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The easiest and fastest way to make your own soda is to create a thick flavoring and add a small amount to already-carbonated soda water. If you want to start from scratch, skip to the next method and brew your own. Making syrup saves you the trouble of messing with yeast, and works in much the same way an old-fashioned soda jerk used to work, or a modern soda machine. In a saucepan, mix the following ingredients:  1 cup granulated sugar about 1/2 cup water 1/2 cup fresh fruit juice, or two tablespoons of flavor extract Whisk vigorously to keep the sugar moving, staying careful to avoid burning it. It should melt thoroughly and form a thick syrup. Bring the syrup to a boil. Turn down the heat and let simmer until half of mixture is left. It'll look pretty thick and sweet, which is good. It should be very sweet and concentrated, perfect for cutting in cold soda water. Let the syrup cool and store it in an easy-access container in the refrigerator. It should be good for a few weeks, or more. If you've got a sports water bottle, that would be perfect for storing. You can portion out a squirt or two of the syrup per glass of soda you want to make, and keep it nicely slotted in the fridge door. Fill a glass with soda water and add a small squirt of the soda syrup to it, mixing it thoroughly with a spoon until it becomes integrated. Give it a taste and add more if necessary, or dilute it further with more soda water. Serve chilled and enjoy. If you've got access to a carbonator, you can even bubble up your own soda water to streamline the process and make everything yourself. While a carbonator can cost a pretty penny, you'll be able to start making your own soda water for free. If you drink lots of it, it'll pay for itself in no time.

summary: Start by making a thick soda-syrup base. Bring the mixture to a boil in a heavy saucepan. Reduce the syrup by half. Store in squeeze bottle and refrigerate. Serve by mixing with ice and seltzer water.


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Bikes are made up of screws, pulleys, nuts, bolts, and cables, all of which need to function smoothly to keep you riding. Rust, dirt, and missing lubrication will cause your components to grind up against one another, increasing wear and tear and preventing you from a smooth ride. Being proactive about bike cleanings can save you a lot of time and money later on. Wiping down your bike with a damp cloth after a dirty or muddy ride now can save you a lot of time and hassle doing a "deep" clean. Dry off your bike as best you can with a towel or clean rag and check the chain. Water and mud can get into your cassette and chain and cause major problems later on, but they are easiest to remove right after the ride. Pat down the chain and wipe away any dirt in the rings and derailleurs, then add 4-5 drops of added lubrication to make up for any that washed away. Check you chain -- if it feels dry, take the time to do a full lubrication. Your chain isn't the only part of the bike that needs to stay lubed up to work well. While they don't need nearly as much lubricant to run smoothly, the following parts could use a short squirt of lube to run well.  Pivot points on your breaks, usually the part that holds the two sides together (caliper breaks only). Use your fingers or a small rag to coat the cables in a thin layer of lube. The shifters, if exposed. Make sure you only use bike lubricant. There are very few areas that get as dirty as a drivetrain, but this is probably the single most important area to keep clean. If you ride your bike daily a weekly or bi-weekly cleaning for your chain, cassette, and derailleurs is likely necessary. You will likely need to clean your drivetrain more often than the rest of the bike. At the very least you should check, clean, and potentially lube the chain every 1-2 weeks. You should wipe down and clean your bike monthly, at a minimum. A good benchmark is to go through a cleaning after every 20-25 rides or so. You can then perform a deep clean and re-lubricate everything 1-2 a year. That said, there are sometimes you should always clean off your bike--  After a very wet and muddy ride. When you hear squeaking or rubbing. Whenever you see dirt, grease, or grime in the joints, brakes, gears, or chain.

summary: Know that regular bike cleanings will increase the life of your bike. Perform a "quick clean" after any wet or rainy rides. Add 1-2 drops of bike lubricant to important components 2-3 times a year or after a deep cleaning. Keep a close eye on your drivetrain. Clean your bike regularly to protect it from rust and damage.


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For example, stopping and starting the car a lot uses much more gas than driving at a constant pace. This is why highway consumption is always less than city consumption.  Cruise control can help you get better fuel consumption. Fuel consumption gets worse the faster you drive. Since AC uses gasoline, using it will diminish your fuel consumption. To get a more accurate picture of your car's fuel consumption, you need to have more data. By driving for longer and averaging your fuel consumption you eliminate "glitches" in your data. Say, for example, that you calculated your fuel consumption one day as you drove up into the mountains. Because climbing uphill takes more fuel, your fuel consumption would look much lower than it normally is. Set your odometer to zero and don't reset it after you get a tank of gas. If you don't have an odometer, record how many miles are on your car with a full tank of gas. To get a more accurate measure of fuel consumption, you need to know how much gas you are using. Each time you fill up, write down the number of gallons you purchase and save it. Do not reset your trip odometer as you drive. Make sure your fill up your car 3-4 times for an accurate reading. Try to do this during a month of average driving, as big trips or unexpected traffic will change your fuel consumption. You do not need to fill your car all the way up each time. As long as you record the number of gallons you put in you can calculate fuel consumption. When you are ready to calculate your fuel consumption, top your car off and record the number of gallons you put in. This represents the total gas used over this period of time. If I bought three tanks of gas, 12 gallons, 3 gallons, and 10 gallons, then my total gas usage would be 25 gallons. Use your trip odometer to see how many miles you traveled total, then divide this by gallons to get your average fuel consumption. While this is the exact number of miles per gallon during your test period, it is a good estimate for your car's average fuel consumption. For example, if you used 25 gallons of gas, and drove 500 miles during that time, then your average fuel consumption would be 20 miles per gallon (500 miles / 25 gallons = 20 mpg). By law, car makers must post the average fuel consumption for cars. However, these are only estimates, and they are frequently on the high end. You can look up your car's fuel consumption online through this US Department of Energy website, but to find your car's actual miles per gallon you'll have to calculate it yourself. If your calculation is drastically different from the suggest average, you may need to bring your car to a mechanic.
summary: Remember that fuel consumption changes based on your driving. Record multiple tanks of gas in a row to find your average fuel consumption. Set your trip odometer to zero with a full tank of gas. Record how many gallons of gas you purchase each time you fill up. Drive for normally for several weeks. Fill up your tank fully after 2-3 weeks. Add up the number of gallons you bought. Divide total miles by total gallons. Know that your car's advertised mileage is often overestimated.