the water cooler is evil

So for my entire life, I've been afraid to change the bottle one of those big water coolers, with visions of water spilling everywhere and drenching myself. I always thought there was some secret trick to getting the new bottle on without spilling water all over the place...there's not. You just turn the damn thing over as fast as you can and pray you don't spill too much.

Well, I had to change the damn thing myself today. Took the empty bottle out, lugged the new one over, and with a mighty heave I set that bad boy in place. Too easy. Went to take a drink, and...oops, forgot to take the cap off. Another mighty heave to get it free, set it down on the table and peeled the cap loose. Readied myself, quickly flipped the bottle over and into place. Barely got it fastened before water started to leak out over the side, but no harm done. I check the water line, everything looks fine. I fill up my cup and start to walk back to my desk...

And the entire cooler tips over.

Fear not, for most newfangled water bottles have a little seal that breaks on a dull spike on the water cooler, so the days of making a mess of yourself are nearly over.

Of course, try all I could, I still was unable to penetrate that seal without splashing water all over the place. Apparently, you need the combined strength of superman and the downward velocity of a concorde in freefall to successfully break that seal. This can lead to creative forms of bottle dropping, and can also lead to very messy offices.

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ximenez: I'm sure if Budweiser took over the water cooler, nobody would complain. Especially at work, and around happy hour.

Funny, when I saw this node title I thought of something completely different.

In the US, the water cooler is a symbol for the casual conversations that people have at work. television shows, movies, and ad campaigns all strive to become the topic of conversation around the water cooler.

In many ways, this "water cooler" is also evil. Each marketer is trying to come up with the newest fad, and often they're able to turn the water cooler conversation from something potentially useful to their own commercial. Budweiser's ad team is particularly successful at that--they've taken over the water cooler at least 4 times in the past decade.

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jeremyf: B-)