brita filtered-pitcher in the refrigerator is a bit more economical and yields similar results.

Evian Water

Evian bottled water is pretty average filtered tap water. It tastes like tap, it’s still a bit metallic, and it’s only slightly refreshing. I’d say Kirkland and Evian are on the whole pretty head-to-head, but Kirkland’s price is just unbeatable; especially when Evian is marketed and priced as a “premium” water sometimes.

Arrowhead Water

Arrowhead bottled water tastes a little worse than the Arrowhead coolers you see in office break rooms. It’s extremely metallic to the taste and has a metallic odor which makes it doubly offensive. I really wonder if they even filter this water source because it tastes pretty horrible.

Dannon Water

But if you thought Arrowhead was bad, Dannon water is disgusting. If you see a bottle with the older label (doesn’t say “Spring!” on it, it just says Dannon on it), just go thirsty. It has a slightly off smell to it and is disgustingly smooth, which gets worse with hotter temperatures. Even at room temperature, it starts feeling like you’re drinking smooth vanilla syrup. The newer Spring! Line fixes this and now it tastes on par with Kirkland water. Even still… Yuck