For the last few days a silly idea has been bugging me.

We moved into this condo a year ago in May, May 2008 to be precise. In what has become my office we have a nook where someone expected a wet-bar to be installed. There is a sink, wioth working water, and racks above for cocktail glasses. We’ve not planned to use it as a wet bar and mainly just use it as storage currently.

I was online at Amazon and I saw home soda kits available for purchase. Now I buy a lot of soft drink and thought that this might be a way to save money. (The mark-up on soft drinks is outrageous.) Well, the kits for sale certainly didn’t pan out. These counter top units make two liters at a time and that would have been plenty for me, but they use off brand syrups. In other words it would have been generic colas and not the name brands I like. The name brands are not sold in consumer sized lots, but rather in three and five gallon bags-in-boxes for used with pressurized soda fountains. I am very picky about the tastes of my soda and I certain the off-label brands would not have satisfied me.

Soda fountains…..

Here’s where the madness began.

How about installing a soda fountain in the nook where the wet-bar would be. It has water line, power, and space. There would be easy access from my office and the living room – where my friends and I game and watch movies — which is right off my office.

I went as far as to do internet searches on systems. Boy, are they expensive.  Two flavor towers brand new can run $1500. It would be a long time before that investment paid off in savings. ( about a 12 pack per week, @ 5.99 per pack means I spend per year about $312. Evne if I cut my costs in half it would take about 10 years to pay off.)

Of course used systems are much cheaper…..

It’s a silly idea, but one that holds a strange fascination for me.