leob1

When you got thirsty, you went over to the water fountain, bent over and took a drink. Or when you went into a resturant, you sat down and they brought you a glass of water.
Now we have (this kills me) a "Hydration Station". https://www.usatoday.com/news/educati...ege/50403454/1

himespau 

I'd like one at an airport. I always take an empty water bottle or two through security and fill them up at a drinking fountain on the other side. Cheaper than buying and I need a lot of water to keep hydrated in flight.

NOS88

Progress can be measured in different ways. When I was a kid drinking out of the garden hose was as good as drinking from any water tap in the house. On my first real bike tour (from Philadelphia to Erie) my brother and I filled our water bottles more than once from a garden hose, with no ill effects. Looking at it from another perspective, my grandmother thought a water fountain in public grade school was a luxury - "Why can't they drink from the spigot like everyone else?" A "hydration station" is IMHO a good thing if it gets people to drink more water. One of the most interesting things about my return to cycling is that my enjoyment of water increased to where it was when I was a kid. Having two full water bottles on the bike got me drinking water instead of all the other commercial product I had slowly shifted toward over the years.

OldsCOOL

For those that need it and want it....cool, glad it's there for them. Me? I dont need to drink that much water what with the humidity and cooler climate.

Beach Comber

I like the idea of a dedicated station. Even if a water fountain allowed you to conveniently refill a bottle, no sense holding up the line in a busy area.

gcottay

Nice idea.

AzTallRider

Me too. No more soda. No more juice. I drink water (constantly), coffee (a couple of cups each morning), and wine (once or twice a week).

John_V 

Goes for me too! I stopped drinking water around 1977 when I got a job where I was in an air conditioned vehicle or an air conditioned building throughout my shift. I started drinking water when I started riding and now drink pretty much nothing else except milk and hot chocolate (at work) and 1 cup of coffee in the morning. I work at Coca-Cola where we get all our drinks for free and I don't drink any of it. For whatever reason, I seem to have lost the taste for soft-drinks.

stapfam

Here in the UK we were slow to get onto water coolers in workplaces but MOST offices now have them and Many reception areas have them for customers. At my work no one drank water from the tap as it was not direct from the Mains. It ran from a storage tank that could have anything in it but about 10 years ago we got a water cooler and water started to be drunk- although the main use was to fill the kettle for tea and coffee. Then two years ago we got a water purifier that Filters- sterilises and dispense Hot or Cold water from the mains. For coffee it makes no difference but as cold water- there is nothing. No taste what so ever- no chlorine- no bits floating about and it has been verified as completely sterile. Bit like drinking distilled water- There is nothing to taste. Exactly like water should taste I suppose but I still bring in tap water from home that has been through a filter and still has some bite to it.

triggerracing

Note to self, never work at coke. Lord, I would OD the first day if I got them free.

JanMM

At the end of a 90+F ride a few weeks ago, I was surprised to find a drinking water fountain with cooled water on the outside of a restroom in a public park in Brownburg, IN. The sun was shining on the fountain and I was expecting to get a mouthful of warm water and instead was treated to refreshing cold water. It was heavenly!

Artkansas 

I remember when you had to look at the sign above the water fountain first, to make sure you were allowed to drink from that fountain. But I guess that's a different issue.

Louis

I like it, but I think the name is corny. "Hydration Station"? Gimme a break.

cooking14

water for the river so cool

gmt13

Amazing marketing campaign to convince everybody that they needed to have a bottle of water in hand at all times. I recently saw one recommendation that we all needed to drink at least 24 oz of water - more if we had non-sedentary jobs. The fear, I guess is that you may suddenly succumb to dehydration. This past summer I did make an attempt to do 24 oz of water per hour. I abandoned that goal about 30 minutes into a technical roundtable meeting that I had to participate in. Talk about job stress!

Anyhow, I will continue calling the device a "scuttlebutt"; my dog has a "hydration station", though.

-G

on the path

Am I the only one who has thought about the problem of people jamming the opening of their used, unsanitary bottle directly onto the device? I've seen that a lot in situations where people should know better...

sam21fire

+1
I think the "hydration station" name is a bit much but if it reduces the number of single-use plastic bottles it's a good thing.

Louis

Conversely, the rest rooms should be called "Urination Stations".

NOS88

First time I took my first son into a public restroom and he used a urinal, he came out and proudly exclaimed to his mother, "Mommy, Mommy, Daddy showed me how to pee on the wall." This, of course, in front of a large group of people we didn't know.

Louis

...Kids, ya gotta love 'em.

tsl

Apparently, I don't get out enough.

Last weekend at the start/finish of the Highlander Cycle Tour, I stopped at the Rent-a-Restroom trailer. I was awestruck by this marvel of 21st Century defecation and urination technology. It had separate men’s and women’s ends. The men’s section had two thrones, three urinals and two sinks—with real soap and water. And one of those electric paper towel dispensers with the infrared sensor.

Standing at the urinal, I read the sign, “Hands free automatic flushing. Good God! It’s a Bluetooth urinal!”

The guy next to me just about peed on the wall laughing.

teachme

trackhub

+100

It is true of course; Progress, or the opposite of progress, may be measured in different ways.

Example: As a youngster, I remember being taken to Logan Airport, to see relatives arrive, or depart. Back then, you walked to your plane right out on the tarmac, and boarded via a staircase going up to the plane's door. Given our demographic, I'm sure many of you remember this. And... At Logan Airport, they had these outside "Jetwalks" on the roofs of the terminal buildings. You could walk outside, on the roof, in a fenced in area, and watch the planes come and go, in their thunderous, jet engined glory.
Imagine even suggesting such a thing today. Officials would stare at you as though you had suddenly grown a second head. Not progress.

If they want to call water fountains "hydration stations", that's fine by me. But, it makes one ask, "why?" Really, George Carlin would love this.

On the other hand: When my maternal unit was in the hospital last year, I was impressed with how medications were administered.

-Nurse enters room for scheduled medication.
-uses a barcode scanner to scan patient's wrist strap.
-scans medication bottle.
-Nurse scans barcode on her ID badge.
-Maternal unit swallows meds, makes scowling face at Nurse.

So, the medication, patient's name, Nurse's name, and the time the meds were administered were all recorded instantly. No handwriting involved. That is progress.

And finally... While the basic design of the bicycle has not changed for 120+ years, today we have a fantastic selection of frame materials. Engineering and manufacturing technology keeps getting better. (I will not comment here on the fact that so many bicycles are now produced in China. That is for another thread and place) That is good progress.

Oh yeah,,, Bicycle lighting, especially on headlights... Much better today than just a few years ago. Real good progress.

JanMM

Barcode medication administration can prevent errors - that's why it exists. After the patient and medication are scanned, if no order exists in the system for the medication, that will be communicated to the nurse, who will hopefully be paying attention and not give the patient the med. The system can also prevent some too-soon or wrong-route (oral, IV, subcutaneous) errors.

rydabent

This business of everyone running around with a bottle of water is a crock. Up until 10 years ago or so people didnt seem to have to haul a bottle of water around. The biggest bit of stupidity is how much it costs. Company execs with bottled water companies must be laughing all the way to the bank.

There is a huge difference between someone riding a bike at 15mph or so for several hours and the ave slug sitting in an office. I guess the office slug just wants to look like a jock or something.