#Manual Water Bottle Pump

[bodaelectrical]

Hand Pressure Drinking Fountain Pressure Pump

It can be installed with almost any 2-6 gallon water bottle (most suitable for 52mm-55mm crown bottle type), designed for pure water, mineral water and other bottled water users

 Lightweight, compact. Ideal for camping, sports, family, school, office, etc.

Manually operated by pressing the head of the pump. There is no battery, motor or power required.

Anyone of any age can easily use the pump, from children to seniors. Just press the head and enjoy fresh water.

Water Pump is patented vacuuming system is the secret. Adjustable adaptor sticks tight to bottle mouth and completely blocks air from outside. It creates strong vacuum inside bottle and helps you dispense water with only 1 or 2 times of pumping to get a glass of water.

[diivineray]

Listen this is gonna terrible this is the most water I’ve drank since February probably

[eddiesxangel]

idk if you've ever done this but dad bod, husband eddie with his pretty little wifey that makes him the best food and takes care of him very good by sucking his dick

Ok now that’s out of the way YES YES YES YESSSSSSSSSS

This totally got away from me and kinda morphed into more than duck sucking

“Baby, you’re not going to find me attractive anymore if you keep feeding me like this,” he half-heartedly jokes as you put the dinner plate in front of him and kiss his clean-shaven cheek.

You have always loved cooking for him; it’s one of your love languages.

Sure, he had a little pooch/beer belly, but his face also had filled out, and he looked much healthier than he did when he lived off slim Jim’s and canned pasta. He’s so appreciative of your cooking, and it’s really good—even the vegetables he’s learned to love—the way you do your maple glazed carrots are his favourite.

“Never baby, I love you too much. ” you smile and sit down.

After you’re done and the dishes are washed and put away, Eddie rests in the living room, watching something. You bring him a nice cold bottle of beer from the fridge (because you insisted to him it tasted better than canned beer, and he deserves the best).

“Thank you, baby, you’re so good to me. Don’t know what I did to deserve you.” He smiled and pulled you in to sit on his lap. His thick thighs are the perfect seat for you, and his thick muscular arms wrap around your hip and rest his free and on your lap.

“You think so?” You twirl Eddie’s wedding ring around his finger.

“Never had someone take care of me so good babygirl.” And he’s correct. His uncle tired his best but it’s not the same kind of love you provide for him.

You dote on him hand and foot, and he’s never asked you to. At first, he was uncomfortable with it because it was so foreign to him. He's never had someone care for him like this. He was highly independent before you. He never wanted help; he could do it himself. Even though he’s gotten used to your ways, he’s never not appreciative. He thanks you, praises you, and loves you so much that he thinks his heart will explode.

The two of you sit on his chair watching tv until you break the comfortable silence.

“ I think you look so sexy.” You say out of the blue. Remembering his remark from the dinner table. And it’s the truth, you love Eddie, and his new figure is making your head fuzzy. He’s gotten bigger, not just his tummy, but his arms and legs have filled out bc of the lifting and bending he does at the construction sights. It’s been gradual, but with the hardy meals and manual labour he’s filled out since your wedding day.

“Do you now?” He cocks his head curiously.

“Mhmm” you hum and lean in to kiss his neck.

“I see what you’re up to” he chuckled and his belly moved a little.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about” you smile into his neck before nipping it.

Your hand moves to palm his cock that’s already semi hard and a soft moan leaves your husband’s lips.

“Baby” he whispered as you slink down off his lap onto your knees before him.

Your hands fiddle with his belt buckle on his jeans, you know he’s had a long strenuous day. Eddie looks down at you like you have him the world, you see the lust in his eyes along with the sparkle of love behind it.

You free his cock from the confines of his briefs you insisted on buying for him. Much sexier than the looses boxers he was use to, and he agreed they feel more comfortable.

You can’t help but stare at your husbands pelvis, his cock stood at attention and his chocolate pubic hair was flattered from the sweat- but you didn’t mind, it was so Eddie and his smell made your mouth water.

“Wanna make you feel good baby” you purr as you reach your hand to grip the tick shaft. Your hand envelops his shaft, pumping it a few times before you sit up higher on your knees to put his head in your mouth.

Eddie's hand strokes your head as you suck on the head like a lollipop. Somewhere along the way, Eddie rids himself of his shirt.

The view Eddie has of you is going to be engrained in his memory forever. Your beautiful eyes looking up as his as you kiss down the side of his shaft, worshiping him from your knees like he was your god.

“So fucking pretty, baby. Prettiest girl I know, and your all mine.”

His eyes glance to your left hand that'd pumping his cock, your simple but shiny wedding ring catching the light from the lamp on the coffee table.

You lean up to kiss him on the lips and he surprises you and he lifts you up by the armpits and plops you back down in his lap. Both legs on. Either side of Eddie waist, your dress splayed out around his lap and your wet core planted on his cock.

“No panties?” he smiles at the realization. “This your plan all along?”

“Easy access” you slowly move your hips forward, running your wet pussy along Eddie's cock up to the end and your pussy meets the hairs of Eddie's happy trail.

Its feels so good for the both of you, you can't help but pull yourcloers to Eddie as you grind down on him.

“Come on baby, slip it in” he kisses your neck and you obey as your husband’s cock slips into your wanton pussy with ease.

“That’s it, you like being my good little wife?” Eddie praises and you start to bounce on his cock.

Eddie pulls the front of your dress down, and your breasts spring free so they can bounce in front of his face. He loves you like this. he revels in it, it’s the sexiest thing he could be witness too.

“Answer me baby” he gives your ass a small slap.

“Yes, I love it, I love you”

Eddie responds with guiding your head with his hand to his so he can kiss you. A filthy tongue filled kiss so good you forget to breathe. A kiss so good it tells you how much he loves you and adores you.

You don’t stop fucking yourself in his cock, you keep going no matter how much your thighs burn because he’s so deep you can’t stop even if you wanted. His cock fills you up so good each thrust you’re addicted to the feeling.

“Fuck baby you should see yourself. So fucking pretty riding my dick. Love watching you make my cock disappear. I can feel how deed I am inside you babygirl.”

“Baby” you moan.

“Yes”

“More” you huff, becoming out of breath but you’re so close. You can feel your tummy tightening, you're on the brink.

“Mmmm you’ve been so good tonight, I think that can be arranged.” Eddie plants his feet in the ground, holds you still and starts fucking up into you so fast all you can hear is the slapping of skin and his balls hitting your ass. He’s so deep and you’re so full. The speed he’s hitting your g spot each time you can’t hold on.

It doesn’t take many thrusts before your cum is spilling out into Eddie’s cock.

“God, baby that wa a big one, huh” he slows down but the pressure behind each thrust was the same. His hips snapping up into your pussy, your hands rest on his belly, your fingers dipping into the skin, leaving little half moons from your nails as your orgasm still is running through you like an after shock.

“Not done with you yet.” You are still seeing stars but he gently places you down on the floor so you can rest and so he can look at your pretty face when he fills you with his cum.

“Baby” you reach out to him, wanting him close, wanting him to kiss you and hold you, to be as close as possible.

“I got you baby.” He coos, sliding himself back in your warm wet pussy. Your hot cum coats his shaft, the smell of you making his head spin.

You cant help but feel needy for another orgasm as you watch Eddie’s large frame towering over you, protecting you, as he chases his own orgasm.

Your hands grip his ass, that too has filled out and you can’t help but want to bite as his hips fuck into you over and over. Your sweaty bodies are sticking together, moulding as one.

Eddie is close- and how could he not be when his woman is so perfect and he is so in love.

“Come for me, baby.” you whimper.

“Fuck, I'm close keep talking like that” his head is rested in the crook of your neck, his hand is rubbing your clit, and you cum all over his co k once again.

“Need it baby, I need it so bad, come in me please, please. Fill me, I want it baby.” You beg and before you know it Eddie’s cock is buried deep inside you and you know he’s releasing himself inside you.

A relieved sigh leaves your chest before a gleeful giggle.

“Fuck baby” his body collapses into of you and you’ve never felt so loved.

You wrap your limps around him like a koala, refusing to let him leave or slip out of you just yet.

“You think it will work this time?” He asks breathlessly, looking down at you.

“I hope so, but we will just keep on practicing until it does” you wiggle your brows.

“Fuck I love you” Eddie’s smiles down at you, as you know you couldn’t have married anyone better.

[napakmahal]

Moving in with Tadashi blurb

“God where did all this crap come from?” Tadashi dropped a cardboard box with shoes written on the side in black sharpie. “Seriously, I shared a room and your old place wasn’t that big.”

You scoffed looking around at all the boxes with just his name on them. “It’s all your crap. I could sell all your tech shit and we could buy ourselves a small house.”

Moving into your new apartment was scary, tiring, but so exciting. It would be Tadashi’s first time living somewhere he couldn’t just look over and see his little brother sleeping there. It would suck and he and Hiro had a pretty long conversation about how he wouldn’t be around as much anymore. Hiro swore he would be happy he got his own bathroom but he was genuinely sad to see his big brother go. You decided that the pull out in your very small living room was designated just for Hiro to come visit.

“Ha-ha,” He laughed sarcastically. “But at least we got all the boxes up here.”

You breathed out and grabbed one of the bright orange box cutters. “I know, I think I just lost five pounds. We cannot do this ever again, like I’m so tired. Can we just stay here forever?”

“This place is the size of my old bedroom. We cannot stay here.” Tadashi joked and started unloading the boxes of kitchen supplies. When you announced you’d be moving in Cass gifted you two a blender, toaster, pans, pots, plates, cups and lots of silverware. “Besides this is just one stop before we get our house.”

“A house? Damn Hamada, we should’ve started saving last year.” You looked back at him as you unpacked some wall frames. “Seriously, I don’t know how Cass does it. The rent on that place has to be in the thousands.”

You laughed together and picked out a few more things. In one of the boxes was an air mattress GoGo gifted you when she moved in with Honey. So you’d sleep on that until the mattress you ordered showed up.

So you divided and conquered. You went for the kitchen and dragged your new kitchen supplies behind you to wash and put away. A few hours past when Tadashi came jogging out of your new room sweating and out of breath.

“I did it, I finished the bedroom.” His breathing was weirdly rapid.

You pointed at him. “Why are you so out of breath?”

“The pump stopped working mid-way and I had to blow up the mattress manually.” He took a sip out of his water bottle.

“Oh my god,” you laughed still washing the new appliances. “Sit down, just relax.”

He did, for a while as you just washed the dishes. The whole thing was so mundane. Was life going to be like this all the time? You weren’t married but what if this what it was like?

Suddenly, as you were drying them you felt to arms snake around your shoulders. Tadashi dug his nose into the side of your neck.

“Hi.” You said sweetly.

He replied, muffled, “hi.”

“What’s up?” You asked.

He sighed and pressed kisses to the side of your neck. “I miss my family.”

“Aww, baby. They’re not very far, it’s like a 30 minute drive. And next week we’re having the over for dinner.” You dropped the towel and turned around.

Tadashi’s dug his head into your chest. “I know, but it’s so quiet without them.”

Your voice was quiet and you started petting his head with your fingertips. “Hiro’s at school right now. You wanna call him over?”

“No, not today.”

[tf2-headcanons-anonymous]

WOAH THIS IS COOL!!!! HI!!!

How about just some head canons of the mercs at the pool?? Anything you come up with!!!

Pool day

What the mercs would be like at the pool

Slight swear warning(?)

Scout

Splashing everyone constantly

Brings a ton of water guns and forces everyone to participate in a water gun fight. He has the fancy expensive water guns too.

Absolutely will compete with anyone to see who can make the biggest splash.

Took him forever to actually learn how to swim.

Yells "CANONBALL!!!" as loud as he can before jumping in the pool.

Forgets to put on sunscreen and gets super sunburnt. Complains to Medic after.

Pushes people into the pool.

Soldier

This man does not know how to swim.

He stays in the shallow end, probably doing some kind of Marine type training.

Takes Scout's water gun fight way too seriously.

If he is pushed into the deep end he just sits still and sinks to the bottom, someone else has to save him

Is a huge enforcer of the pool "rules". No running, no pushing, you have to wait 20 mins after you eat, etc. He does have a whistle with him and will use it.

Pyro

They can swim, they just choose to stay in the shallow end.

They like playing with those toy boats that can actually move in the water when you wind them up.

Buys candy or ice cream from the pool concession stand (We have these where I live idk about other places)

They generally have a lot of fun just sitting by themself in the shallow end playing with random pool toys.

Keeps their mask on unless they choose to actually swim around a bit.

Demoman

Does bring alcohol to the pool, he has to.

Sword fighting with pool noodles, that's all I have to say

Can swim and has a fun time doing it, but everyone is a little nervous with him being drunk in the pool.

Actual cannonball man

Will gladly play that game where someone climbs on his shoulders, and you fight against two other people.

He loves pool games, and he wins most of them.

Made a water balloon canon

Heavy

Is the man cooking a barbeque for everyone.

His food is amazing, and he makes sure the group has a full lunch to keep their energy up.

He'll some hang out in the pool but chooses not to swim all that much.

Brought the cooler full of water bottles, Demo put some of his drinks in there though.

Goes in the deep end once just to save soldier from the bottom.

Engineer

Mostly relaxes in the shallow end as well but goes int the deep end a few times.

Makes sure everyone is drinking enough water.

Brought a pump to blow up the pool floaties with because he doesn't want to do it manually ever again.

His robot hand can hold up in water, but he still keeps it out of the water most of the time just in case.

Hangs out with Pyro for a bit when he realizes they're alone (Sorry i headcanon him as a father figure for Pyro)

Offers to help out with the barbeque

Medic

Somehow the most graceful swimmer in the world.

Is the only one that actually knows proper CPR but prefers to let them die and respawn to "learn their lesson"

Brings some pool floaties for everyone

Also makes sure everyone is drinking water; he's not saving anyone if they pass out.

Tires to get everyone to wear sunscreen because he doesn't want to deal with the complaints of sunburn.

Doesn't help Scout with his sunburn, just says "I told you zis would happen" and gives him some aloe.

Sniper

Doesn't actually go in the pool that much, just sits on the side reading a book or something.

It he does go in the pool he just sits on the edge and puts his legs in the water

Refuses to participate in anything that could get him splashed.

If anyone splashes him, he gets pissed and gets out of the pool again.

Scout shot him with a water gun once, he never did it again.

Uses the water gun fight as an excuse to practice aim but says no one can shoot at him.

Spy

Stays on a floatie the entire time.

Like Sniper in the way that he will get pissed if he's splashed.

Keeps his mask on and puts sunglasses on over it somehow.

Constantly reapplying sunscreen, this man will not get burnet today.

Ends up falling asleep on the floatie and gets woken up by Scout jumping into the pool right beside him, causing him to fall over.

He sits on side with a towel and does not go back in the pool after that. He looks like a pathetic wet cat but still refuses to take his mask off.

Thats it, I hope you like them!

In all honesty, I have based some of this off how people in my family act at the pool.

Sorry if some of my grammar isn't the best

[a-killer-obsession]

🔞 Minors DNI 🔞

A search for a rumored Vegapunk weapon leads the Kid Pirates to an unexpected new crewmate, with a bloodlust that rivals their own and an incredible power.

CW: Please check AO3 for all current warnings, but general warning for smut, slow burn, serious gore, and really dark themes. AFAB reader, she/her pronouns.

Masterlist || AO3 || Chapter 1

Chapter 51 - Udon, Again

Stupid ass Kid. Time for Plan B.

Word Count: ~3k

You felt like absolute fucking trash when you finally woke up. Between your injury from Kid, sleeping on the floor, and hours of sobbing yesterday leaving you dehydrated, you felt like you'd been hit by a meteor, rolled up like a carpet and tossed into the sea. Waking up alone was hard, harder that it had been in weeks. For the first time in your life you were truly independent, and it was hard to accept that right now you didn't even have a crew. It was just you, by yourself, just hoping like hell that you could find a way to get to Heat before it was too late, if he was even still alive.

You lifted your shirt to examine your stomach, frowning at the deep purple bruise that was already forming, in the perfect shape of Kid's fist. Well, at least he'd used his flesh arm. You'd never have imagined he would lay hands on you - you understood it was a high stress situation, but that didn't make it okay. You weren't sure you'd ever forgive him for that, and you had a feeling if Killer came to his senses and saw the injury that it wouldn't bode well for Kid. Even Heat might turn to violence if he saw the bruise. The two of them were possessive of you, but the question was if they were possessive enough to go against their captain. You had no doubt Heat at least would leave the crew for you, but whether he'd physically fight Kid was another thing altogether. Kid was stronger than him though, so you hoped he wouldn't fight on your behalf.

Below your bruise was the fading scar of your hysterectomy, and your heart hurt thinking about Dawn, so far away. You hoped she was doing okay, and that she was too small to truly miss you. Above all you hoped you'd see her again soon, you missed her greatly, and you were getting really sick of making your hands hurt by expressing milk with the manual pump. You felt awful for leaving her, but you had to remind yourself that it wasn't forever, and it was for the best. You had to bring at least one dad home, or you didn't know how you could keep going on your own. You weren't suited to being a single mother, you didn't feel strong enough, not after everything you'd been through.

You let yourself lay back down, curling into a tight ball with a whimper, thinking about Killer and Heat and Dawn and missing them all greatly. It didn't matter that you technically saw Killer yesterday. That wasn't him, that was some other guy who had taken his body without permission, you just had to kick him out. You just wished there was something, anything, you could do to know whether Heat was alive. Not knowing was ripping you apart, every time you thought about it you felt like you couldn't breathe. You could at least hold faith that if he was dead, maybe you would have seen his ghost by now, because surely he would be searching for you. You saw many ghosts in Wano, those who had died suffering under Kaido's rule, but thankfully none you recognised.

You pinched the bridge of your nose, trying to soothe your searing headache. Rummaging through your duffle there was barely anything left, just a single bottle of water and a few apples. You could go without tomorrow, as long as you got the information you needed out of Killer, and once you got back to the capital you could steal more. You chugged the water greedily, hoping it would help your headache, and ate both apples before dealing with your heavy breasts. You drank that too, there was no point wasting it and you needed all the carbs you could get until you got back to the capital. At least your bag was light now, only containing the manual pump, a small med kit, and a map. You slung it over your shoulder and put your mask in place on your head, giving the shack one last look to ensure you didn't forget anything before making your way to Udon.

Your plan was just to cloak yourself and find Killer. Nobody would see you, but he would know you were there because of his haki, and you hoped you could get information out of him before he gave you away. All you needed was a location for where the rest of the crew were being kept, then you could be gone. You just hoped you wouldn't need to use pain to get the information out of him. There were things your devil fruit could do if you needed it, to inflict pain that would bring any man to their knees until he gave up the intel. It was a horrible thought, but you were desperate to get Heat back, and at this point Killer felt like a lost cause. You couldn't convince him to come back to himself last time, and if Kid couldn't either then who could? If he ever did come back to himself, he would forgive you for doing what you needed to do to get the rest of the crew back.

Udon was in chaos as you arrived. You scaled the walls as you had before, perching at the top of the innermost wall to take stock of the situation. Some sort of samurai match was taking place between Luffy and an absolute circle of a man you would find out later was named Queen, one of Kaido's top men. Kid and Killer were being hung upside down over a large pool of water, and you could hear Kid yelling at Killer, who ignored him and merely laughing maniacally in return. No, not Killer - Kamazo. It was clear he wasn't himself, and gave no heed to Kid's desperate yelling for him to remember who he was. This was no good, there was no way for you to get the information you needed out of him like this, when they were so exposed out in the open. Weirdest of all though was that you swore you saw Big Mom at the gate on your way here. Surely you were mistaken, though there had been that article in the newspaper about Big Mom and Kaido that you hadn't been able to read, right before arriving in Wano. Maybe it was something to do with that?

You swore to yourself as Kid and Kamazo were lowered head first into the water. You really didn't want to help Kid right now, but you couldn't just let him die, right? As for Kamazo, whether or not he had stolen Killer's body, you needed him alive for information. God fucking dammit. It took significant concentration, given the distance, but you were able to form a small circular barrier around each of their heads, ensuring they had at least some oxygen. It wouldn't last them forever, but it was better than nothing, especially as the water weakened both of them. There wasn't much else you could do right now, but it didn't matter, because other things were already at work here.

Big Mom broke down the outermost gate, and you saw the mangled metal soar through the air as she threw it. All hell broke loose as the guards within Udon focused their attention on the invader, Kid and Kamazo entirely forgotten. You had a feeling the guards didn't realise who they were dealing with, as a loudspeaker sang out over the prison, “The intruder has broken through the second gate! Now approaching the third gate!”

She broke through the innermost gate to the courtyard you could see best, screaming about red bean soup. Queen turned into some sort of long-necked dinosaur and began fighting back to no avail, Big Mom easily grappling his head and slamming it down. He slapped his tail against the ground in anger, jumping into the air and diving down at great speed to make his attack. Big Mom countered, grabbing him by his long neck, swinging him in circles until every bystander was dizzy from watching, and throwing him at one of Udon's great walls with a deafening crack, the tower he hit tilting and threatening to collapse. You understood well why she was an emperor, Queen was one of Kaido's top men, and yet she'd taken him down without even using her devil fruit. You shivered to think how strong Kaido must be as well.

The tank of water containing Kid and Kamazo broke apart, the scaffolding that held their chains breaking with it and dumping them on the ground with a gush of water. Luffy and Big Mom began fighting as the Beast Pirates scurried to evacuate, and an explosion blew out from the fight, prompting you to form a shield of air pressure to protect Kid and Kamazo, on instinct alone, making you grumble in annoyance as you registered what you'd done. Still invisible, Kamazo sensed you were there, laughing as he stared right at you from your perch on top of the wall, making you unsettled, while Kid was too distracted right now to focus his haki, his head moving every which way trying to figure out where the fuck you were. It was clear you were somewhere, he just couldn't figure it out, and he looked pissed.

A short man with a large head threw the pair a set of keys, and you realised at that point that you were no longer needed here. As soon as Kid could get his seastone off, he could escape with Kamazo on his own, if he didn't kill Kid first. Exasperated and annoyed that you'd protected Kid, you left. You didn't want to be around when he got out, because frankly you didn't want to talk to him. Angry that your plan to get information had failed, you fled back towards the rundown shack. You'd have to find a new way to get that information. Surely Kid would drag Kamazo somewhere, likely nearby since he knew of the area. You could wait till he left Kamazo unattended, or eavesdrop as he got the information out of Kamazo himself, then go to free Heat before Kid even had a chance to get there. You had to get to him first, because you had no doubt Kid would sprout lies to Heat about the nature of your leaving, and you might never see him again. He may even go after Dawn, being that you'd shown Kid on the map where she was being kept. You'd told him as a backup, in case something happened to you, but now you regretted that choice. Then again, you never thought Kid would hurt you like he had.

You stood at the entrance to the ruined building, deciding instead that it would be better to find a different place to hide, since Kid knew this spot. It was the only shelter he knew of, so he would no doubt come here. It took a while, but eventually you were able to find another half destroyed building with a single intact room to shelter in. You slumped down in the corner, exhausted, exasperated and frustrated, with nothing to do except wait for Kid to get to the town and drop his guard so you could interrogate Kamazo. If Kid even managed to get him here at all. You had your doubts, you knew you were capable of disabling him, but Kid and Killer had always been equal in strength, and while Kamazo was a sloppier fighter, he had the edge of wearing Kid's best friend's face - you didn't know if Kid had it in him to truly fight him if it came to it.

You couldn't care less right now if Kamazo won the fight, you'd just had to accept Killer was gone if it came to that. You could probably capture him on your own, long enough to get information, but you wouldn't be able to keep him. Another encounter with Kamazo would no doubt end in one of your deaths, and it couldn't be yours, Dawn still needed you. Killer would understand. However, if Kid won, well that was an issue. Kamazo was your only lead to finding Heat, and he was stupid enough to destroy that lead without thinking if he got into a serious fight with the assassin.

Elsewhere, Kid made his way in the general direction where he remembered the abandoned town to be, followed closely by an eerily quiet Killer. The fog in the blonde's mind from the last several weeks was finally clearing, and he felt ashamed of himself. Not to mention that now that he was in his right mind, he was overly aware of his exposed smile, and the uncontrollable laughter that came whenever he spoke. There wasn't much he could say anyway, he felt deeply embarrassed that he'd lost himself, that he'd been out of prison and yet had done nothing to help his crew, that he hadn't recognised his best friend, that he'd attacked you. There was tension in the air as he walked behind Kid. He wished the captain would just turn around and yell at him already, punish him for his insubordination, so he could at least feel a little like he'd gotten what he deserved. Kid hadn't spoken to him since leaving Udon, and he wondered if his betrayal was so great that the redhead would never forgive him.

The two remained silent as they walked through the streets of the ruined village, the only sounds being that of dirt crunching underfoot, and the various wildlife that had reclaimed the area. Kid grumbled to himself as he tried to remember exactly where the shack you'd taken him to was, since there was a significant lack of buildings still standing enough to serve as shelter. After circling several blocks, he finally found it, sitting down with a huff inside, watching Killer warily as the first mate entered behind him and sat a little ways away. A rogue bout of laughter escaped him from the stress of the tense situation, and he failed to muffle it with his hand. Defeated, Killer pulled his knees to his chest and let his head fall against them with a groan, his kimono falling open either side of his legs.

“Yin um… said about the SMILE fruit shit,” Kid finally broke the silence, “you… you okay?”

“Not really,” Killer laughed. He was so anxious that the laugh may have been real, he couldn't really tell.

“Right,” Kid replied, emphasising the ‘t’ with a pop, “of course you're not okay. Sorry.”

“It's not your fault,” Killer sighed, trying his best to look at Kid, but unable to keep eye contact when he felt so exposed.

“It kinda is though,” Kid grumbled, “it's my alliance bullshit that got us here.”

“It was Scratchmen that got us here,” Killer corrected, “and fucking Kaido.” Killer paused, looking around the small room with a realisation. “Where's Yin?”

“Scared her off,” Kid mumbled under his breath. Killer's heart hurt, remembering how he'd attacked you.

“I don't blame her,” Killer sighed, burying his face in his knees again, “I must have fucked her up pretty bad when I attacked her, fa-fa-fa-fa-fa.”

“She's not scared of you,” Kid huffed, “she knew you weren't yourself. It's me she's scared of.” Killer's head perked up, looking discerningly at the captain who reeked of guilt.

“Kid,” Killer said sternly, “what did you do?”

“You really don't know?” Kid replied, “you were there.”

“My memory is patchy,” Killer sighed, “what did you do to piss her off? I know she was at Udon, so why is she not here?”

“Look, I was angry, okay?” Kid tried to justify himself, “I didn't mean to!”

“Kid.” Killer snapped. Kid shivered, it was the same tone Killer used when they were young and Kid was in trouble.

“I may or may not have yelled at her when she tried to stop me from inevitably getting shot and captured,” Kid wouldn't look Killer in the eye, not knowing how he would react to the next part, “and then… I may have punched her in the gut. And she may have told me to go fuck myself and quit the crew. Wait, no, that was before I punched her.”

“Kid!!” Killer shouted, “What the hell is wrong with you! It took months to get her to trust you and you just go and throw that all away? What the fuck is wrong with you?!”

“I fucked up okay?!” Kid yelled back, “you know what I'm like when I'm stressed!”

“That's no excuse for punching a woman!” Killer yelled back, “especially not when that woman is your best friend's girl! You're fucking lucky I don't have the energy right now to beat the shit out of you.”

“I'll take a raincheck,” Kid sighed, “it's the least I deserve.”

“Do you know where she would go?” Killer asked as he stood. It was clear you needed him right now more than Kid did, he had to find you, make sure you were okay, and make sure you knew he was sorry for hurting you.

“There's not many places she could get to without resting first,” Kid grumbled, “she's probably nearby. In another house or some shit. Where are you going?”

“To find her, dumbass,” Killer snapped, before choking on a string of laughter. He shook his head as he composed himself, “Stay here, I'll find her and come back tomorrow so we can all go find our crew, together. And for fucksake don't draw attention to yourself, in fact don't fucking leave this room.”

“Fine, whatever,” Kid grumbled as Killer left to find you. He curled in on himself as soon as Killer was out of sight. You were right, things had changed; if Killer had to pick between the two of you, Kid was no longer his first choice.

[NEXT CHAPTER]

HIATUS NOTICE - Wavelengths will be on hiatus for at most a couple of months while I deal with irl chaos. There's only a few chapters left so my plan is to release them all at once over a week, I hope you all look forward it ❤️

👉 Like my stuff? Consider buying me a ko-fi

Taglist: @h0n3y-l3m0n05 @tremendoushorsepatrolgoth @iggy5055 @eyes-ofhell @luvnisstuff

[octuscle]

Hey there. I guess this is the place to contact? I’m a college student visiting my family for the Fourth of July next weekend. I’ve been away all year. The person who’s most excited to see me is my little brother Zach. He’s eighteen, I’m twenty one. We used to be really close as kids, but when he hit puberty, he started getting wayyy into wrestling and hanging with the jock crowd. It’s like he became a whole different person; even though he was popular for his boyish good looks and his winning smile, his grades really suffered, and we stopped spending time together. Now I can’t even have a conversation with him because he resents me for going to college. He has this huge disdain for “book-learning” and, I think, is jealous of my authority as the older and smarter brother. The last few times I saw him it was all arguing.

Anyway, just a few days ago, I got this package from him in the mail. It’s this Chronoviac thing—I don’t even know what it is, really, and he didn’t include a manual or anything. Just a note that, in his messy and only semi-legible handwriting, reads “For the 4th. Luv u bro”. I googled the chronoviac and came here to ask if you know what any of this means, why he might have sent me this, or hell, even what the goddamn thing is…

To be perfectly honest: You are putting me in a huge conflict of conscience here. What I can and will tell you is that your little brother wants a Fourth of July with his brother. And that he wants to celebrate the Fourth of July the way he's always imagined it. And for this he has defined a scenario on the Chronivac that will only become active if you execute it. What happens then, I can not tell you, that would be a breach of trust against your brother. And it would be above all a violation of what your brother wishes. Whether you will like it? I cannot say. But I can promise you that I will keep the process under control and make sure that nothing happens that cannot be undone. If you're up for it, on Friday morning, before you head home, hit the "Activate Scenario" button.

Friday morning. You're still unsure…. But what is the worst that can happen. Honestly? You don't know. But just because of your parents, you want a harmonious Fourth of July. So what? You press "Activate scenario". It's now 7:00 in the morning. Your flight leaves at 12:30. Shit, then you can go to the gym before. You can already pack your bag and take it with you. Actually, you've already got a decent pile of clothes ready, but there's definitely some sports gear missing. And do you really want to see the fireworks in a button-down shirt? It's supposed to be a hot evening. Fuck, where are the tank tops. After ten minutes your room looks like a bomb has hit it. And you stuffed your clothes into the gym bag just like that. In the side pocket are your sneakers, your socks and your water bottle with the second protein shake. You quickly drink the first one before you leave.

On your way to the gym, you remember that you left your laptop and books at your dorm. Huhuhu, it's the Fourth of July, there's no studying for a few days, there's celebrating. You've worked hard enough, you're allowed to treat yourself. There are only a few of the big boys in the gym. Of course, all the others are already on their way home. But after what you've seen of your not-so-little brothers on Instagram lately, you should pump up your muscles again. After all, you are the big brother. Fuck! Is it really 11:00 o'clock already? Then you have to go to the airport right now. Take a shower? You can forget it. You go once with the towel over your sweaty body, take a training jacket over the wet tank top and you chase your Mustang to the airport. Now every minute counts. And the only chance you have is to use every ounce of your charm. And damn it, you're doing great. Your radiant smile, discreet dancing of the pecs. And the lady at the counter still accepts your gym bag. And in the queue at the security check you are let in. And the boarding staff puts you in a free seat in business class. Because seriously, neither you nor your seatmates would have had any fun in the middle seat that was left in economy class. Because you really need a lot of space. And because, frankly, you stink. Fortunately, the two back rows in business class are empty.

In the in-flight program, you first watch a movie. But that is too exhausting for you. Then you discover the cartoon channel. And you can't stop laughing. Ren and Stimpy are simply the coolest of all. Especially Stimpy, he's just as dumb as you are sometimes. Huhuhu! When you turn your phone back on after landing, you have half a dozen messages from your lil bruh. Photos of his armpit. And the question if you can smell him yet. To the displeasure of the lady next to you at the baggage carousel, you send back a picture of your hairy cave and write that you beat all the stink.

Fuck, you both can't believe you haven't seen each other in a year. You almost crush each other as you hug. You both would have the strength to do that. Fuck, your lil bruh has become a beast. You don't take much from each other anymore. As you sit in the car and your brother drives off, he asks if you want to do a bruh-reunion pump before you go home. I thought you'd never ask, you reply with a laugh.

Happy Fourth of July to you both!

[tauforged]

time for a reef tank update !!! not the most glamorous shot but i’ve got a lot on my plate today so it’s what you’re getting lol

everything is going smoothly so far !!

finally set up the dosing pumps yesterday! current daily supplement regime is 1ml each of brightwell aquatics’ NanoCode A+B (staggered to prevent precipitation as they react with eachother), 1ml of brightwell KoralColor, and 5ml daily of a 1:1 mix of brightwell’s ZooPlanktos-M and PhytoChrom plankton suspensions, with the dose spread out equally over the entire 24hr period. ideally i would have done less, but this pump system has a minimum dose amount that i had to work around, and it’s all in such small increments that i doubt it will contribute too much to the bioload. these are the same supplement volumes i’ve been using before, but now dosed at a specific time each day and measured out by the pump rather than by me eyeballing with a grad cylinder ^^; going to see how alkalinity/calcium/magnesium levels shake out after a few days of the new setup and then modify from there. I’m also still manually dosing brightwell Restor (had to choose between this and the koralcolor as the dosing pump system only has four bottles, i’ve only got 2/3rds of my 250ml bottle of restor left as the koralcolor was a more recent purchase) and red sea reef energy AB+ (needs to be refrigerated, so wouldn’t work with the dosing pump), and i’ve got bottles of brightwell borochrom, liquid reef, and coralline accelerator that i bought back when i first started the tank up to cover all my bases but haven’t played with yet as i’ve been trying to take things slow on the dosing front. the borochrom i likely won’t be touching until i can find a boron testing kit that’s at least somewhat reliable before i do anything with it since it’s not something we have the capacity to test for in the lab at work.

corals are all overall looking good! the grinch porites has been looking a tad pale lately and might benefit from relocation, but i just did a water change yesterday so i’ll leave it be for now to see if that helps it perk up any… my other sps (rainbow pocillopora) is doing fantastic so i don’t think it’s water chemistry related, could be light/flow or nutrients. this frag gets covered in brown film algae despite my best efforts on a regular basis, so that probably isn’t helping -_-

the aiptasia on the pink bloomer zoa frag came back once again, so while i had the pump and heater shut off for the water change yesterday i blasted them with some aiptasia-x again. it was all gone by this morning, you can still see a little bit of white residue but i caught the shrimps picking at it last night ? so maybe they cleaned it up because i applied it very liberally. this frag has been thru the wringer and has had aips on it for the entire time, even after a really strong peroxide dip for GHA and physically scraping off all the anemones i could get to with a toothpick and blasting the remnants off with tap water in the sink immediately after, they just keep coming back… the good news is that the zoas are equally hardy. they seem mostly unbothered by the aips, but they were starting to get big enough to sting my purple death palys and that little baby disco mushroom so they had to go.

no pics, but i did finally lose that enchanted finger sinularia… it was never especially robust the entire time i’ve had it, but it never showed any signs of dying either. woke up a couple days ago to it gray and decaying, though, so i siphoned out everything i could get and the rest of the frag got chucked. bit of a shame, but i was honestly never a huge fan of it, mostly because of how sickly it always looked — i miss my toxic green capnella and the blue cespitularia that i lost during the major tank crash much much more :(

i’ve got another order in the works though — still in talks with ASD about the inverts, i’d tried to get some anemone shrimp as well but they had some issues so we’re waiting on them to get more livestock in. got my corals locked in in the meantime, though! aside from a handful of zoas still on my wishlist, this will probably be it for frags unless something major happens. or i finally snap and set up another tank. we’ll see…

[azzydoesstuff]

behold, my massive fucking moonshine factory (in minecraft for legal reasons)

so basically, i've been goofing around with the create mod the last few weeks and i installed quite a few addons to add way more content. one of these addons, "destroy", adds chemistry and stuff. but that's not important, all that matters is that it adds ILLEGAL LIQOUR BREWING

knowing me, i'd of course spend almost a week or two building a 100% fully automatic moonshine brewery and distillery.

the only thing that isn't completely automated is the heat from the blaze burners of the steam engine that powers this behemoth, which have been fed with creative blaze cakes so i don't have to build a blaze fuel farm too (i'll do it at some point)

here's some screenshots

and here's a top-down view, with and without legend

Steam Engine (absolute beast, provides power to the entire factory)

Emergency Waterwheels (in case the steam engine overstresses, i can disconnect it from the main mechanism and start it up using these, no need to restart it up manually)

Ingredient Sorter, Left Wing

Ingredient Sorter, Right Wing

Aging Barrels, Left Wing

Aging Barrels, Right Wing

Water Pumps (collect water for the moonshine)

Distillation Bubble Cap Mechanisms (three of them for maximum liquor potence)

Final Fluid Tank (stores fully-distilled moonshine before it is bottled)

Automatic Cobblestone Generator

Cobblestone Crushers (two sets of crushing wheels per belt, one crushing cycle turns cobble into gravel, the second turns gravel into sand)

Bulk Blaster (create mod's equivalent of a super-smelter. smelts all of the sand into glass)

Mechanical Crafters (craft glass into glass bottles)

Bottling Station (spouts sploosh moonshine into the freshly crafted bottles)

Final Storage Vault (where the bottled moonshine finally ends up. has a storage space so massive it'll basically never stop growing)

Automatic Wheat Farm (wheat is one of two ingredients for moonshine, uses a gantry carriage contraption to sweep the mature crops and then deposits them into the vault sorting system)

Seed Composters (uses the leftover seeds from the wheat farm to make bone meal for the mushroom farm)

Semi-Automatic Mushroom Farm (relies on the wheat farm for bone meal, but besides that, is fully automatic. repeatedly plants a mushroom, bone meals it into a giant shroom, then cuts it down with a mechanical saw to get more shrooms in return)

Mushroom Crusher (grinds mushrooms into bricks of yeast, the other ingredient in moonshine, then flings it into the yeast vault)

Wheat Vault (stores wheat until it's time for another brewing cycle)

Yeast Vault (stores yeast until it's time for another brewing cycle)

Wheat Farm Sorting System (wheat is deposited into the wheat vault, seeds are flung into the mushroom farm's composters, and any other items that might've ended up there by mistake are incinerated)

Distilled Water Disposal Pipe (transports any leftover water from the moonshine distillation into the steam engine, thus getting rid of it)

Catwalk Elevator (thought it'd be cool to have a lift bring you up to some catwalks above the whole factory, so i made it)

[breastpump]

How to Store Breast Milk? Here is the full guide to Store Breast Milk by EveryOunce.

Store milk in smooth, BPA-unfastened bottles or garage baggage intended for breast milk. Avoid everyday plastic boxes.

Label every box definitely with the date and time expressed. Use the oldest milk first based on the dates.

Refrigerate milk behind the fridge wherein the temperature is maximum steady, at 39°F or under.

Freshly pumped milk can be stored within the refrigerator for 3-five days. Freeze milk past that duration for longer storage.

For freezing, divide milk into portions in bottles or baggage appropriate for one feeding (2-four oz). This prevents wastage if the infant does not end a whole bottle. Get more details at EveryOunce.

Freeze milk flat on a tray and then transfer to hermetic freezer luggage or packing containers once strong. This prevents clumping.

Breast milk may be saved in the freezer for three-6 months. Check for signs and symptoms of spoilage like separation, discoloration or smell before the usage of frozen milk.

Thaw frozen milk overnight inside the refrigerator or below cool walking water and heat most effective the component wanted for a feeding, not the whole bottle. Avoid microwaving.

Once thawed, milk can be saved inside the fridge for twenty-four hours only earlier than the usage of. How Can Manual Breast Pumps Be Used In Effective Ways? 10 Benefits of Manual Breast Pump

[mineralwaterbusiness]

Essential Maintenance Tips for Mineral Water Machinery

Mineral water production is a meticulous process that requires precision and efficiency. The machinery that ensures the water is purified, bottled, and ready for consumer use is at the heart of this process. Like any sophisticated equipment, mineral water machinery demands regular maintenance to operate optimally. Proper maintenance not only extends the lifespan of the machinery but also ensures consistent production quality, reduces downtime, and minimizes operational costs. In this article, we'll explore essential maintenance tips for mineral water machinery, providing insights to keep your production line running smoothly.

1. Regular Inspection and Monitoring

The first step in maintaining mineral water machinery is regular inspection and monitoring. Routine checks allow operators to identify potential issues before they escalate into costly repairs or significant downtime. Key components to inspect include:

Filtration Systems: Ensure filters are clean and functioning correctly. Clogged filters can lead to contamination and reduced efficiency.

Pumps and Motors: Check for unusual noises, vibrations, or overheating, which could indicate wear or misalignment.

Conveyor Belts: Inspect belts for wear and tear, and ensure they are properly aligned and tensioned.

Sealing and Packaging Units: Look for any signs of malfunction in sealing and packaging units, as these are critical to maintaining the integrity of the bottled water.

A comprehensive inspection schedule should be in place, with logs maintained to track the condition of each component. This proactive approach helps in planning maintenance activities without disrupting production.

2. Adhering to Manufacturer's Guidelines

Each piece of mineral water machinery comes with a manufacturer’s manual that includes specific maintenance guidelines. These guidelines are tailored to the machinery’s design and operational requirements, making them an invaluable resource for maintenance teams. Adhering to these guidelines ensures that maintenance activities are performed correctly and at appropriate intervals.

Key areas where the manufacturer's guidelines should be strictly followed include:

Lubrication Schedules: Different machinery components require lubrication at varying intervals. Over-lubrication or under-lubrication can cause damage, so it’s crucial to follow the recommended schedules.

Replacement Parts: Always use the manufacturer’s recommended parts when replacements are necessary. Non-genuine parts may not meet the required specifications, leading to poor performance or premature failure.

Calibration Procedures: Regular calibration of sensors and control systems is essential to maintain accuracy in production. Follow the manufacturer’s instructions to ensure proper calibration.

3. Implementing a Preventive Maintenance Program

Preventive maintenance is a proactive approach that focuses on regular, planned maintenance activities to prevent unexpected breakdowns. This program involves scheduling maintenance tasks at predetermined intervals based on the machinery’s usage and operating conditions.

Key elements of a preventive maintenance program include:

Routine Cleaning: Regular cleaning of machinery helps prevent the build-up of contaminants that can affect performance. For example, cleaning the nozzles and valves in the bottling section ensures a smooth filling process.

Scheduled Inspections: Inspections should be scheduled based on the manufacturer's recommendations and the machinery’s operational intensity. This could involve daily, weekly, or monthly checks.

Timely Component Replacement: Wear and tear are inevitable in any machinery. Replacing components like seals, gaskets, and bearings before they fail is crucial to avoiding unplanned downtime.

Systematic Testing: Regular testing of machinery performance, such as pressure and flow rate in pumps, ensures that the equipment operates within the desired parameters.

Implementing a preventive maintenance program enhances the machinery's reliability and optimizes production efficiency by minimizing interruptions.

4. Training and Skill Development for Operators

Well-trained operators are essential for the proper maintenance of mineral water machinery. They are the first line of defense in identifying and addressing potential issues. Regular training sessions should be conducted to ensure that operators are familiar with the machinery’s operation and maintenance procedures.

Key areas of training should include:

Basic Troubleshooting: Operators should be able to identify and troubleshoot minor issues, such as adjusting settings or replacing simple components like filters.

Understanding of Machinery Functionality: Operators should understand how each component of the machinery works and its role in the overall production process.

Safety Protocols: Safety is paramount in any production environment. Training should include safety protocols for handling machinery, particularly when performing maintenance tasks.

Continuous skill development ensures that operators can handle machinery efficiently, reducing the likelihood of errors that could lead to equipment damage.

5. Maintaining a Clean and Organized Work Environment

A clean and organized work environment is crucial for effective machinery maintenance. Dust, debris, and moisture can cause significant damage to mineral water machinery if not managed properly. Implementing strict cleanliness standards in the production area can prevent these issues.

Key practices include:

Regular Cleaning: The production area should be cleaned regularly to prevent dust accumulation. Machinery should be wiped down and kept free from debris.

Proper Storage: Tools and spare parts should be stored in designated areas, ensuring they are easily accessible when needed. Proper storage also prevents damage to sensitive components.

Environmental Controls: Ensure that the production environment is controlled for temperature and humidity, as extreme conditions can affect machinery performance.

A well-maintained work environment not only protects machinery but also enhances the efficiency and safety of the production process.

6. Use of Modern Maintenance Tools and Technologies

Leveraging modern tools and technologies can greatly enhance the maintenance of mineral water machinery. These tools provide precise diagnostics and automate certain maintenance tasks, making the process more efficient.

Some useful technologies include:

Predictive Maintenance Tools: Predictive maintenance involves using sensors and software to monitor the condition of machinery in real time. This allows for early detection of potential issues before they lead to breakdowns.

Computerized Maintenance Management Systems (CMMS): CMMS software helps track maintenance schedules, logs, and inventory, ensuring that all tasks are performed on time and that the necessary parts are available.

Automated Lubrication Systems: Automated systems ensure that machinery components are lubricated at the right intervals, reducing the risk of over- or under-lubrication.

By adopting these technologies, companies can improve the accuracy and efficiency of their maintenance programs, ultimately extending the lifespan of their machinery.

7. Documentation and Record Keeping

Maintaining detailed records of all maintenance activities is essential for the effective management of mineral water machinery. Documentation helps in tracking the history of each piece of equipment, identifying recurring issues, and planning future maintenance activities.

Important records to maintain include:

Maintenance Logs: Document all inspections, repairs, and replacements, including the date, time, and personnel involved.

Performance Data: Keep records of machinery performance metrics, such as output rates and energy consumption. This data can be used to identify trends and make informed decisions about maintenance needs.

Parts Inventory: Maintain an inventory of spare parts, ensuring that critical components are always available when needed.

Effective documentation and record-keeping practices enable a more structured approach to maintenance, reducing the likelihood of oversight and ensuring that machinery is kept in optimal condition.

Conclusion

When you start your mineral water business Proper maintenance of mineral water machinery is critical to ensuring the efficiency and reliability of your production line. By implementing regular inspections, adhering to manufacturer guidelines, embracing preventive maintenance, and utilizing modern technologies, you can significantly extend the lifespan of your equipment and maintain consistent production quality. Training operators and maintaining a clean work environment are also key factors in successful maintenance practices. With these tips in place, you can minimize downtime, reduce costs, and ensure that your mineral water production remains competitive in a demanding market.

[minimac-mspl]

Field inspection

1) Visual Inspection of Oil in a Sample Bottle:

Colour: wrong or mixed oil, photo-catalytic reaction, oxidation and thermal degradation, soot, chemical contamination

Emulsions and Cloudiness: haze to buttermilk, cuff, stable or unstable, additive floc, salt, air, glycol

Free Water: colour, speed of separation, level

Sediments – colour: amber, black, translucent, settling rate, density and particle size, laser through the bottle

2) Using Oil Colour as a Field Test:

You can check the colour of the oil sample with the help of an oil change colour gauge by using glass or PET plastic bottles

Without a gauge, you can compare the sample with a new oil sample and observe the colour, if you find that colour of the oil is milky or dark, then check the contamination & moisture in oil with the help of an Oil testing kit

3) Moisture Detection by Vision:

Visual inspection

Transparent container

Use comparators and good lighting, laser pointer is also effective

Hazy to milky appearance may indicate water emulsion

4) Routine Inspection of Sight Glasses in Oil Analysis:

Change in oil level – up or down, sudden and significant changes are serious

Sight glass foaming

Oil colour, darkening, turbidity, etc.

BS& W bowl shows oxidised oil

Use a blue pen-light for checking the oil level and quality insight glasses

5) Other Audible Inspection:

Gearing – A singing gear is a happy gear, usually, it means it is one that is hitting

Hydraulics – High metallic sounds from pumps means there is water in oils

Marbles on the tin roof mean cavitation

6) Using your Sense of Touch:

Lube: Oils should feel slippery, not clingy. Greases should feel buttery, not stringy or lumpy - Grease consistency can be estimated manually with a butter knife, you can tell the difference between #2 and #3

Contaminants – Sludge: hard, pasty, sticky - Particles / Sediments - Filter debris

7) Using Oil Odour as a Field Test:

Purpose quickly detect odour – Producing changes in an oil’s chemistry and constituents. For best results with scenting, use comparators for examples, bottles of new oil, oxidised oil, burnt oil, diesel contaminated oil, etc.

Also read: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/importance-inventory-management-anshuman-agrawal-mlt-1-/

Minimac focuses on lubrication reliability and contamination control - Doctor's for your machine! Call +91 7030901266 for Condition Monitoring.

[foodreceipe]

Medicinal Soft Drinks and Coca-Cola Fiends: The Toxic History of Soda Pop

Soda’s reputation has fallen a bit flat lately: The all-American beverage most recently made headlines due to an FDA investigation of a potential carcinogen, commonly called “caramel coloring,” used in many soft-drink recipes. This bit of drama follows other recent stories that paint an unflattering picture of the soda industry, including New York’s attempt to ban super-sized drinks, the eviction of soda machines from many public schools, and a spate of new soda-tax proposals. All these regulations are designed to mitigate the unhealthy impacts of Big Soda, such as increasing childhood obesity, in the same way restrictions were slapped on cigarettes in years past.

“The drink became symbolic of America, and even freedom in a way. It made Coca-Cola more than just another fizzy drink.”

Faced with all this bad press, it’s hard to believe that the “evil” soft drink actually began as a health product, touted for its many beneficial effects. In fact, soda got its start in Europe, where the healing powers of natural mineral waters have been prescribed for hundreds of years. Bathing or drinking the water from these natural spas was thought to cure a wide variety of illnesses. Tristan Donovan, the author of Fizz: How Soda Shook Up the World, says that the ailments treated with bubbling spring waters constituted a “ludicrously big list,” everything from gallstones to scurvy. (In reality, the beverage did little more than settle an upset stomach, without any adverse side effects.)

Despite the broad appeal of mineral water, packaging and transporting this effervescent liquid proved difficult, so chemists set out to make their own. “It took until 1767 for the real breakthrough to happen when Joseph Priestley, the British chemist who was the first to identify oxygen, figured out a way to put carbon dioxide into water,” says Donovan. Priestley’s process used a fermenting yeast mash to infuse water with the gas, resulting in a weakly carbonated drink. Proponents of the bubbly beverage’s healthful properties were thrilled.

Top: A Coke advertisement from 1907. Above: Early soda machines required oversized cranks to manually carbonate water, like these devices from the 1870s.

In 1783, the Swiss scientist Johann Jacob Schweppe improved on Priestley’s process with a device for carbonating water using a hand-cranked compression pump, launching the now-famous Schweppes company. Yet it was still virtually impossible to get carbonated water to market without losing its fizz, as drinks in corked stoneware bottles tended to go flat quickly and glass bottles weren’t widely available. Charles Plinth solved part of the problem with his soda syphon in 1813, which could dispense bubbly water without compromising the remaining mixture’s carbonation, though syphons still had to be refilled at a facility that actually produced the carbonated liquid.

Finally, in 1832, the English-born American inventor John Matthews developed a lead-lined chamber wherein sulphuric acid and powdered marble (also known as calcium carbonate) were mixed together to generate carbon dioxide. The gas was then purified and manually mixed into cool water with steady agitation, creating carbonated water. Matthews’ design worked either as a bottling unit or a soda fountain, since it produced enough carbonated water to last customers all day. But America’s weak glass industry still wasn’t able to support large-scale bottling plants, so the simplest way to sell soda water was at public fountains.

Left, a Schweppes ad from 1937, more than 150 years after the mineral water company was founded. Right, early carbonated waters were sometimes sold in rounded “torpedo” bottles, forcing them to lie flat so the liquid contents would dampen the cork, preventing it from shrinking.

“If I were going to single out one person as creating the carbonated drink industry, I would give credit to Benjamin Silliman, even though he eventually failed financially,” says Anne Funderburg, the author of Sundae Best: A History of Soda Fountains.

An illustration of a French soda water apparatus, featuring soda syphons and carbonating machines below the counter, circa 1830s.

“Silliman was a chemistry professor at Yale College, and he wanted to supplement his small paycheck while also doing something altruistic for mankind. Silliman believed that carbonated waters could be used as medicine, so he set up a business in New Haven, Connecticut, selling bottled carbonated water.” Though Silliman had little success selling the drink at his local apothecary, he decided to expand his business, designing a larger-capacity carbonation apparatus and securing investments to open two pump rooms in New York City.

In 1809, Silliman started selling his soda water at the Tontine coffeehouse and the City Hotel, elegant establishments that catered to an elite clientele (the Tontine was in the same building as the New York Stock Exchange). In addition to their supposedly beneficial products, these early soda fountains were designed to create an uplifting environment, adorned with marble counters and ornate brass soda dispensers. However, Silliman continued to focus on the medical benefits of his soda water, while his competitors recognized that the social aspects of drinking were potentially more appealing.

In their heyday, soda fountains were elaborately designed places for rejuvenation. Left, the counter at the Clarkson & Mitchell Drugstore in Springfield, Illinois, circa 1905. Via the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum. Right, an 1894 ad for an ornate fountain produced by Charles Lippincott & Co.

“People who had better business sense than Silliman set up their pump rooms like a spa: You came to drink your carbonated water, but you hung around reading the free books and conversing with other intelligent people who were also there to drink carbonated water,” says Funderburg. “They understood that you could make a real business out of it, where Silliman treated soda more as a medicine.” Though the servers at Tontine recognized that customers preferred soda water as a mixer, it remained a slow seller, and eventually Silliman was forced out of the industry. Even as Silliman’s company failed, the soda trend was catching, and successful fountains soon popped up in other cities like Philadelphia and Baltimore.

Because carbonated water was still viewed as a health drink, the first soda shops were situated in drugstores and closely linked with their pharmacies. “Part of the reason they became so entwined is that the process of carbonating water and making syrups or flavorings was something pharmacists already had the skill set to do,” Donovan explains. “They were the obvious people to take this on, and they started adding in ingredients they thought were health-providing. Sarsaparilla was linked to curing syphilis. Phosphoric acid was seen as something that could help hypertension and other problems.” Long-standing favorites like ginger ale and root beer were also initially prized for their medicinal qualities.

According to Darcy O’Neil, author of Fix the Pumps, pharmacists initially used sweet-tasting soda flavors to mask the taste of bitter medicines like quinine and iron, as most medication was taken in liquid form during this era. Plus, many pharmaceutical tinctures and tonics were already mixed with alcohol, which made even the most pungent medicinal flavors enticing. “Many of the elixirs and tonics contained as much alcohol as a shot of whiskey,” writes O’Neil. “This was popular with both the imbiber and pharmacy. The imbiber could get an alcoholic drink at a fraction of the bar’s price because there were no taxes on alcohol-based ‘medicine.’”

Acid phosphates like Horsford’s, seen in these advertisements from the 1870s, gave many soda fountain drinks a distinctively tart flavor.

Besides booze, sodas of the 19th century also incorporated drugs with much stronger side effects, including ingredients now known as narcotics. Prior to the Pure Food & Drug Act of 1906, there were few legal restrictions on what could be put into soda-fountain beverages. Many customers came to soda fountains early in the morning to get a refreshing and “healthy” beverage to start their day off right: Terms like “bracer” and “pick-me-up” referred to the physical and mental stimulation sodas could provide, whether from caffeine or other addictive substances.

Pharmacists were soon making soda mixtures with stronger drugs known as “nervines,” a category that included strychnine, cannabis, morphine, opium, heroin, and a new miracle compound called cocaine, which was first isolated in 1855. “Cocaine was a wonder drug at the time when it was first discovered,” Donovan explains. “It was seen as this marvelous medicine that could do you no harm. Ingredients like cocaine or kola nuts or phosphoric acid were all viewed as something that really gave you an edge.

“Cocaine was a wonder drug at the time when it was first discovered. It was seen as this marvelous medicine that could do you no harm.”

“Recipes I’ve seen suggest it was about 0.01 grams of cocaine used in fountain sodas. That’s about a tenth of a line of coke,” he says. “It’s hard to be sure, but I don’t think it would’ve given people a massive high. It would definitely be enough to have some kind of effect, probably stronger than coffee.” While the dosages were small, they were certainly habit-forming, and soda fountains stood to profit from such consistent customers.

Throughout the mid-19th century, soda fountains spread clear across the U.S., and a niche health drink became a beloved American refreshment, capable of competing with the best cocktails in the world. Soda throwers or soda jerks, as they were later called (after the jerking arm movement required to operate the taps), had to be just as skilled as bartenders at mixing drinks; in fact, many bartenders started working at soda fountains once the industry was booming.

“Around that time, it became obvious to the medical profession that there weren’t any health benefits to carbonated water on its own, so people started selling it as a treat,” says Funderburg. “It’s hard to put our heads around how much of a treat cold fizzy water was back then. People didn’t have mechanical refrigeration, so to have a cold drink was a big deal. They flavored them with chocolate or fruit syrups, and citrus fruits like lime and lemon became favorites.”

By the early 20th century, soda fountains were an integral part of neighborhood drugstores, such as this counter in the People’s Drug Store, in Washington, D.C. pharmacy, circa 1920. Via Shorpy.

Presumably, as soon as carbonated water was commercially available, people were adding their own flavorings to spice things up. “The earliest advertisement I’ve managed to find for something we would call soda was from 1807, and that was a sparkling lemonade being sold in York,” says Donovan. “It could have been a fairly new idea, but people had flavored still water for years beforehand.”

Lemon drinks made up the first of many flavor fads to hit the soda industry, likely because un-carbonated lemonade was a familiar refreshment. According to O’Neil, lemon syrups were already used as a base flavor for many medicines, so concocting a tasty drink with these was natural. Beyond lemon, all manner of citrus-flavored sodas were enjoyed in the mid-1800s, in part because their essential oils were easy to extract and preserve. Other fountain staples included orange, vanilla, cherry, and wintergreen, although shops were always testing new recipes looking for the latest hip drink. Most soda mixtures were made using a sugary simple syrup, but popular flavors were often far more tart than today’s sodas.

One of the most complete records of these innovative cocktails is DeForest Saxe’s 1894 book entitled Saxe’s New Guide, or, Hints to Soda Water Dispensers. In its pages, Saxe illuminates his own experience working a soda fountain, detailing tips for pouring sodas, keeping them cold, and making an extensive list of drink recipes. From a “Tulip Peach” to a “Swizzle Fizz,” or an “Opera Bouquet” to an “Almond Sponge,” Saxe covered the wildest new flavor sensations in addition to the classic egg creams and flavored phosphates. But despite their fantastic names, Saxe’s recipes notably avoid the medicinal ingredients many soda fountains relied upon to give their drinks a kick.

An illustration of proper mixing form as published in Saxe’s 1894 book.

By the turn of the 20th century, many Americans had begun to recognize the dangers of serving unregulated medications in such a casual manner. In 1902, the Los Angeles Times published an article titled “They Thirst for Cocaine: Soda Fountain Fiends Multiplying,” which focused on the questionable ingredients in popular drinks like Coca-Cola. However, Donovan says that judging from the small quantities of cocaine in actual recipes, it’s doubtful that there were many soda-addicted fiends.

In the 1890s, Coke was directly marketed as a medicinal drink.

In fact, Coke was developed while looking for an antidote to the common morphine addictions that followed the Civil War: Veteran and pharmacist John Stith Pemberton concocted the original Coca-Cola mixture while experimenting with opiate-free painkillers to soothe his own war wounds. The company’s first advertisement ran on the patent-medicine page of the Atlanta Journal in 1886, and made it clear that Coca-Cola was viewed as a health drink, “containing the properties of the wonderful Coca plant and the famous Cola nuts.”

Of course, these were also the properties of your basic uppers: Cocaine is a coca leaf extract, and the African kola nut is known for its high caffeine content. Once the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906 required narcotics to be clearly labelled, the majority of Coca-Cola’s cocaine was removed, though it took until 1929 for the company to develop a method that could eliminate all traces of the drug.

However, at the turn of the 20th century, the harshest public criticism was reserved for a different devilish drink — alcohol. As temperance groups rallied against booze, they helped propel teetotaling customers into American soda fountains. In 1919, the year before Prohibition took effect, there were already 126,000 soda fountains in the United States, far exceeding the number of bars and nightclubs today. “Soda had always played up the temperance link,” says Donovan. “Even before Prohibition, sodas like Hires Root Beer were presented as non-alcoholic drinks and marketed that way. Lots of fizzy-drink companies encouraged the temperance movement, and they were generally quite pleased from a business perspective when Prohibition came in. Their sales rose. People couldn’t go to bars anymore so they turned to soda fountains instead.”

https://medium.com/hunter-oatman-stanford/medicinal-soft-drinks-and-coca-cola-fiends-the-toxic-history-of-soda-pop-9f8c8965cfcd

[portablesinks]

The Environmental Impact of Using Portable Hand-Washing Stations

In an era where hygiene and environmental sustainability go hand in hand, the use of a portable hand washing stationhas gained significant importance. These stations are not just a convenience but also play a crucial role in promoting eco-friendly practices, especially in outdoor settings such as festivals, construction sites, and public gatherings. Let's delve into the environmental impact of using these innovative solutions.

Reducing Water Waste

One of the most significant environmental benefits of a portable hand washing station is its efficiency in water usage. Traditional hand washing methods, like faucets in permanent structures, often lead to excessive water consumption due to unregulated flow rates and user negligence. In contrast, portable stations are designed with water conservation in mind. They often feature low-flow faucets or foot pump systems that dispense a controlled amount of water, reducing wastage significantly. This is particularly vital in areas where water conservation is a priority.

Eco-Friendly Sanitation Solutions

Portable hand washing stations contribute to environmental sustainability through the use of eco-friendly sanitation products. Many models are equipped with biodegradable soaps and sanitizers, which are gentle on the environment compared to traditional chemical-laden cleansing agents. When these stations are used in outdoor settings, the risk of harmful chemicals seeping into the soil and water sources is considerably reduced. Thus, they offer a more environmentally responsible option for maintaining hygiene standards in public spaces.

Minimizing Plastic Waste

In the context of outdoor events or sites where hygiene facilities are temporary, the alternative to a portable hand washing station often involves single-use plastic bottles of hand sanitizers and wipes. The shift towards these stations significantly cuts down on plastic waste, as they eliminate the need for disposable products. By providing a reusable, efficient hand-cleaning facility, these stations encourage a reduction in plastic pollution, aligning with broader environmental sustainability goals.

 Encouraging Responsible Behavior

The presence of a portable hand washing station also plays an educational role in promoting environmentally responsible behavior. When individuals see these stations being used in place of less eco-friendly alternatives, it raises awareness about sustainable practices. This can encourage a shift in mindset towards choosing greener options in other aspects of their lives, further amplifying the positive environmental impact.

 Energy Efficiency

Another aspect to consider is the energy efficiency of portable hand washing stations. Many models are designed to operate without the need for electrical power, relying instead on manual foot pumps or gravity-fed systems. This reduces the overall energy consumption associated with hygiene facilities, especially in comparison to electrically heated water systems in permanent buildings.

 Reducing Carbon Footprint

The transport and installation of traditional hand-washing facilities often involve significant carbon emissions. Portable hand washing stations, being lightweight and easy to transport, have a much lower carbon footprint in terms of transportation and installation. This is particularly relevant for temporary events where the environmental impact of setting up and removing facilities is a concern.

Range of Portable Hand Washing Stations:

Portable Sinks for Spa

Portable Sinks for Food Service Carts

Portable Sinks for Dog Washing

Portable Self-Contained Mop Sink

 Conclusion

The environmental impact of using a portable hand washing station is profoundly positive. These stations offer a sustainable solution to maintain hygiene, conserve water, reduce plastic waste, promote eco-friendly products, and minimize energy consumption. Their role in encouraging responsible environmental behavior cannot be understated. As we move towards a more eco-conscious world, the adoption of portable hand washing stations in various settings is a step in the right direction, contributing to the preservation of our planet for future generations.

Contact Information

Monsam Enterprises Inc. 2685 Pittsburg, Antioch Hwy Antioch, CA 94509 925 757 3924

Blog Source: https://portablesink.com/impact-of-using-portable-hand-washing-stations/

[bodaelectrical]

drinking water dispenser water pump

It can be installed with almost any 2-6 gallon water bottle (most suitable for 52mm-55mm crown bottle type), designed for pure water, mineral water and other bottled water users

 Lightweight, compact. Ideal for camping, sports, family, school, office, etc.

Manually operated by pressing the head of the pump. There is no battery, motor or power required.

Anyone of any age can easily use the pump, from children to seniors. Just press the head and enjoy fresh water.

Water Pump is patented vacuuming system is the secret. Adjustable adaptor sticks tight to bottle mouth and completely blocks air from outside. It creates strong vacuum inside bottle and helps you dispense water with only 1 or 2 times of pumping to get a glass of water.