What is something really stupid you purchased that turned out far better than expected?
I bought a piece of 1.5 inch stiff foam to try to fix a sag in a bed. It didn't work but having that thick piece of solid foam around has been a life saver.
Need something flat to put a laptop on? Throw it on the foam. Going to be doing something that requires you to be on your knees for a while? Get the foam!
It went from stupid purchase to something I'd gladly replace if it broke.
Got a bidet as a joke gift for Christmas a few years ago, it has been an absolute game changer. Hate pooping anywhere but home now, I actually feel clean, and use much less toilet paper.
Bidet crew represent
There are dozens of us!
A significant portion of the world uses water to clean after doing their business! It's just us westerners that are odd about it.
I'm curious what the history behind it is, because I never feel clean if I only wipe. Like if you handled faeces with your hands (for whatever reason) would you be OK with just wiping it off with a paper towel? I sure wouldn't!
If it wasnt for China, Westerners would also still scratch their asses with shells and stones.
So middle east gave them bidet and China gave them paper. They are so lucky
Hahaha, I had no clue about the shells. You piqued my interest, so I went down the toilet paper history rabbit hole.
I knew that the Romans used communal sponges, I didn't know they were called tersorium though. Shockingly they spread disease.
Apparently here in the north, the vikings used animal bones, rags, and oyster shells! I'm not surprised we didn't use paper though, since we didn't really get paper until the Christians came and brought paper with them, and even then it was only for the educated Christian elite for hundreds of years, up until around the 1200-1300 or so, a good 700 years after people in China wiped their butts with paper!
Toilet paper started being produced here in Sweden in 1882, and the first factory stayed producing until sometime in the early 2000s.
That last bit sounds really gross by modern standards, but given that skirts came in layers, and were really long, they were already covered with the muck of the outside ground so in the grand scheme of things I don't think it made a very big difference.
My bidet butt could never handle scraping with oysters or splinterful toilet paper; I'd just scrape my anus off. I can barely use regular toilet paper as it is. People of old were built different hahahaha.
He doesn't know how to use the three seashells!
This joke was old on Reddit and it doesn’t work when there are billions of you
baby wipes are the next best thing when you need to go on the go!
Just don't flush them please. Even the "flushable" kind clog pipes.
When I worked at a small startup, we were moving to a new office and I was asked to help with the buildout. I engaged with the flooring vendor, and he came by one day to drop off a carpet sample. He put it on my desk where my mouse was. It was a rectangle sample of tight knit office carpet, about 18”x22”. When I got back to my desk, I just put my mouse on top of it and started using it as a mouse pad. That was 15 years and 3 companies ago, and I still use it as my mousepad. It’s perfect for the mouse to glide on, soft enough for my wrist to rest on, absorbent of sweat or drink condensation, and large enough I never hit the edge. I will never not use it. It is my mouse carpet, and I love it.
So you're saying you decline to take this business opportunity which could have made you rich for 15 years just to feel superior to us gaming-spaceage-mousepad plebs with your exclusive desk carpet? How dare you.
How does it feel being superior to all the lame mousepad users?
Good. Really good.
I work in automotive interiors tooling. We had a customer bring by a sample of this headliner material. But they brought an entire roll of it, four feet wide, no idea how long. Probably 75 feet. I cut a couple feet off of it, now my whole desk is a mousepad.
Better than car carpet mousepad - imagine vacuuming your desk for 15 minutes and still have sand particles jumping around under the vacuum head like fleas.
An oversized poncho cape from the local Goodwill. It was woven in different shades of blue and while I'd never wear it outside, I've used it as a wearable blanket at home for a few years now.
I found out it was actually hand made, and costs 300+ USD from the original shop. Bonus points, I feel like a wizard when I wear it
How do you know you're not a wizard when you wear it? Have you tried magic?
I bet its fantastic orb pondering wear.
That sounds like a game changer.
Here's an odd one my wife and I were just talking about. Some years ago, we were redoing our kitchen and the contractor told us to go buy the kitchen faucet we wanted. We went off, looked at several, and picked the one we thought looked the best with what we were doing.
When the contractor went to install it, he opened the box and a battery pack fell out. I couldn't for the life of me figure out why a faucet would need batteries. It turned out that you can turn it on and off by touching it anywhere (handle, faucet itself, whatever), you just leave the physical handle open and set where you want it, then you can touch on and off. I thought it was the dumbest thing ever and we'd never use it.
Flash Forward to now and it's one of the most used conveniences we've ever bought. All those times your hands are covered in raw meat or other cooking mess? Just touch the faucet with your elbow. Rinsing a bunch of veggies one at a time? Tap on, tap off. It works flawlessly, unlike those touchless ones at the airport: no delay and works every time. We will never have a kitchen sink without it - my wife wants them for the bathroom.
Does it have a timer safety thing? I know my cat would turn the faucet on and let it flood the house lol.
It does! It runs for minutes without retapping, but not like ten minutes. Never really timed it, and only noticed when I was filling the sink up (it's a big sink).
I have a Delta branded one. Yea it goes off after a few minutes.
the wet bandits strike again!
I bought a house with these and didn't realize it had this feature for like a year (batteries had died). Now I love it. I find myself taping every faucet it use and am annoyed when others don't turn on.
I actually bought a handfree soap dispenser to go next to it, which is a great combo. Preparing meat or something, I can clean my hands and tap sink with elbow and not worry about cross contamination of everything.
My wife and I always laugh when we catch ourselves tapping other faucets. The soap dispenser sounds like a good idea.
This sounds like something I'd like to get for the shower, but with multiple memory settings, that's a much different product.... Unless I ducted two shower knobs.... Oh fuck I feel a project coming on...
We're about to redo our bathrooms and have started looking at things. One thing we saw that sounded cool are these new thermostatic shower controls: you set them to a temperature and it mixes the water to keep it at that temperature regardless of fluctuations in the hot and cold input. Huh, sounds neat. So we looked at one - over $3000 for just the valve. It doesn't sound that neat.
I needed a "lap desk" or something to put my laptop on, but I wanted it to be low-profile and I could only find a wooden cutting board. Now wooden cutting boards are the only thing I use as lap desks because most actual lap desks I find are super bulky.
I read that as “fap desk” was intrigued then disappointed.
For fap desk you really want silicone
Just cut a hole in the cutting board
Duuuude. That's a creative idea I might also use if I need a lap desk again. And something easy for if you need to put a laptop on a soft surface, won't be wobbly like the bean bag ones.
I also ended up doing this after my dad suggested it as an idea... and it's actually a really great suggestion, they work fantastically well for this purpose!
Yeah it's exactly what I was looking for! The one I'm currently using was actually the only cutting board that was big enough in the store that I was in, so it has goofy cookings decals all over it 😂
It's a charcuterie board, not a cutting board, its for parties, the illustrations are telling you what kinds of snacks to put out. What a cool idea for a lap desk, it's so pretty and unique.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charcuterie_board
The "epicurian" brand is perfect for this, or their knockoffs. Its like 1/4" thick (6mm) composite wood. I have one that even fits in my laptop bag - way better than any designated "lap board" I've ever found.
A 3D-Printer, I thought I just play around with it and get bored, but you discover so many things that you can do!
The handle on the fridge broke? Print new ones. Need a Flowerpot? Just print one. The router needs a wallmount? I have one ready in a few Hours.
Also I can watch it print for hours, very fascinating and calming.
ventilate my dude. read up on breathing around your 3D printer while its printing. no bueno
Micro plastics making me feel spastic!
E: if you know the song I will give you a Lemon
Wait until you start printing more printers
I got one to print parts for my drones thinking it would be no big deal and it turned in to a hobby in itself.
I remember literally watching it for an hour when it was new, it was fascinating.
An ebike: I don't even really drive anymore most of the time and it beats the hell out of being stuck in traffic. Getting around is fun again.
I always enjoyed cycling and still ride my MTB, but for getting around town quickly, ebikes are hard to beat.
Same here with the ebike. I live near Seattle and everything I need is within a few minutes of ebike driving
If I can't ebike, then I uber and it saves me a ton
Feel free to check out !micromobility@lemmy.world
Thank you for the recommendation!
It's great that Lemmy is already growing with niche communities
can we get some more deets on what you use it for in terms of terrain/altitude/distance/weather?
Seriously considering an ebike to replace a 20 minute car commute (12 miles). There are some 750w used bikes on my local craigslist for ~1-2k USD, but there's also a super cool dual-motor bike with rear suspension for $3k. Any advice?
I have an ebike I use as my daily commuter for a distance of 11 km each way (6.8 miles) over decently hilly terrain in a windy city as a large man. It still only takes 25 minutes and I charge my battery once a week? Maybe twice if I'm tired and using more boost.
Are you mechanically inclined at all? I purchased a motor conversion kit and a battery to convert my regular bike to ebike. It wasn't really a difficult process, the hardest part was removing the bottom bracket as it was quite stuck. Took some thinking to get enough leverage without having the tool head chew out the bracket teeth. The rest was relatively plug and play. I was able to get the 500 W motor and 48 V 18 A hour battery for ~$1200 CAD together. I use it to commute to work so I wanted a longer range, if you don't need as much power or as much range you could do it for cheaper.
I went for a mid drive motor which are more efficient but more expensive than hub drive, if you're budget conscious you could do a hub drive. From my understanding the hub drive can be more difficult for maintenance (the wheel is a special version, so you need to buy another wheel that works with the hub drive if any issues occur) but I'm no expert.
All of that is a moot point if you don't already have a bike to use, but you could find a local bike recycle store to get one cheap? Or you could get a new bike and convert that. I had a marin fairfax 2 that I converted over and it works great, haven't had any issues and I've put on a couple thousand kms on it since converting (the display tracks total distance which is handy). I believe the marin was $700ish new from my local store.
https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B083J95GJP?geniuslink=true&psc=1
https://www.amazon.ca/10AH-Electric-Bicycle-Lithinum-Battery/dp/B09C1RP9KV
You could search for other options if you don't want to support amazon, there are different sites to source the parts from, those were just the first two that I saw.
https://ebikes.ca/shop/electric-bicycle-parts/batteries.html?___store=canadian&___from_store=international
Here's a battery from a Canadian company.
https://lunacycle.com/no-drill-battery-mount-kit/
Here's a mounting bracket for the battery if the bracket seems unsteady or the holes don't line up like with mine.
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005005664281095.html?pdp_npi=3%40dis%21CAD%21C%24+818.29%21C%24+572.80%21%21%21%21%21%402103205316878009193475419ef97f%2112000033941099570%21sh%21CA%213139937923
This is what I ended up going with. Let me know if you have any questions, I'd be happy to chat about the process more.
All of this is canadian specific because I reposted the meat of it from an older comment, bug I'm sure you could find local alternatives easily enough.
You don't need much, 500w is enough.
Bug zapper flyswatter. Like you can buy at Harbor Freight for a few bucks. It might not be a terribly effective solution to the overall fly population, but in terms of grim-bloody-vengeance-per-dollar, it's one of the best investments I've ever made.
Similarly - i love my bug a salt
I use it almost daily. Glad I bought 2, we stay strapped out here.
I bought like 10 of these at Habitat for Humanity and gave them out during a fly outbreak. Some of the neighbors looked at me weird (granted it was the first time I met them) but I'll swear by these things. I hate killing bugs but sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do.
My wife bought me a Beard Bib as a joke gift after I found it online one day. It's basically a smaller version of the bibs you wear when getting your hair cut, but with suction cups attached to the bathroom mirror to hold it horizontal and catch stray hairs when using an electric shaver. It looks ridiculous.
I now use it every time I trim my beard, even if my wife still laughs at me every time she sees me in it. Cleaning up all the stray hairs was always a pain in the ass, but this thing does a surprisingly good job at catching 99% of the hair, and I can just brush it all into the trash when I'm done.
My bathroom has the worst-designed sink ever, with a tap that's too long, a sink basin that's too thin, and a medicine cabinet that means that if I want my beard hairs to fall into the sink while trimming I have to literally have my face pressed up against the mirror which is, of course, not something you can do while trimming a beard. I got one of these things too and it's so good. 10/10, would buy again.
Cmon man, provide a link!
Here's a link to it on Amazon
that product photo is fucking hilarious
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B09FJZ9F5L/ref=ox_sc_act_image_1?smid=A2CKC83T0MGN2W&psc=1 and a slightly cheaper version
Alternatively, get a mirror that hangs on the back of the door and shave in front of that (if using a buzzer that you don't need to keep rinsing in the sink). It's so much easier to just grab the broom or vacuum cleaner and get it all off the floor in two seconds than chasing stray bits of hair around your faucet handles and random objects on your counter.
Also, if you do have to clean up those bits of hair on your counter, use a piece of TP. Wet it a little so that hair sticks to it better, then either fold each wipe into the middle or start a new piece before doing the next wipe so it doesn't just leave old hairs behind when you're trying to pick up more of them.
Similarly, a nice fog free shower mirror for me. My wife would get so mad about stray hairs (it's easy to miss some when it goes everywhere) Got a waterproof trimmer and started doing it in the shower - cleanup is super easy now!
My wife got me a fitbit. I resisted a little bit because I didn't want to have yet another device to monitor, charge, and maintain etc. I've been really surprised and impressed and how effective it has been in subtly encouraging me to make some small improvements in my habits. Not a bad deal for $100.
This one really shocked me, too! I got a Fitbit to monitor my heart rate because of a genetic condition, but fast forward a couple years and I'm running a mile and exercising multiple times a week.
Didn't see that coming, but a nice result!
Tbh, I hate the Fitbit though. I hate that it's owned by Google and they charge me to see my own data. I'd love to switch, but I can't find alternatives that check all the boxes from a Charge 5....
Edit: if you're looking to get a Fitbit and wanna save some money, thrift stores often have electronic sections full of em! My bf got his charge 5 for 50$ from a goodwill. Same one 100$ more in the target across the street.
Albeit a bit more pricey I love the Garmin Forerunner Smartwatches. There is a very wide variety at many different price points, no subscription and access to all data, integrates well with other services. Not sure about the OLED versions but I love the non OLED ones. Touch display, color (although not as vibrant), smartphone connectivity (e.g. notifications) and even payment (credit card on the watch, no phone needed).... with all that the battery still lasts about 2 weeks.
Sorry for shilling. There was a time when I hated Garmin. But their watches have come a long way.
I wrote a huge reply about Garmin watches and felt like a shill, too, but it got lost. I will just add on to your reply to say Garmin watches rock. They cost more upfront but it feels like I'm wearing a scientific instrument vs a watch, for all the info it gives. Battery life is amazing, as you said.
Pro tip from a fellow rambler: before submitting a lengthy, in-depth, top-tier comment. Highlight some text. Hit 'Select All'. Copy. That way your shit isn't lost & your time isn't wasted. 🙂
The internet wants your honest, detailed opinions. That's how we all learn! 😌
I used to think Garmin watches were way overpriced but then I got involved in wearable fitness monitor validation studies as part of my graduate degree lab and they were by and far the most reliable and accurate for everything we tested. I went from a Fitbit Versa to a Garmin Instinct and loved it so much that after it broke, I got their Fenix 7X. It's literally everything you could ever want In a fitness tracking watch with smart features. A full charge lasts me nearly 20 days due to the solar charging.
I went from a Pebble Time to a Garmin Forerunner. Amazing battery life (2 weeks vs 5 days). But the software on the now defunct Pebble was massively superior. Sleep tracking on the Garmin sucks despite it having many more sensors. The Pebble pretty much always recognized short naps, and was pretty accurate with sleep/wake times.
The Garmin's UI is also dogcrap. For example, if you get a text, it first pops up with the name of who's texting you. You have to wait two seconds before the actual text shows up. If someone texts you again, the name pops up. You kinda have to wait for the other person to stop sending texts to be able to read anything.
I wish we could have Pebble's software in the body of a Forerunner. Sadly Fitbit bought Pebble and subsequently threw it in the trash.
That's the issue that so far has kept me from buying a smart watch/fitness monitor.
I've had my eye on a PineTime for a while now, but I'm not sure if it's ready for general consumer use or still an early-adopter kind of product. (Although I'm an engineer, I don't necessarily want to buy a project in this particular instance.)
Charged to see your Fitbit data? What does that mean? I have no problem going back years across various devices.
They hide their in depth graphs and readings from you unless you pay for premium. You can get basic data going back years, but if you want to know how long it took you to enter REM sleep for example, your only option is trying to guess using their vague graph charts, or pay premium for the in depth graphs.
Mechanical keyboard. Almost had no money back then, but wanted to treat myself. It costed 100$, and I regretted it the next morning. Felt like shit, but it was so cool to type on.
After 5 years, this metal-frame keyboard managed to survive many outside gigs, long travels, literal war, and it's still with me. And I still love typing on it. Sometimes I code just to type. You can guess why I don't use code completion tools.
I love my mechanical keyboard. I grew up on Apple IIs, so mechanical keyboards are what I learned to type on. If keyboards don't have a big chunky feel and sound, I'm disappointed.
Bed sheet suspenders. Dumb problem, stupidly cheap, horribly made, and ABSOLUTELY fixed the friggin sheets being yanked off the corner of the bed twice a night by my tumble-dry-medium sleeper of a spouse.
When they finally broke after almost 2 years I sewed some that'll last 10 years and I don't regret them at all.
ROFL! Hahaha.. I am gonna call my gf that from now on..
Scooter. Not an electric one. I had a thought once "hey I did ride one in childhood, maybe it can be a bit of nostalgic fun from time to time". Got myself the cheapest Chinese thing I could find, "no point investing too much into a fad".
Turned out a scooter is absolute peak urban mobility. Short distances become much shorter. Mid-long distances become short. Granted, for a longer trip somehow the time gains diminish, probably because it's not as efficient as a bike. But a scooter isn't a long-hauler. It's there to zip through an empty mall. It's there to be folded up in a second and brought into a bus or a shop without being a hassle. It's like 3-4 kg, not too fast for sidewalks but fast enough for bike roads, extremely easy to stop, doubles as a cart when carrying bags of groceries home.
The chinese one broke after 1 season because I was riding it everywhere. Then I got myself one from a better company, I chose it for small weight and portability. It's technically children's thing but I'm well below weight tolerance and also smol so it's easy to handle. It's already like a 5th year and whenever it's not raining or too cold I ride it for shopping, errands, leisure walks, to work... Almost daily.
The wheel turns out to be a pretty good invention for multiplying by pi. For example, bicycling is about pi times faster than walking, with the same amount of effort.
Custom-made ear plugs. Even if you only wear ear plugs occasionally (I do when in a noisy hotel, or when a neighbor goes a bit too crazy), they are so worth having.
Basically you go to an audiologist and they put something kinda liquid in each of your ears to take a mold of your ear canals. A couple of weeks later, you have plastic earplugs that have the exact shape of your inner ears.
Upsides: • They work, always. I would typically use wax or silicon disposable ear plugs before that, and sometimes in the middle of the night they might move and let the sound in; those don’t. Also, foam disposable ear plugs don’t stay in my ear, don’t ask me why. • They never hurt. Since disposable ear plugs get shoved into your inner ear until they take the shape, they continuously push against the walls of your ear canals. I would often feel kinda bruised after using them for a long time. • They are crazy comfortable. Put your ear on a pillow, and you barely feel them at all. • But do they block too much sound? That’s up to you. Basically, you choose the level of noise you want to keep out, which I believe is achieved by using different kinds of plastic.
They’re not a trivial purchase (I think mine cost $150), but then you use them for decades, so it’s definitely worth it. It was a stupid purchase in my case, because I bought them on a whim out of anger against my neighbor’s party one night; but they’ve followed me everywhere since!
As for them staying in your ear, do you pull up on your earlobe when inserting normal ear plugs? I discovered this a while ago and it took in-ear stuff from being absolutely unusable to working great.
I did! I noticed it written on a box of disposable earplugs at some point, so I abided. It made things marginally better in my case, but not by much. Either I was doing it wrong, or it’s that ear canal shapes are different enough that different people have to have different solution (why on Earth can some people use foam earplugs all right, and yet they just spring out of my ears?? 😆)
I have small ear canals and can't use most ear plugs and ear buds because they just push out of my ears, and if they do manage to stay I can feel it constantly pushing outwards on my ear and it starts to hurt pretty quickly. No one else in my house has this problem. I would absolutely say ear canals are different enough that there cannot be a catch-all solution so they just have to go with average range. I'm sure if I got custom plugs it would be different, but anything off the shelf is not going to work for my baby ears.
Don't know if I'm losing my mind but I thought the inner ear was beyond the eardrum
Oh you’re probably right; I’m no specialist and I’m referring to the ear canals as “inner ear” in my post and could very well be wrong in doing so.
This post has me very intrigued
You can buy a DIY kit for ~$20. Mine work great, though I’ve never gotten professional ones so I can’t compare.
Radian on Amazon, they work like two-part epoxy. You can also make custom fit earbud covers to have noise cancelling earbuds that are super comfortable. If you get the Radian kit, put a water bottle cap sized spacer between your teeth while they cure. They will seal better.
https://www.radians.com/products/composite-radians-custom-molded-earplugs-and-accessories?hsLang=en#features
I use IEM's constantly and usually use a silicone tip, but honestly it's time to get molded. You just have to be disciplined enough not to lose them.
I have a set of these designed for musicians, theres an open channel through them, and you put a special "button" at te outward end, that lowers volume without affecting sound quality. I think the company is called "Etymotic Research"
As a guy that had his inner ear literally scooped out, I can confirm custom ear plugs are a MUST HAVE for anyone. I use mine for swimming and places with a shit ton of dust cuz I can't get water or other stuff in my ears or it makes them really hard for the doc to clean. They also just look really cool and I managed to get a few of my friends to get some as well.
i'm currently waiting for a pair of custom molded titanium earplugs with interchangable filters. epoxy ones costs 180, Ti 200 € in central europe.
I just got a pair in Canada they were 300 bucks. My ears are so small nothing else fits. 10 out of 10 would buy again.
I got a really girly looking beanie (I'm a guy) at a white elephant gift exchange and it became my favorite beanie. It got stolen and I'm sad that I can't find it again.
I bet it looked amazing on you! I hope you'll find a worthy replacement.
Had a totally custom beanie made at Etsy. See if you can find something similar. They can usually customize it to get a close match to the old one.
Monitor mounting arms that connect to the back of the desk. I have 3 times as much room on my desk now. It's amazing how much room monitor stands really take up. It's not just the actual stand but really the surrounding area because you can't really set any large objects in the vicinity. It really is a game changer to gain a lot of desk space.
Yeah I got this thinking it wouldn't work or there is a catch. Nope, the monitor arms are awesome and save so much space, easy to adjust, and also look nicer than two stands on the desk.
Small adhesive rubber bumpers or “feet” that came in a variety of sizes to put on the bottom of things. Was under $5 but has brought me some joy going around my home putting feet on anything that isn’t level or could scratch or makes noise. Something oddly satisfying about it.
Similarly, the felt version of this. Nice for if you need to move something, ie furniture (we have wood floors).
I did this too, everything had feet by the time I finished. Everything.
Also great for any doors (cupboard or otherwise) that can bang the wall when opening. Especially the ones where the hinge makes it open with some force. Just find the place where it makes contact with the wall (often the handle, but it depends on your setup) and put the bumper on the wall in that spot.
I got the glasses with 90 degree prisms in them so you can read while laying down. The person on the product page looked like an idiot and thought it would be funny, but I'm on my 3rd pair now
Does it work well with laptops too?
Maybe not stupid, but I purchased a pair of bone conducting headphones just because I thought they would be better for running, and harder for me to lose. I wasn't expecting much, but damn, they have been so much better than I expected. Even though the sound quality isn't quite as good, they work so much better with my sensory processing issues, and I can just leave them on all day without concern. Because I've got curly hair, people don't even know I'm wearing them, and because they don't go in my ear canal, they don't impact my ability to hear/talk/interact with the world around me.
I love my bone conducting headphones. You don't have to take them off to hear anything else. I can hear traffic and feel safer when crossing the street when out for a run
I pretty much live in mine now, even when I'm not running or cycling. I just have low level music playing all day, and I can still interact with the world. And for whatever reason, it's easy to process the music and people talking to me without my brain getting overloaded like it does when I try and do that with regular headphones (even those with sound passthrough)
Uhhh I have sensory issues but am uncomfortable while wearing headphones. What's this? Do what now? What kind of headphones? I NEED ALL THE INFORMATION WITHOUT OPENING A SECOND APP THAT IS FULL OF ADS AND NO USEFUL INFORMATION!
To be clear, these don't reduce my sensory issues. It's more accurate to say that they enable me to wear headphones with background music etc, without adding to my sensory issues
Man i had the opposite experience. Bought some great ones for running and lab work but when i set them at a volume i could hear they were basically just normal headphones and everyone else could hear them too.
Im a skinny dude with no hearing issues, wish they worked better for me.
Bought mine for work. Need a second pair for around the house. I LOVE them.
I'm looking at getting some at the moment. Do you mind sharing which ones you have? Prices where I'm at seem to be all over the shop.
Shokz "OpenRun Pro"
I did zero research on them, so I have no idea how they compare to other options out there. I bought them after losing my 3rd set of in ear buds...
A Raspberry Pi. I bought it out of a whim and now I use it as a portable desktop computer, I can use Alpine Linux with my files and my setup on virtually any system that doesn't whitelist MAC addresses.
Especially handy when your university has contracts with Microsoft so you aren't supposed to use competitive software, I feel like I'm breaking the law.
A bidet off of Amazon, cheap and easy to install. I wasn't sure that I would like it but I like to only go at home now. Wife loves it.
Same. I came here to say bidet. Now at work I hate to have to use the paper.
A burr grinder for coffee beans. I thought coffee snobs were full of shit. I was wrong.
Which one did you get? I'm looking for a good one that won't break the bank.
Not op but I have the baratza encore. Not exactly cheap but could be affordable if you save up. They're 150 new on Amazon and go for around 80-100 on ebay here in USA. It's really good too, especially if you stick with coffee only being a casual hobby or even just want your morning coffee to be good and don't wanna futz with anything else.
Also an FYI, if you ever do get around to doing espresso, you'll see a ton of PPL saying you can't use it for espresso. They are honestly just more enthusiastic about coffee than I am, because I used an online deep cleaning video from Baratza to change the gap between the burrs and it does espresso just fine to my tastes. Like it does well enough that I can't justify the expense of a better one yet and I've had it like 3 years already.
Obv there are better ones, and there are cheaper ones, but th Encore will just last you a long time in your coffee journey, and potentially forever if you only ever want it to do non-espresso grind sizes
The Barazza Encore is a good entry level burr grinder, it's what I started with. They'll run you about $125-$150 and won't do espresso, but they're great for any type of coffee brewing method that doesn't require fine grounds.
Lol I have one but don't notice the difference. I mostly bought it because my husband tends to overdo things (like more coffee in the grinder, grinding longer). So I got it so he'd only have to press one button and we'd get consistent coffee. What difference do you find with it?
A while ago someone posted a picture on Reddit of an old cast iron rotary food grater/slicer and asked "what is this thing?". A bunch of people said it was for grating things like cheese or slicing vegetables. Some people posted the original French or Italian names of it, which was difficult to find. Someone said look up "Rotary grater" and they're all over Amazon for dirt cheap. I bought a cheap plastic one for like $20, figuring I'd use it a few times and forget about it.
I use the damn thing multiple times a week for grating blocks of cheese. It can grate a 1 pound block of cheese in like 30 seconds, 2-3 rotations usually gives me more than enough cheese for myself. It's so much easier to use than a box grater, and no possibility of destroying your finger tips or knuckles!
Seconded! I had one gifted to me ages ago. Finally took it out of my car and into the kitchen. Love slicing up potatoes to make hash browns with it.
An air fryer. It was a bit of an impulse buy and I didn’t think I would use it very much but as it turns out it’s much more versatile than I initially thought. I’m actually considering getting rid of my regular oven since I’ve rarely used it since I got my airfryer.
I bought my parents one for Christmas and my mom grumbled that it was a waste. They ended up using it most nights. Their oven broke and they didn't even bother fixing it for 6 months or so
My wife was sweet about it but did a slight eye-roll when my Brother In-law got us an air fryer 3 years ago for Christmas. We've gotten rid of our toaster and use our oven less often.
PS - Air fried leftovers are so freaking good.
I was so against the air fryer. But I was wrong.
An Aeropress Go.
I'm far from a coffee snob, but figured I'd give this $25 piece of plastic a try because a good friend was raving about it. In the year since, it's been my favorite way to make myself a cup of coffee-- the ritual of it helps me structure my Saturday morning, the coffee tastes better than I thought coffee could taste, and I'm more excited to look at the flavors and whatnot from locally ground coffee.
Cheapest and easiest way to get into espresso-adjacent drinks. Is it going to give you that espresso experience? No, but for literally 1% of the cost of an actually decent espresso machine, you can up your coffe game extraordinarily.
Get an Aeropress, a good grinder with fresh beans, and a digital temperature kettle, and you'll be shocked at how good coffee can taste.
My parents got me one to use on motorcycle camping trips a few years ago, and it's so handy. I'm thinking about one of the larger ones to keep at home.
I always have the opposite problem, I buy something I think is really smart and then never use it
This is the normal pattern. But sometimes we get lucky.
Pizza bag. A really good one
Didn't think it would be a big deal but it's a game changer for takeout pizza. Hell, it's usually warmer than deliveries since I don't make any other stops
Massive difference even for a place 8 minutes away, and gets me warm great pizza for the places 20 or so away
Nice! Do you have a link or model?
Sure
First off, there's plenty, but AVOID this type at all costs
https://www.amazon.com/Insulated-Deliveries-Delivery-Personal-Professional/dp/B09H14HJJX/
It's thin and sucks. Look at the sides, and the flap. Thin thin. It's the type of bag DoorDash has and there's a reason pizza shops have way better ones. I have one like it (out of my 2 bags). It's not worth it considering you'll probably have it for years. Don't save $10 just to be disappointed
Something like this, you can see the difference. Much thicker
https://www.amazon.com/DEAYOU-Insulated-Delivery-Professional-Transport/dp/B09FLFL5BT/
I believe this is the one I have, which is like the thicker second link, but it doesn't seem to be available as a single bag purchase
https://incrediblebags.com/products/fabric-12-and-14?variant=31670265577541
Thanks very much for the detailed write up, I really appreciate it!
A cheap usb microscope. I wanted to get into macro photography but my eyesight is pretty terrible even with glasses and struggle to see fine details so struggled to set the mounts up. (Small insects, grains, etc)
Saw a usb microscope for 20€ on Amazon and thought for 20 euro it’s going to be terrible but worth a punt. It’s bloody brilliant. Have used it for a whole variety of things from threading needles to soldering work, repairing stuff with glue and tightening up glasses as well as the macro stuff. Coupled with some ‘helping hands’ it’s a permanent fixture on the pc desk.
Hey you just reminded me I have one of those! Mines basically a tiny webcam on a stick, works great! ... Now where did I put that thing?
A set of small neodymium magnets. Didn't have a plan, only they looked "super cool and strong wow".
Used for:
Yeah, not really grokking this one.
How many times have you nearly pinched yourself with them using them this way? lol
Fortunately, I have very small ones. I bought bigger ones later, but knowing myself I keep them out of play range.
VPN. I bought it during the pandemic not for privacy or government spy conspiracy shit, but because it was on "sale" (something like $40 for 38 months or something) and I wanted to try out if skirting geoblock was worth it. It's now probably one of the most-used tech we have in the house. Great for running Max obviously but also for work.
Considering I got 3 years worth at about $1.50 a month, I get more than enough content every month to make the cost worthwhile. I don't use it much for privacy but I use it a lot to access movies and such.
I got a VPN and I find every app I try to use it with doesn't recognize the alternate country I set it to, or detects I'm using one. I thought I'd get a lot more use out of it than I do.
Am I VPN-ing wrong?
Depending on what you want to use it for, you may be able to set it to another location in your country. I'm in the UK, and setting mine to London or Edinburgh gets around a lot of location blocks for some reason.
A reusable floss tool. I was trying to cut down on waste by ditching those single-use floss picks. It's just a forked piece of plastic that you thread with standard floss. I bought it 5 years ago and it's still going strong!
A cheap little green alien soft dog toy. My dog has destroyed every soft toy we've ever given her except that one. The head ripped a little at the seam, but we just re-sewed it. She hasn't made a big hole to pull out the stuffing somehow. And she loves it.
I wanted to get a backup, but the company doesn't make that toy anymore. I got an alternative from them and it got torn apart within a few days. I guess it was too good of a dog toy.
The best dog toys seem to be the children's plushies att IKEA. They are built to be abused.
Quite ironic, considering IKEA popularized cheap disposable furniture.
I'm guessing it's because requirements about children's toys are pretty strict here in Sweden.
I have a similar thing going on with a Barbapapa soft toy. Though we didn't buy it, my dog found it when out on a walk. Initially I put it on an electric cabinet in case someone came back for it, but a week later he found it again under a bench and I figured we gave it a shot so we brought it home.
Thing is shockingly resilient. It has a few perforations, which I fixed, but all the dog toys we've had break one way or another and are almost impossible to mend. Even ones specifically advertised as sturdy. This one just keeps going. It doesn't have a squeaker either!
An impulse buy of a $20 micro wireless Bluetooth keyboard. Holy shit. Rock-solid design, ludicrously long battery life, excellent signal transmission, a replaceable battery with the option to use AAAs, a usable trackpad with sensitivity settings. I cannot stress enough how impressed I am with this device as an electrical engineer.
Now I can actually get real work/play done when I'm too depressed to get out of bed. It's also really useful for working with a Raspberry Pi. That plus a cheap LCD means I can just use it like an ordinary desktop.
If anyone is interested in this product, ask for a link and I'll post it in the comments.
Its been 22 mins.
Sad to bring you guys the bad news it but it was confirmed that OP was electrified while changing the AAA batteries in his keyboard. Apparently it also has a feature to scale up the voltages of the battery and OP accidentally pressed it.
RIP in piece OP
Am dead. This is son. The will told me to post this link. RIP in spaghetti, never forghetti.
That or he spilled Mtn Dew on his keyboard
Post the link! This isn't Twitter where you get penalized for posting links.
Here's the link. I didn't know you get penalized for links on Twitter. I'm just really hesitant to advertise stuff. I absolutely hate advertising and I didn't want to fill up your feed with random products if no one was interested in the thing. I wanted to wait until there's actual interest.
Had the same reaction to buying a cheap trackpad/keyboard all in one - ended up buying a few more so I could have one in each room... Good for main pc, laptops, phones and tablets, Flawless signal, insane battery, such good tech
I found having a big glass of water next to my alarm, which I can chug as soon as I wake up does wonders for getting out of bed and fighting off the AM blues - hope you're good
Please post the link!
For people asking for the link, I personally have iClever BK03. Bought it so I can use my phone on the go and don't have to drag a laptop. It's been great. Charged it once so far in past year or so and that was just to make sure. Awesome build quality and great to type on.
Tbh that's probably a better keyboard, but I really was not kidding about the "not getting out of bed" part. I ended up getting this because I can literally lie down in bed and cradle it like a video game controller.
Yeah I have a tiny one with a trackpad for setting up raspberry pis and a bigger fold out one for typing on my phone when I'm traveling, they make everything so much easier
Oh wow, didn't think there'd be that much interest. Here you go: link.
A mini keg of a Christmas beer. At the store after drinking a bit, thinking "Oh it's a little cheaper per ounce, lol". My wife rolled her eyes, but she lets me do stupid things. Next day I was thinking "Well that was stupid." But it was a few days before Thanksgiving, and we opened it then, and it turned out to be a lot of fun. Draft beer, at home! Fiddling with the stupid pour thing. It was just fun to have something different.
A stupidly cheap (£2?) fleece I bought off a sale rail on a whim, thinking I would never wear it.
I practically lived in that thing, and still use it today.
When Teavana still existed, I bought a teapot and some "teas" (Teavana was mostly herbal tisanes...but still.)
I don't drink coffee, so I imagined the teapot wouldn't ever be used...but somehow it ended up being a big hobby for me. Bonus: fancy teas from online stores are cheap to ship, because they're basically dry and lightweight. Like, if you want to become a food snob about anything? Tea really is the way to go.
The one learning curve I had (as an American) was learning that you DON'T steep the tea longer for stronger tea. You use more tea leaves/more tea bags. Steeping too long turns the tea bitter. (I thought I disliked tea when younger b/c I'd only ever had cheap tea bags left to steep for far too long.) Also, when brewing a green tea, they're really reactive to boiling water, so you REALLY don't want to use boiling water or it'll be a bitter mess. You want to either boil then let it cool, or get a fancy electric kettle where you can set the temperature so it's appropriate for green tea, oolong tea, or black tea.
I got addicted to PG Tips extra strong blend when I was in the UK and now I import it. I feel like such a snob, but I don't care. They wouldn't think I was a snob for drinking it in the UK!
There's a small tea retailer in the UK, What-Cha.com, and the owner does a "mystery tea" option which he uses to get rid of slower-moving teas, or teas he might have had to buy to get a better choice on a tea he wanted to get from a wholesaler. Or sometimes teas he just wants people to try.
"Mystery tea" sounds dodgy, but it did a great deal to expand my horizons, because even these mystery teas were really, really good (far better than ANY grocery store tea in the USA) and opened me to teas I might not have otherwise tried.
I'm TOTALLY a snob importing teas from the UK...but what can you do? America is a coffee-culture country, not a tea-drinking place, and the local stores just have tisanes or crappy bottom-tier tea (basically, tea dust from processing higher grades of tea is packaged into teabags and sold in grocery stores--and people don't know how crap a tier of tea that is!)
Oh boy. Similar story for my wife and me. Now we've got 3 gaiwans, 4 yixing clay pots, and two cast iron pots. And now we do a little tea ceremony everyday. It's a great way to just sit together and chat without other distractions.
Shower mirror. It has a base that suctions to the wall and a reservoir that you fill with hot water so that it doesn't fog. I had no idea how much better it was than shaving at the sink. If I'm in a hurry I'll sink shave but I love shower shaving and I love that mirror.
Edit: Here's the one I use. No major complaints, just remove the mirror between uses and re-suction every once in a while.
Magnet tape. Made hella magnets out of stickers
A PVC pipe cap.
I was making a lightsaber for my kid, and bought a length of clear PVC from Home Depot. (I know, they have bad politics, but Lowe's didn't carry clear PVC.) My local store didn't have any clear PVC or clear accessories in stock, so I had to place an order for shipping, so I got a couple things "just in case" for the build. One of those was a pipe cap.
Didn't end up using the pipe cap, because lightsabers don't have that sort of end. It now sits at my desk as a teeny tiny trash can. Bits of thread from sewing, nail clippings, tags I clip off of shirts, a lot of things fit in the teeny tiny trash can. When it's full, I empty it into the trash, but for a rather small pipe cap, it holds quite a bit of small trash.
I bought an Ember mug because I thought it was silly. I ended up really liking the temperature control. I don't rush my coffee/tea. Now every sip is as hot as the first one.
The new Ember costs, I think, half again as much as the first iteration. It's a cute gimmick but I certainly wouldn't pay what they're charging now.
Bought some stainless steel wire rope over day, like 500' of it for 25 bucks. I've used that shit for everything. Stringing garlic up, strong lights up, garden trellis, hanging anything and everything. Still got a good 100' left 8 years later.
A Potato Ricer. My wife thought it was dumb as hell, until she made the best mashed potatoes we've ever had. It's like a massive garlic press for potatoes
Backscratcher! My mom bought me a cheap one as a silly stocking stuffer one Xmas, I thought it was funny, then I started using it. I have since upgraded to a solid bamboo one that I keep by my bed, it's amazing.
As someone that wears a bra I can't imagine life without one tbh. What do people do without them? Just accept the itching?? Rub their back along walls and furniture like a bear?
You joke, but my husband does this all the time.
I can't always find mine, and yes. When it happens and the scratcher is nowhere to be found I have three options:
Pointlessly, and furiously try to scratch it myself, fail and just accept my suffering.
Find something significantly textured or sharp(ish) to stand in for the scratcher, like a rope or the corner of a wall, or a doorway or something, then rub my back on it like a crazed bear.
Ask for help.... I mean, if anyone is around at all....
I've taken to supplementing my main back scratcher with a few cheap ones that are strategically placed around in case of emergencies since my "good" one keeps going missing on me.... I used to have a stable place to keep it, not so much, since I've recently moved... Now I'll find it behind the couch or on the floor under a random table. I need to get a good, steady location to keep it, so I know where it is at all times.
this thing has given me full independence. no more begging for back scratches.
I wanted to buy a small silicone spatula for specific uses, but they were only sold in a set of 5. I was like what am I going to do with that many spatulas but they're super useful and are amazing at scraping and I love having extras so I don't have to constantly wash them.
Besides, what better way to say 'I love you' than with the gift of a spatula.
ssssssssPATULA CITY!! (spatula city!)
How did people make scrambled eggs before these things existed?
Probably started off trying to make an omlette but instead had to make the best of a bad situation.
Sleephones. I bought them to listen to ASMR before bed thinking they were way overpriced. I've used them every night for the last 6 years
I listen to space docos or podcasts, no matter how busy my thoughts are, the sleep headphones go over the top of them and I am asleep in minutes.
Yeah I have AuDHD and for me it's all about listening to something that occupies the speech centre of my brain so that my thoughts can't spiral
Ajazz 308i keyboard.
I'm quite satisfied with it, even though it was meant to serve as a toy...
It looks like its made of tums
It surely does.
But it's surprisingly enjoyable to use with CEMU and Zelda:BotW
A wedding ring. Turned out that third time was the charm.
Altough it is not really stupid, I bought the game Witcher 3 expecting I would'nt like it much. Turned out it is the best game I've played and bought the expansions too
A long shoe horn.
I got it cause my formal shoes are a tight fight. It has been a game changer, it is a whole new experience wearing shoes, even the normal ones.
10 lengths of 10 foot 1/2" copper pipe. when I bought it it was cheaper than now by a lot. I ended up never using it for plumbing because we went with a larger diameter and different material. Now I have the coolest patina curtain rods ever.
Automatic/electric egg boiler. I use it almost every morning or at least once a week. It was like 10 euros at Lidl.
I'm here in my van on a hot hot day doing 'work' (in this case a little browsing of lemmy).
cooling me down is a "arctic air' USB fan with a little water reservoir providing a misting action. I think I said, "as seen on tv" like six times after buying it because how stupid can you get -- but i needed a fan and this is what the local hardware store had that ran on USB.
Wow. I love it. Fast, quiet, low power, good air, and the misting function is awesome. I'd buy it again in a heartbeat. (assuming it doesn't break within a week).
Crocs. They are super comfortable and cured my foot pain. Still ugly, but I will never not own a pair as long as they keep making them.
There are 2 types of people in this world. The ones that like crocs and the ones that do not like crocs. I think it's a very very clear definition into the psyche of humans
Egg boiler. On the surface it's just the most gadgety pointless product invented but I literally wore it out because suddenly I could have hard boiled eggs and no risk of setting my apartment on fire because I forgot about the eggs. After I move, it's the first thing I'm getting for my kitchen because low-risk hard boiled eggs are totally worth it.
There's a lot of seemingly 'useless' kitchen gadgets like this: full size food processor, waffle maker, breadmaker, even my ridic large instapot. I don't use them every day or even every week and no, I don't need them for daily life. Yes I can mince fifty thousand vegetables for this really complicated soup by hand or make bread from scratch or do whatever you do to make a pot roast without them--but I won't do those things. I know me pretty well now; if I want to make that soup, make some fresh bread, or do that thirty-step fancy pot roast, I need those tools or I'll default to frozen pizza and maybe have fresh Italian bread if I went to Central Market recently and remembered to grab it from the bakery.
The bread maker we got when my fiancee and I moved in together has been the best purchase ever. Haven't bought bread except like twice over the last couple years. Store bought bread just sucks now. Add in the feature that lets us throw everything in and have it wait until it will finish right when we get home and I don't know why people ever buy bread.
Similarly, the stand mixer probably did the question op asked better. Makes making so many things so much faster and easier. Can put a couple lights off banana bread together and in the oven so quick now. Great for when I want to make merengue. And not having to hand kneed dough just makes those special things I make on occasion more a every now and then and not just for big special occasions.
Years ago, I drunk purchased a microwavable sandwich press off Amazon... it was a genuine surprise when it showed up and I considered returning it, but didn't. Brought it to work and now I use it three to five times a week; I genuinely recommend this thing to other people. It's so convenient and works really well.
[Link to the thing: https://a.co/d/41go0hD]
Yeah. This is why I am here.
I am getting this.
More of a gift I got for Christmas than something I bought, but a rechargeable wand vacuum. Thought it was really stupid, but the dang thing is useful. I've used it for anything ranging from sucking up hair in the bathroom to getting the baseboards around the house so I don't have to get a duster to do it that way. Have even taken it out to the car to remove a lot of the dirt and debris that gets into the driver-side footwell.
Was so versatile, I persuaded my folks to get one as well. They now love it too.
A sleep mask. My sleep is so much better with one on. I still have shit sleep quality, but it isn't as shitty with a sleep mask. If I misplaced the mask, I wrap a black shirt around my eyes, but that doesn't work as well.
I've used night masks before and they work well, but I always would wake up tired because it was too dark to see it getting light out. I ended up going with blackout curtains and an alarm clock that slowly turns the light on over a 30 minute period to mimick the same effect.
Obviously way more of an investment in money, but I find my sleep quality has vastly improved with doing so.
An extra bonus is that blackout curtains can help keep heat out if you live somewhere warm.
Add Bluetooth and your in heaven. I use towels instead but I've grown so used to the Bluetooth mask I've just purchased multiple....plus I can wash the gross stress sweat smell off them.
Reusable zip ties.
Tons of mini magnets and metal clothes pins (infinite bag closing clamps for near free).
My victorinox signature with a pocket clip (keysmart nano clip). It's a tiny swiss army knife with a built in pen. Comes in handy almost daily an never leaves my waistband otherwise.
This cheap little indoor drone while working from home during COVID to mess around with on breaks and lunch. Turned out to be a ton of fun and in to a full blown FPV drone hobby/obsession.
Where are you now in regards to this? 😅
Rechargeable AA and AAA batteries. I really didn't think much of it at the time but I have been very happy to have them at hand especially once I made a system to keep track of the ones that needed recharging and the ones that were fully charged.
ANTAGEN dishbrush. I was at IKEA and saw they had dish brushes for less than a dollar a piece, so I stocked up on a few.
They last forever as far as dish brushes are concerned. It did clean-up for 2 large meals every single day for over a year before it started getting worn out. We'd throw it in the dishwasher at night to clean and sterilize it.
Best comment - even though I like their brush with the suction cup mere 🤗
I've never gotten mine to actually stand on its suction cup but it's lasted me a ridiculously long time.
My girlfriend convinced me to get a nice instant rice cooker
Not for rice, though. It makes for a fantastic slow cooker for 1 or 2
Reverse also works. Wife bought a slow cooker and we're giving it (so we can get a bigger one) to my daughter and she is using it to make rice.
She's working on a recipe that will make rice that isn't too mushy, but she likes soft rice.
Wireless charger - picked up from Ikea on a whim. Looks decent and appreciate not having to plug in charger each time. Probably better for phone battery too but don't quote me on that. Plus useful in charging my ear pods too(haven't plugged them as far as I remember)
Wireless charging is convenient, but it has the side effect of heat, which is bad for the battery.
The best I did for overnight charging was a very underpowered regular charger, at only 500mA = it charges slowly, which is best, and works well while I sleep anyway.
Most modern android phones now use adaptive charging. If you set an alarm, it will adjust the charging time to finish a little before it goes off. This minimises wear on the battery, while also guaranteeing a full phone in the morning.
Setting an alarm does not change the charging strategy of my Samsung Galaxy S10.
That does sound like a smart feature though. Is it hardware = is my device too old? Is it software = then my Android 12 doesn't have it.
Batteries doesn't like (excessive)heat, but is that really a problem nowadays for smartphones? I don't feel my battery is bad after some 3-4 years of nightly 65% => 100% charge with a quick charger. Maybe it's more like 52% => 100% now BTW.
I remember when it was a whole science to keep your battery "ok" (no < 15%, no full charge, sometimes drain it, etc etc) and it still was kind of sucky. So interested in what you all think!
Lmao your situation is kind of forced onto me 😅 My Pixel's USB-C port is broken. Using wireless charger from IKEA is the only way to charge my phone at the moment. Still waiting for more powerful charger and port replacement part from AliExpress. 👌
An old Asus Chromebox CN60, I bought it because it was dirt cheap, as should probably be expected EOL ChromeOS device.
It seems like something that would be completely and utterly useless but once I put Linux on it I was able to use it as a handy little Server. I guess I didn't really think that it was stupid, but other people thought that it was stupid that I bought it.
I had an Acer netbook that I ended up calling the Netbook of Theseus because I bought one in 2009, then several years later bought an identical one on eBay. I ran Linux on the thing and kept it until last year.
You know, that idea wouldn't work if you replace the thing all at once, right?
Not entirely stupid, but a butterknife. I've never used it to spread butter. I've used it to fasten and unfasten screws tens of times.
maybe you'd like a mini multitools instead
Or, you know... a screwdriver.
A compact bit and driver case would be better still if the goal is screwing things. Multitools are fine as a JIC backup.
I mean...he's using a butter knife...
Leave him alone, he's happy with what he got
I've ruined so many butter knives because I got used to opening packages with them. Like with butter, they slice right through packing tape.
Maybe a screwdriver would also be a good purchase 🪛
MyFitnessPal. I had heard of it, but counting calories is a pain in the ass, no way I'd waste my time with that shit.
Workplace gives it to me for free, so why not take a look? Damn it's so fast and easy and it has made such a huge difference in dirt success. Just wave the camera over barcodes and the rest of the data falls in place. When you actually get enough protein instead of thinking you've got enough protein, then you don't have to feel hungry in a calorie deficit.
It seemed like a frivolous app, but it turned out to be the biggest driving factor for success. The key thing is, I didn't realize how much it appealed to the nerd gamer instincts. The same way out optimize a build/load out for increased performance like in Diablo, that's the same way rewarding feeling you get when you figure out new life hacks to optimize your macros even more to pack even more food into your calorie budget
It's easy enough for food that has bar codes, but I cook most of my meals and it's still a pain to try to input all the correct recipe ingredients, quantities, portion sizes, etc., to get accurate calorie/macro counts. I usually use it for a week or two before giving up, it's just too much extra time (or maybe I'm unconsciously sabotaging myself).
I cook most of my meals too. I just barcode scan the ingredients. For vegetables it's the same as grocery selfcheckout, just type a few letters in the search bar and tap the corresponding listing, like "USDA broccoli" or "USDA red potato".
They have a "create a recipe function" where you just scan in all the ingredients. So like I put in my turkey chili components, it resulted in 3994g of chili, so basically 10 servings of 400g each. Because I put in all the ingredients, it knows the total nutrients, and the amount in each serving. So when it comes to actually eating, I just go into "My Recipes", tap "Turkey chili" 1 serving. I measure 400g into my bowl and I know I've consumed 26g carbs 22g fat and 66g protein, totaling 538 calories.
This is also applicable the first time I cook it, because on subsequent cooking times it's already been entered. Also, it keeps a recent history so you don't need to search frequently for eaten foods, it's already available to tap.
It definitely takes a fair bit of time in the first weeks, you're not wrong about that. But it also gets a lot faster and easier after those first few weeks.
I bought a milk frother recently. I don’t even drink coffee. But I saw that it was a great way to make a protein shake without clumps and easy to clean. It does do that. But it also been great for mixing my pre workout or soap for cleaning. I love it!
8 years ago, i got an EUC, aka Electric Unicycle, seamed difficult strange, i managed to learn how to ride it, everybody said i looked like an alien..
8 years later i ride a Veteran Sherman S (suspension model) and i freakngly still love to ride it!! Got a couple of friends hooked, now i've got a whole team in Greece! 😉
Ember mug. I saw James Hoffmann’s review and went, “how good could it be?”
It’s the only mug I can drink from now.
I honestly never got this. 1.5 hours charge brand new, 3-5 years all those cycles it will go through, and the manufacturer does not replace the batteries nor are they user replaceable. So it just becomes a normal mug, borderline e-waste. Not for me...
I've been bouncing back and forth between getting one, even though James and other people were initially like "this is dumb" but switched to "I love it". I just can't bring myself to spend $150 on a battery powered coffee mug, especially when I'm usually done with my coffee within a few minutes.
My friend, let me introduce you do the MUCH better version that you don't even have to plug in! The Temperfect Mug https://joeveo.com/ ~$50.00 and does not need anything plugged into it. Keeps my coffee at the right temp for HOURS. I am not joking even a little bit!
$150 for a mug!?
I am not sure about this one. $150 for the mug AND you have to install another app on your phone just to use it. If there was a way to just use the mug without the app I could see it.
Bug vacuum. Initially bought it for my wife so she can suck up spiders in the house. Then I realized I didn't like squishing them either and now it sits in a prime location in the house.
Do you realize that there is a big cannibal spider living in your vacuum now?
FEED ME SEYMOUR
There’s a third option that doesn’t involve killing them, you know…
My wife got 50% off Lasik surgery in the early days of Groupon when they offered crazy deals. I thought it was really unwise to get eye surgery half-off. I'm usually a "you get what you pay for" kind of guy.
Turned out pretty well for her though.
I don't see the problem with that
I don't get why you would be hesitant at a discounted lasering... Discounts are not the same thing as a cheaper option that costs as much as the discounted price. Just compare it with anything else you're able to get on a discount. A phone, for example. Would you think that the 500$ won't perform as well if sold for 250$? No, it will perform just the same. But a phone that costs that 250$ from the onset, that is going to usually be worse than the 500$ one bought at half off.
So, a proper lasik surgery costs 1500$ (A price I found with a quick google search). That's a bit steep. But your wife gets lucky and gets the half-off discount. Great, you got 1500$ worth of service for 750$. Now, a lasik surgery that is being offered at the 750$ normally, that would raise a few eyebrows for sure.
Double Edge Razor. I used to shave with an electric shaver but now I can shave faster, better and cheaper. The razor gives a super smooth shave and the soap/aftershave is a kind of wellness routine now that I really enjoy. The blades are extremely cheap so I change them every second shave. There are tons of different types of razors and blades to try out and I really enjoy trying out the shaving soaps and varying them from shave to shave.
Our house has all gold colored fixtures and normal knobs.
I got really fed up with having to drop everything to open the garage door that I purchased a black lever type knob so now can open the door with my elbow/foot/bags
Doesn’t match anything else in the house right now but it’s my single favorite change I’ve made to our house
I've never understood why so many places insist on using the round knows, they're worse in basically every way.
The round ones are cat-and-dog-proof. :)
Toddler proof too.
Workbenches with butcher block table tops and metal legs for my home office. I was a life long user of cheap metal and glass top desks that you get from Walmart, Staples, etc. These things cost a lot more, but they are worth every penny. And unlike the cheaper stuff, will last years and years unless the house burns down.
Local made products. In my case it's LED lamps. It was started when i read articles on LED and in the end i was searching if there are locally made LED lamps and i found out there are some and they are quiet huge since they are doing contract making road lamps for the government.
So i look for the brand on the popular ecommerce platform and i was surprised that the price is like a quarter of the popular imported brand such as Philips, although the Lumens per Watt is lower (110 Lumens per watt). I was skeptical and hesitated to buy it at first fearing it'll become useless junk. But i took the chance and order it anyway.
I received the product the next day, four 3000K color Lamp. I'm testing it first before permanently installing it and what really surprised me the Lamp does not gets hot, only lukewarm, i guess its because of the board design where the individual LED are not tightly packed.
I gradually replaced all LED lamps at home with locally made ones, they even have 4500K color which i installed for my gf room since shes doing a lot of times doing make up and i think that requires neutral color lighting.
I bought a $5 mechanical watch as aliexpress, curious how long it would last. That was 12y ago. All I replaced was the strap by a $1 one, still ok as well.
The $200 watch I bought before that was b0rken in 2 months.
All you need is a Casio.
honestly I’d say a can cooler, it’s like a yeti cup but it goes around a can. Keeps my drinks so much colder, such a surprise tbh
I bought a POE switch that seemed really expensive, but I bought it with 6 very inexpensive POE cameras so all in the price was not bad.
When I got the switch i found the build quality was great, it's an industrial format switch so it has DC input for power and wall mount flanges. I might buy a second one if my buddy needs it for his house.
I have an off-brand swiffer handle that I’ve actually packed up and moved several times because it’s the perfect size to unclog my vacuum.
Pizza stone
Pizza Scissors. Great for frozen pizzas so you can cut it up right out of the oven without waiting for the cheese to cool off. It's also great for cutting dough and just having a 2nd pair of kitchen shears if your normal pair was used to cut raw meat.
Hand rolls of stretch wrap. Have an artificial Christmas tree you want to make for back in the box? Wrap that thing up. Have a stack of stuff you want to bind together to move more easily? Wrap it.
This inflatable two seater kayak from Intex. I thought it would suck, but it's been incredible. Except for the piece of shit paddles were too short. But the kayak itself is a boss
Giant roll of wrapping paper. I'm using it for everything. My kid draws on the back, wrapped plates in them when moving, gift wrapping, painting.
My tablet for school. I bought it because I was sick of shifting through stacks of handwritten notes while writing papers. Turns out it was the best purchase I made as a student. I haven't bothered to write on paper since, and it's saved me a ton of time and money (otherwise spent on printing supplies). I've started using it for work as well. I don't know if I could function without one now.
What tablet did you get?
I absolutely LOVE my tablet, but I use it for internet and reading. I sketch on it sometimes, but pencil and paper is where I sketch the most. I use mine way more than my phone when I am around the house. I don't understand why they aren't more popular.
A bread proofing box. Not only has it made my bread making attempts much more consistent, but it's also great for tempering chocolate, making buttermilk, and more!
Oh, definitely not a purchase, but Emacs. My life was a mess because of Twitter and it was anti-Twitter in every way – no characters limit, offline, insanely powerful. While Twitter would prevent me from prioritizing, Org-mode could handle task lists, spreadsheets, text documents, with academic citations support, and could export them to .ics, .odt, .pdf, .md, etc. Ideas are affordances and Emacs has let me focus on these instead of trying to build a picture perfect online profile.
Whereas Twitter isn't meant for most people's use cases so it runs a long-term scam called “optimization for engagement” (which is actually abuse by definition), doing everything it can to prevent its victims from taking hindsight on and conceptualizing what's happening to them, Emacs is letting me channel all of this frustration into reading and writing my master thesis. Which deals with how social media increase social inequalities. Highly recommended.
This comment is weird? It reads like an ad lol.
I'm also struggling to understand how and why it's being compared to Twitter. How are they even related?
I've used Emacs off and on a few times over the years, and know some people who use it daily. I've never seen it compared to Twitter.
My impulse buy of expensive Focal headphones.
Initially regretted it but, after a year of using high-end headphones, you definitely appreciate the great comfort and sound-quality
Not my purchase per se, but my grandmother bought me some knives made by some french company that i didnt think id use too much. Turns out their great for smaller things that my ka-bar is a bit excessive for.
cheapest tesla I could find