Driving a boat...again

I can legally drive a boat! Again! Hmm...not that I couldn't before...

They changed the boating rules to require people in reverse age (i.e. youngest to oldest) to have a license to prove they know the rules of boating. I found it rather amusing, as many of my questions related to towing a boat or sewage disposal- both of which I consider pretty obvious, but maybe it isn't? I would be more concerned with whether or not people can dock a boat, personally (something I avoid doing on larger boats, even with bow thrusters and video of what you are backing in to...I mean...docking against.).

I'll be going on the boat for a couple weeks coming up (*3 weekends off!*), and we plan on bringing all four kayaks with us (a couple of which are inflatable). Afterwards, I am bringing one down to Seattle to live in the bike room- which already has other people's kayaks too. My parent's cats get to come on the boat with us. They even wear harnesses when outside- mostly tp prevent the one from taking his usual flying leaps overboard. My cat has to stay home though, since he doesn't like other cats! (umm, the boat has more sq ft then where I used to live. And more storage too. People wonder why I want to live on a boat!)

Ok, you are proably as confused why I am getting mail with "Hazardous Materials" papers stuck to the outside (which incidentally, wasn't allowed in a plane, it has to go via ground). I wasn't expecting the package, as it was early. My soda machine has arrived! Complete with two giant (16 inch tall) CO2 canisters, which apparently make it dangerous to transport.



I don't actually drink much pop (in fact, I drink diet 7up and diet pepsi, and that is really about all I will go to any effort to seek out). I do however have a fondness for fizzy water and dry soda. The slightly sweet, naturally flovered, herbal undertones do me in. Not don't get me wrong- I crave a Coke or Root Beer now and again. But on the day to day, I just want fizzy water. Seattle water is good, but tastes like chlorine to me, and is well, boring. However, I hate paying for pop in cans I then have to recycle (and worse, lug back from somewhere) or expensive albeit very tasty dry sodas. I refuse to by actual fizzy water most of the time since it always seems silly to by water I could carbonate myself with a CO2 cartidge. I just never got around to bringing one of the siphons down.

I have to say...I am impressed! I was dubious at first, as the pieces are plastic (the bottles are PET plastic, which I am not concerned about as they are not going in the dishwasher or other high heat), but it seems sturdy enough when all is in place. I like that the cartridges are giant (about 100 1 liters/cartridge) and returnable. Plus, I can have multiple types of soda/juice/flavored water in my house at once. I immediately sat down and made lime soda with a mixer I had in the fridge, lavender soda (my all time fav flavor) with a simple syrup, plain fizzy water, and tried once of their soda mixes, which tasted a lot like Dr. Pepper. Good thing it was hot out today, as I have already had almost 2 liters!

Want to make your own soda but have no carbonation? Do you have yeast? Then you can make soda. That site also has some good cheese recipes- try making panner/panir if you never have before.

I found a really nice low key coffee shop to sit in for awhile today. Most are Starbucks around here, which I don't actually really mind, but they aren't places I can sit to just work or read for awhile. The place reminded me a lot of a coffee shop in Austin, TX that I used to hang out in a lot, and actually made a decent iced Americano. Unpretentious, with low key (thrifted?) seating, perfect for reading my new library books.

(eta: Did you check out my butter bell in the photo above? It actually still works, even in the hot weather!)