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.
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 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.
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
Big chefs knife is what I use for pizza. Though having a couple sets of scissors around wouldn’t be a bad idea.
I’ve worked in a few different pizza places in my day. Most used the circular roller cutter but pizza hut had my favourite cutter. It was a long rocker blade (curved so that it’s taller in the middle then you place it and “rock” it from one side to the other to make the cut).
Rollers or anything that slides the blade along the pizza will pull cheese and toppings along with it and will only cut as straight as you keep it. Plus, if you realize halfway through a cut that your line isn’t very good (like you’re about to cut some pepperonis in half and probably drag at least one part off the slice entirely when a slightly different angle would have gone between two pepperonis), you’re kinda committed to it already, while a rocker blade allows you to see the whole line easier before you start the cut.
I don’t have one at home though because it’s not very practical to store and only really worth having if you’re cutting a lot of pizzas and flat breads. It could work for cake, too, though it depends on how high the cake is.
A set of small neodymium magnets. Didn’t have a plan, only they looked “super cool and strong wow”.
Used for:
- Locating needles in the carpet.
- Fishing keychains out from behind sofas, gap between garden deck and house, and so many other places.
- Makeshift fix for an old cabinet door that tended to glide open.
- Holding nails and screws while fixin’ stuff.
- Attaching a soda bottle to the office lamp in a way that is easy to undo while still pissing off HR.
- Slapping it on a screwdriver to make it magnetic.
- Fidget toy.
- Regular ol’ fridge magnet.
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
An Aeropress Go.
I’m far from a coffee snob, but figured I’d give this $25 piece of plastic a try because a good friend was raving about it. In the year since, it’s been my favorite way to make myself a cup of coffee-- the ritual of it helps me structure my Saturday morning, the coffee tastes better than I thought coffee could taste, and I’m more excited to look at the flavors and whatnot from locally ground coffee.
Mechanical keyboard. Almost had no money back then, but wanted to treat myself. It costed 100$, 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.
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.
How in the world would your life be a mess because of Twitter? And how would emacs solve that?
This comment is weird? It reads like an ad lol.
It’s free software, funded by donations. Anyway, no, not where I live, and I’m autistic, you’re comparing the way I communicate with an ad.
It’s not the communication that is being critiqued, it’s the unsual leap of contextual logic made to connect Twitter to Emacs. The Enties don’t follow it, because they can’t see how the unusual comparison paired with a strong recommendation for Emacs could be anything other than an “ad”, and not just an enthusiastic personal endorsement for a thing you’re passionate about.
Edit: I never knew Emacs had a built-in IRC client! What a rad bit of software.
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.
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
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! 😌
Agreed, I should have known better, sound advice!
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.
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
I bet its fantastic orb pondering wear.
How do you know you’re not a wizard when you wear it? Have you tried magic?
