Miscellany: A most expensive bottle

Humanity, if nothing else, is good at exploiting materials. Aluminum is a good example - it's light, it's corrosion resistant, and it's easy to work with. I guess that's why a lot of the things I own are made from aluminum - my flashlight, my carry gun, and now my water bottle:

Yeah, it's a Sigg bottle. You've probably seen them before; they're trendy, all-aluminum bottles with designer exteriors. Like the other SIG, they are pricey. I never thought I'd pick one up, but the massive amounts of water I was downing while studying convinced me that grabbing one of these would be a good idea.

It's worked out so far. The main selling point for these things is that they don't leech chemicals into any water held inside them. You can leave one full of water out in the sun or in a locked car and theoretically, the water should taste exactly the same. I can't really tell the difference either way, but it's nice to have a bottle that's almost impossible to break.