I'm too intimidated to try one despite staying in hotels round the world that usually have them.
What if it goes wrong? How bad much shitty water do I and the bathroom end up covered in? How do you know if it's clean? Doesn't other peoples shitty water end up on the same appliance that you're now using? Does that mean I end up with other peoples shitty water being jet streamed towards my anus? So many questions, so much doubt. Similarly for those handheld nosel things popular in the middle East and parts of Asia.
Building and running my own server for self hosting multiple tools for my home.
Bitwarden Password manager, now sharing logins/passwords for stuff my fiance and I both use is easy, and every single website we use has its own unique randomly generated password so when one site gets breached, our logins aren't compromised anywhere else
Plex, it's like your own self hosted Netflix. My file copies of any movies/TV shows go on here and it parses em all, keeps it all grouped together, streams in 4k.
Shinobi, for my security cameras. Self hosted free CRTV application, works with any open spec cameras. Has movement detection and tonnes of other open source options for plug-ins.
Deluge, handy UI for downloading torrents onto my server. Conviently added presets to it that let me download to the very folders Plex scans... cough cough.
Kavita, self hosted server for books/pdfs. Some e-readers can even connect to it. A couple popular manga reading apps also work with it. Can also just use its own browser web interface as an e-reader, it has multiple options for styles (infinite scroll, page swiping, left/right click, and even supports right to left mode for manga!)
Nextcloud, pictures/document storage. Sort of like a selfhosted filesshare/file backup. Has a mobile app that can automatically backup every picture/video you take on your phone!
Gogs, open source super lightweight git repo. Has only the bare minimum of features, basic web hook, authorization, permissions, simple web ui to edit. It does the job I need it to and that's good enough.
OpenVPN, self hosted VPN so I can securely access all the above stuff without exposing it to the internet.
Also I host my own websites on it, publicly exposed. Blog, a writing project, nothing terribly fancy.
Eventually I plan to add some more stuff to it. Migrate my smart home dependencies over to Z wave and install Home Assistant, so I don't have to rely on sending my info to google/amazon/etc to do basic smart home stuff.
I havent had any issues with Plex so far, so I continue to use it. Ive definitely looked into jellyfin and it doesnt seem painful to swap over, but at the moment there hasnt been a compelling reason to make the switch.
I put media in my folder, plex scans it by the time I sit on my couch, I click button, show plays. No issues to speak of so far.
While Plex has moved towards the "free" content, it still does remarkably well with apps on all devices. It also makes user management extremely easy without having to manage yourself. Password resets aren't your problem if you share with others.
It has its limitations and it's development budget isn't in the self hosting space as much. But for what it is, it's still a good value.
I personally would never recommend someone to self host a password manager. There’s a lot of things that can go wrong, and any number of them could cause you to lose your passwords or at least access to them when you need them. There’s a lot of value in paying $10/yr for Bitwarden, to have a clear mind, and know that your information is safe, and accessible.
I've used Keepass along with dropbox/onedrive/nextcloud (changed over the years) for a decade now and never had a problem. I keep a backup copy of my database on a flash drive in case I somehow lose all my devices. Takes like 5 minutes to set up.
I would not self host a password manager, simply because I don't want running something like that on a 24/7 online server.
Still, if I needed to run a password manager on a server, I would rather self host it than use a hosted service from someone else.
In my opinion, running such a service commercially is a much harder problem than self hosting it and has a much bigger attack surface.
This is IMHO what many people do not understand about hosting as a service vs. self hosting: The full time DevOps/Admins etc. people who work at the hosting service are hopefully better than me at hosting stuff. At the same time the problem they have to solve is so much harder than self hosting, that even if they are 10x as good as me, running my own little service with a firewall, rate limiting and monitoring should at least not be less secure.
does stealing it count? because that would be a boxed copy of redhat linux from best buy in the late 90s/early 2000s. yes, i found a way to steal linux
Have had a dog most of my life. Hard to imagine living without one. They're better than people, fantastic companions, and the entire relationship is based on each other trying to make each other happy.
It's very hard. I cry for days and drink a lot. It is a huge piece of life suddenly gone. But, like my last dog, I see all the things we did, so many adventures, and how many people are upset—even strangers at my climbing gym reached out because they knew him but not me; someone even drew an amazing portrait of him for me and it's on the wall. That made me realise how awesome a life he had and how many people loved him. A truly good boy that got a hell of a life.
I know I'll be sad, but it passes and I'll be very happy with what I did for my dog and what they did for me. Then I'll get another dog and they'll get an awesome life too.
A Kobo e-reader. I now read much more than before because of the convenience, and I also became a book pirate. It has paid itself multiple times on the money I've saved in physical books.
I have a kobo as well and I I did a lot of research before selecting it. Imho it's the best on the market for my personal needs and that definitely changed how often I use it vs an alternative. Some of the things I like about it are direct integration with the library and the ability to do audiobooks. I also like that it is only an ereader and I can't play games or surf the web on it. I think knowing what's gonna help you as an individual is the most important thing. If you're more likely to take a fully fledged tablet with you somewhere because of the versatility, and would otherwise leave a plain ereader at home, then a tablet is better because if you decide to read at least you have it with you. Like a lot of tech, I think it really depends on the user.
For me it's the ability to read outside in bright days, so I can take care of kids in the beach/pool.
I went for a boox since it's an Android and can run not only my favorite e reader app but also dictionary, browser for Wikipedia, and any apps for Android such as news Guardian, DW etc.
Obviously it also runs official apps such as Kobo, kindle etc, so I can try/ buy the book wherever and later I de DRM it and upload epub.
Oh also I have severe dust allergy from physical books, and moved countries a couple times leaving behind lots of unread stuff.
I almost bought an air fryer, but ended up with a convection toaster oven. Does everything an air fryer does and much more. I bought the Gourmia one from Costco and would buy it again in a heartbeat.
I bought a Philips device and installed the companion app (Kitchen+). It has a decent selection of recipes that you can filter by appliance and other stuff. You can add your own recipes too.
Bidet. Amazing for a North American, I know RoW has had them for eons. You are so clean that a couple of squares of tp to dry off and you are golden. No more endless wiping.
I installed something like this next to my toilet a couple of month ago and it changed my life. Costs like 30 bucks, it takes 3 single sheets to dry my clean ass. Whiping shit left to right up and down until it stops sticking feels so barbaric now.
I long for the day when they are just normal everywhere. Easily one of the best things to come out of the pandemic and those wild toilet paper shortages.
Buddy bought me one as a gift, i turned around and bought him and another friend one and another for us as we have 2 bathrooms. One friend hasnt installed theirs yet but the first one did. "I hate going anywhere but home now" was his response when i asked him if he installed it. My wife and i feel the same way. The first one bought for us was a tushy brand one that was like 200$. The second one and the one ive bought for people is like $35 and works better. Has hot water, and a second nozzle for those with a vagina.
My wife and I finally bought a nice toilet seat style bidet (better price on third party sites) with heated water and all the bells and whistles. We both love it, she even more than me.
In the early 2000's, I bought a 1986 Honda XL250R. Just an old dirt bike.
The motorcyckle shop was across the road from the pawn shop I was originally going to buy a gun from, for the express purpose of taking my own life, for reasons that made sense at the time.
Since I bought that bike, I've made friends, learned a lot of new skills, and I met the best person in existence, who I am now married to. I passed on a final exit, and ended up with a pretty great life.
I went through a glasses addiction myself as well lol. I found an eye-care clinic where they would cut the lenses and have them ready within 3 hours.
I would go to garage sales, thrift stores, and swap meets to find glasses to put lenses on. They were like $60 for the lenses and I never spent more than $10 on frames.
I ended up with 3 seeing glasses and 4 sun glasses before I realized it was going to be unsustainable to get new lenses for my new prescription every year.
I had a very different experience with mine. I bought a middle range one, not the cheap one, with very good reviews at the time. I absolutely cannot trust it. It's always getting stuck, getting lost and not able to go back to charging station, or say that it's "finished" and leav obvious spot of dusts.
My living room is indeed a bit cluttered as it's not that big, but there is still enough space for it to move....
I have a thousand wires hidden under my couch, my rug, my chair, and anywhere else I can hide them. Chargers, home theater, other chargers, smart-ish devices, and whatever else that I don't even want to go look at.
I'm terrified it'll eat all my cables because that's what my last one did.
Before, I picked up my phone at every ping or vibrate.
When I wear the watch, all phone notifications are automatically muted and the watch is set to only notify a few apps (Whatsapp, phone calls, calendar). No emails, no kik, no games nothing.
With a smart watch (I've owned a few over the years) my phone has been on silent for years. No more dings, beeps, or rings especially in meetings or with other people. I set it to vibrate only for text and calls. Game changer. I wish those in sales would use them more.
Synology NAS (basically a hard drive always connected to the home network and internet) - has been amazing for auto-backing-up photos from the family phones and for running Plex run my own personal streaming service for the whole family around the world. Has been great for file transfer too. I can easily move files between my phone, PC, Steam Deck, etc and all the USB memory sticks I had have been sitting in a drawer ever since.
Exercise compression thermals - wear these is super comfortable and really warm. I wear them constantly at home and can have the heating off almost all winter (UK). Saves tons of energy and money.
Electric blanket - another great low energy purchase for relaxing under when watching TV or warming up the bed before sleeping. Gets super hot while hardly using any energy at all.
Split unit air con installation - this was expensive and I thought it would be unnecessary in the UK, but it seems to be used more and more every summer as we get more heatwaves and summers are becoming unbearable.
Safety razors - I have really thick facial hair and the multi-blade razors from big name brands would dull really quickly and cause tons of shaving rash. These razors are sharper, last longer, are recyclable and much better for my skin.
Liquid ink refillable rollerball pens - I tried fountain pens after seeing the online communities that are crazy about them, and really didn't like them. I found rollerball pens I like that take fountain pen ink and have been super happy with them. I write a lot at work and this has gotten rid of the plastic waste of throwing away used disposable ballpoint refills every couple of weeks.
Hitbox controller - I've been playing Street Fighter 6 since release and I made a leverless controller box myself and I've loved using it to play SF6. Managed to make it for one third the price of what these things sell for and completely customised it.
My DIY controller made from scratch. It has a built in USB c hub so when I use it with the Steam Deck I can connect the charger cable to the controller. If someone is playing locally with me their controller just plugs into the side of mine and works with the Steam Deck.
Made the footprint as small as I could. It's 21 x 15.3 x 3.6 cm
Seimitsu buttons. Raspberry pi controller. 5 additional side buttons for navigation and shortcuts.
I can make a detailed guide if anyone is interested. And I'm looking to sell the black and white controller with the integrated hub. Maybe even the one with the keyboard buttons if I can fix the firmware annoyance in it.
2 years ago I bought an electric mattress pad. My wife gave me a hard time about it at first, didn't think we'd ever use it.
But wow. Nothing better than climbing into a preheated bed on a cold night. I always set it to high about 20 minutes before we actually go to bed, then turn it down to the lowest setting. When it's cold out, every single time we get into bed, we both let out a sigh of comfort. Can't recommend it enough.
Congrats fellow hitbox user. Btw the Norelco one blade works better on my thick facial hair than a straight Razer does with less hassle and they are pretty cheap to try out. I'm still debating that split ac for the upstairs office....
A house. My mortgage is cheaper than rent, and now I get to actually address annoyances with my living conditions.
It's almost 100 years old, and a bit of an fixer upper, but the important stuff is solid. Last summer I invested in proper drainage around the foundation so that I can start making the basement livable. This year I invested in a proper bathroom. Next year it's a new kitchen. And if time allows I'll start rebuilding the basement mainly for one extra bed room and an office.
This is a good one. I finally teamed up with family to invest in a house last year. I've found a lot of issues that I've since fixed, especially with the electrical. There's still a lot to fix, but I'm elated that I can actually take action to fix stuff.
While renting, my hands were severely tied. The only benefit with renting was that if anything was literally broken, it would be fixed by the landlord, free to me. "Fixed" is subjective, usually done as cheaply as possible, which is often making things less convenient.
Now I can have things fixed correctly, making things more convenient overall for me and my family.
Long term, we're planning on renovating and adding another kitchen and bathroom, possibly another entrance and I'm considering splitting the HVAC for one portion of the place and almost splitting it into two independent homes that are conjoined.
Depends on market. In Vancouver existing rentals are controlled until you move, the house sells, or you are reno-evicted. This involves evicting the tenant to "fix up the suite" and then renting it out at a much higher rate.
There is also the move to evict for a " family member" to move in but often this is abused to get low paying tenants out.
New mortgages are much more than existing rent here. As much as renters go through credit checks, I think landlords should too as you don't want to rent a place where they can't afford the interest rate increases. Often they cheap out on repairs and usually sees the place being sold or one of the above abuses of the evictions to get a higher paying tenant in.
The market is really tight in places like Vancouver and Toronto. The interest rate hikes will eventually catch up to most renters as properties are moved/sold.
Same, cut my monthly housing cost by almost $1000 two years ago. So many good things have happened as a result as well, because it was a move between regions and opened up alternative employment options not previously available. As a result I also doubled my income.
As someone with waxy ears, an ear pick with a wifi camera built in. Would get blockages, cotton buds just pushed it back, olive oil or peroxide would get air locked. The webcam ear pick was super cheap and makes it easy to scoop out any lumps of wax.
Got any recommendations? My ears have been pissing me off lately cause they're constantly feeling blocked. Not just for the ear pick but anything in general to help with to much wax in the ear.
Not medical advice, but when I can tell it's getting full in there, I pour 50% diluted hydrogen peroxide (just use the cap of the bottle) in my ear, let it bubble away for 5 minutes or so, then use a bulb syringe thing with warm water to flush it out til it's clean. Be careful with pressure and temperature of the water, but it works great.
When searching for a pick, there were many with Micro USB ports, but only a few with USB-C so chose based on that. In the app, you choose what ear your working on, but found my brain needed the opposite view.
After initially pulling out chunks of wax, sometimes I feel blocked but can see it's my ear canal being irritated, and with it clear, can use olive oil drops or moisturiser on a cotton tip to treat the sore areas.
I use a 50/50 mix of isopropyl alcohol and white vinegar. I drip about ten drops in one ear, let it sit there while I read a book on my side. Then I catch it all with a Kleenex tissue as I rotate my head.
I bought one of these recently and somewhere between the device and the crappy app it just won't connect all the way. Is there one made by a company that isnt just six random letters?
I don't think so, mine was laughably by "DynoApe".
The main issues is phones don't like connecting to WiFi without internet, you need to turn off the feature that uses mobile data if wifi is unstable, on Samsung it's under "Intelligent Wi-Fi".
Ikea. And I'm not kidding. They make theirs with reputable manufacturers (Electrolux and Whirlpool, at least in Europe), they have functions that are still rare in others like popping out the door when finished, AND they have more than double the usual warranty. (5 years instead of the usual 2.)
We LOVE ours and everybody I know that has theirs from there.
I have always hated bath mats. Especially being in a fairly large family, by early afternoon it seems like the bath mat is always saturated and useless; slipping around the floor if you're trying to use it to dry your feet, or soaking your socks if you happen to step on it in the course of other bathroom business.
I recently got a bath stone made of diatomaceous earth and it has erased all of the annoyance. It pulls the water right off you so I always feel safe stepping onto my tile floor after just a few steps on the bath stone, and it dries freakishly fast, like basically in front of your eyes.
I've only had it a month so I don't know how durable it is over the long term, but so far it has been $40 well spent.
I've never understood why more people don't dry themselves in the shower, and dry their feet on the way out. Why use the bath mat as a special communal foot sole towel? It's much nicer when it's just a comfortable dry mat for standing on with bare feet.
An E-reader. There's no more space in my house for book shelves. I've a ton of books stored inappropriately in a bunch of cabinets and on top of furniture, that I hope to find new homes for before irreparable damage is done to their spine.
Having an e-reader also helped me in the gym. Instead of doomscrolling on lemmy or tiktok, I read between sets. Helped me regain my reading habit and kick my social media habit. Also, helped my social anxiety of having to rest longer than half a minute when other people might want to use the iron I'm using.
This is a great shout. Since I stopped commuting 6yrs ago my reading is almost entirely non existent. Doing it between sets means I can give my brain a workout while the guns get one :D
At work I have a standing desk, and the option to hop up into my tall chair. Is the moving desk better than this option? I'm guessing it is because my company is phasing mine out in favor of the moving desks... I'm just not sure I see the benefit. I switch between sitting and standing so frequently I feel like the whole team will get very annoyed with me if I had to be constantly cranking the desk up and down.
I can think of two benefits to an adjustable desk:
Better chairs at a lower cost. Most office chairs (and chairs in general) are designed for table-height desks, so you'll find a greater variety of multi-point-adjustable ergonomic options that'll improve your posture while seated. From a corporate perspective, these chairs are also more versatile when the office changes size or layout because they'll work just as well around the conference table as in the cubicle.
This one's purely a business reason, but also the main reason an office manager will have on their mind: the employee they hire to replace you might be a different height. Cynical, I know, but an adjustable height desk means they can accommodate anyone they hire now or in the future, and they've got to justify office expenses on a multi-year timescale
For you, an existing employee who already has a desk and chair you like, the adjustable desk will probably be a downgrade. For the office, it's a smart business decision that also means comfier chairs for everyone.
It's not really about what a standing desk can do for you now, it's what it does for yourself in 10 years.
Alternating standing and sitting will help a lot. It's not that any given posture is bad, it's that any posture for a long period is bad. Don't just do the desk either, eyes fingers and legs too!
I have the same issue with light, had prescription glasses and prescription sunglasses, and had to switch between the two frequently. Finally got prescription transitions and they're incredible, I no longer have to think about my glasses at all. Just put them on and go.
A dildo. Get to know yourself and what you like a little and it's legitimately brain melting. You don't have to be gay to enjoy em, I'm glad I gave butt stuffing a try.
Just make sure whatever you get is actually body safe. Silicone is generally the only good soft body safe material, look for medical grade or platinum cure.
I personally haven't tried the ergonomic keyboards yet, have been using Ducky One 2 for a few years and recently got KBDcraft Kit Adam (Lego keyboard) and I'm enjoying this one, super soft and nice sounding switches.
From the ergonomic keyboards I've seen Keychron K11 Pro as an interesting one, but you'd have to see if it fits you, I can't really recommend any myself.
i got a cheap gamer's keyboard that happened to have blue switches, the cheapest i actually found with Cherry MX Blue (so, some mechanical keyboard nerds will say this is sh*t and they'll probably be right). It's an "HyperX Alloy". it has these annoyingly red LED, but i don't really care. I recommend it for the price though (I paid around 90 buck back then)
Nothing ever burns and cleaning even when frying something with cheese in there is just a scoop of hot water and ten seconds with the soft side of a kitchen sponge.
What's amazing is the misinformation spread by marketing departments over the years making people think they need these elaborate pans. I have a decent set of cookware I've acquired over the years but ultimately I use my twelve year old 10" carbon steel pan 99% of the time (I cook almost every meal every day so I use it a lot). It's unfortunate that basic home cooking skills aren't something that's handed down over the generations. I mean, feeding yourself should be pretty high on the list of things to learn before you leave home.
What they never tell you in cookbooks is how to manage heat and mentally calculate how much and for how long to apply to an ingredient. It's difficult to put into print but, suffice to say, once you "learn this one simple trick", cooking with any cookware is trivial.
These last maybe a year even if you use gentle low heat. But that depends how often you cook. I only use my nonstick for pancakes (very rarely) but everything else is stainless steel, just heat it up then add oil after, food goes on when the oil is shimmering and flows easily (not viscous)
Anything that takes away shitty chores. People take washing machines for granted these days, but a decent dishwasher is a godsend. Modern ones don't need anything more than a basic scrape of the dishes as "prep" and loading it before bed to then wake up to a load of sparkling clean dishes is amazing.
In a similar vein we've just got a robot vacuum cleaner that we've set to run every night. The amount of dog fur in its bin every morning is eye opening, and other than for the stairs there's almost no need to do vacuuming ourselves now.
Plus one for shoehorn, underrated and my friends always make fun of me for using one for some reason. Meanwhile I'm standing with my shoes on comfy while they tear their fingers up trying to slide their shoes on
Literally never "torn my fingers up" while putting on shoes, and I'm the kind that ties them once when I buy them and never again. Either your friends wear iron shoes or this is a really extreme exaggeration.
I guess these first three are kind of limited scope improvents.
Fountain pens. Got me writing notes for work which has helped me stay more organized and on the ball and able to remember more. And with the right pen it makes note taking enjoyable.
Cast iron skillets have improved my enjoyment of cooking.
Portable jump starter has saved the day multiple times since I got it (me, friends, etc)
ADHD diagnosis late in life prompted by career-limiting struggles with a type-A boss. The diagnosis explained so many things about me, my behavior, my struggles in work and relationships, my self image, etc. Therapy helped develop better coping mechanisms and the meds help a lot with focus and motivation. All told, things are better with relationships and other areas of life, I turned around the boss's opinion and got my career back on track.
The big advantage over jumper cables (especially if you're a woman) is that you don't have to wait for anyone, or deal with a take-charge guy who has cables but doesn't really know how to use them and won't let you do it. Same reason I used to keep a wire clothes hanger in my bumper, back in the days when it was easy to lock yourself out of your car.
See a psych, not a GP. If necessary, get the rec. But don't trust the GP for this. Use them to push you to a psych. A lot of times, you don't even need a rec from a GP to see a psych.
A knee pillow. I have always struggled with the occasional back pain because I would sometimes twist my legs/back at night and be in pain the next day(s). A knee pillow has massively changed that for me. I pretty much never have issues with my back caused by sleeping weird now.
In a similar vein, nasal strips. My nose often gets obstructed at night and it caused a ton of sleepless nights because I had a hard time breathing. Finding the strong nasal strips I'm now using pretty much eliminated that problem.
I was in your boat, and the strips just dont cut it for me.
I bought a cheap pack of "nasal dialators" on amazon (tried a variety pack first to find the size that worked best, now settled on 'large'). They're basically plastic cones that force your nostrils open. They hurt a little at first, but now im used to them and breathe SO MUCH better.
I've been using the Breathe Right "Extra Strength" ones. They are the only ones that have reliably stayed stuck to my skin overnight and strong enough to keep my nose open.
Don’t you have to be in an almost pitch black room for it to look decent though? I also heard there can be pretty bad input lag?
It was quite a few years ago that I last looked into a projector so maybe they’ve gotten better, but these days massive TVs are so cheap I don’t know if it would even be worth it.
Recently? A cordless stick vacuum. My wife has wanted one because ours was too heavy and she figured she would vacuum more often if she had a lighter one. Of course that turned out to not be the case and I am still doing the vacuuming but it is a heck of a lot easier to maneuver around and bring it to other areas of the house.
Previously? Wireless ear buds. Loved those. Unfortunately my dog ate my first pair and I left the second pair on a plane. My next pair will be cheap ones.
I bought a Dyson upright ball which was an expensive purchase at the time. I thought it would cover everything needed. What a pain in the ass to use the hose and attachments.
Great if trying to reach the ceiling but tedious to use and put away. Not easy to use near the vacuum either.
I have a ryobi cordless vacuum that I found was being used more often as it was a easy pickup and vacuum on the go especially for small jobs. I bought an adapter to allow it to use the Dyson attachments so now it looks like a stick vacuum without the fuss of the Dyson ball. Game changer now I'm told.
Zoloft Lexapro aka escitalopram. I thought everyone had the anxiety voices like I did. I told myself I was just a worrier. Then it got REALLY bad in my 30's and even I thought it was getting absurd. My doc asked me "how are you feeling" and I just broke down, spilled my guts. He said "let's try a small dose." and after a couple months adjustment, the crazy voices went from 4/5 to a 1/5. They're still there, but they're WAY more quiet. I had no idea that this is what normal people think like.
we were picking up some free boots for my partner off of facebook marketplace when i asked about the weight bench that was also in the yard. the owner said "someone said they were coming for it, but they were supposed to be here 2 hours ago. you want it?" I disassembled it in the yard and ruined my folding knife trying to use it as a screwdriver, but it was the best decision I've ever made. Grabbed some adjustable dumbbells from amazon, have been hitting up marketplace for plates people aren't using ever since, and I've now got a full-body 5x/week workout routine that is 100% the key to my mental and physical health. Best thing I've ever done for myself, and getting every piece of equipment that I use today cost about $100 total.
Slip-on shoes, these specific ones are so well designed I can put them on in a few seconds while standing. They basically have loops for fingers on the tongue and pull/heel tab, I wish there were better quality shoes with the same design though as these have very specific cleaning instructions.
Not the person you responded to but you can turn any shoe into this. Lock laces. Instead of tying my shoes daily you can slip them on and off and they always stay exactly perfect. I adjust them mayyybe once a year. They're like 10 bucks and make my shoes feel amazing.
Let me start out by saying that I am by no means an authority on the matter.
First was some generic brand 7" chef's knife. I think I paid around $40 for it. It did alright for a while, but what I noticed about it was that the ergonomics and fit/finish were (just slightly) lacking. Unrefined edges made it a bit uncomfortable to use.
My next knife was from Zwilling. It's another standard 7" chef's knife with the hollow cutouts on the blade. This one was much better quality wise, the fit and finish and balance are all there.
The next one after that is a 5" Chef's knife (with hollow cutouts) from Wüsthof. This is my current everyday knife, and I like the size of this one much better. I got this one because I really needed something more compact, and it's been great for mostly everything I use it for right now.
The next knife I want to get is a Nakiri style. Wusthof is sold out of their more affordable line, and the Zwilling one doesn't have the hollow cuttouts on the blade. The Zwilling brand doesn't look quite as good as the Wusthof, in my opinion, but it may still function great.
The last thing I'd like to mention is a knife sharpener. When I got my Zwilling, they also threw in this little keychain Wusthof sharpener, and as long as I give my knife a few swipes every couple of times I use it, they stay pretty sharp. Definitely don't overlook this detail, because even a lower quality knife will benefit greatly from a consistent sharpening routine like that.
Good luck, and I hope that helps. Let me know what you end up going with if you do decide!
I used to have very bad plantar fasciitis from my time in the military. For years I suffered every step of every day. I researched possible solutions and found out zero drop shoes help it. I bought some Xero shoes and after about three months it all just went away. Now I just wear zero drop shoes.
A Comma 3 to run Openpilot on my Honda Civic. It's lane keep / adaptive cruise control on steroids. I drive about 40 thousand miles each year for work, 46 miles round trip on "local" days. Having that level of driver assist on the highway makes a life changing difference. I arrive less fatigued and feel more capable of reacting to hazards. Their tagline is making driving chill, and it really has delivered. I don't know how I did this mileage before Openpilot.
Blundstones. I live in a coastal city that's wet (but rarely snowy) the vast majority of the year. Having rain-resistant shoes that are comfortable AND durable has been a game changer.
And if I can mention a second: A proper, long raincoat. Combined with good shoes, I'm able to tolerate the weather here much better than when I'd first moved to this city and relied on sneakers + regular jackets.
An hdmi to composite converter. It allows me to connect my pc to my old crt, I can play games, watch YouTube, stream everything, it made me realize I don't really need a new TV
Not only have they been essential in breaking the habit of reaching for my phone while I'm meant to be watching my TV/monitor, but I also end up with a practical, useful, personalised product at the end
I don't really know for sure. Best bet is probably a ball pen when I was like 11. I've used only fountain pens until then.
It just doesn't leak and I don't have to wait for ink to dry up.
Ironically I went the other way lol. I can enjoy writing even if it is work notes. (Mine don't leak and I found inks that dry fast enough for me, most of the time).
Same, it really does the hard work for me. All you have to do is just skim through some references, give it to gpt, read its response. If it's good, add to the paper if its not revise the prompt.
May seem silly but a chamber vacuum sealer. It's so much more convenient than the suction style ones. You can place mason jars in it to seal them. I use it pretty much every day.
An 18 button mouse for my PC. 12 buttons on the side which I've mapped my function keys to. It's excellent for gaming, so many things you can do without even using your left hand on the keyboard.
I map those buttons to commonly used keys (that aren't letters), for example Enter, Space, Esc, Ctrl, Shift, etc. Also Mouse4 and Mouse4 and Razer Hypershift
One of those stupid expensive real down feather pillows. I spoiled myself one year for my birthday and only wish I had done it sooner. I go to bed every night and thank myself for getting that pillow.
Just curious, what is "stupidly expensive"? Because I'm allergic to down/feathers/something related to it, and got a really expensive foam pillow that I'm... moderately OK with.
They are expensive and I don't have one for that exact reason, however it's not just "squirting a bit of water into your mouth", it's high pressure water that, as the name suggests, is a complete replacement for traditional flossing.
A memory foam mattress topper. Mine is 8cm (3") thick and an absolute game changer. It goes on top of your existing mattress and under the fitted sheet.
My ipad. It solves the project management triangle completely when it comes to checking the latest in the world. Which is good because of another change I made that helps in life coinciding with all the telecalls.
Shokz (Aftershokz rebranded) are fantastic for endless online meetings if you're working remotely. I often forget I have them on. I did a whole set of in-person job interviews with them on before I realized I was wearing them at the end of the last interview.
It's pretty much the convenience and comfort of using external speakers, but without anyone else hearing. It's just a shame the audio quality isn't high-end for music.
I have a silver Jansport that is probably a decade old now and is still used 3 times a week or more for work, as well as used for airplane travel.
I'm about to look into having the large zipper repaired (it still zips, but I just have to make sure it's aligned now), rather than buying a new one. Best backpack I've ever had
Nintendo switch OLED. I used to game at my PC which always caused me a lot of stress because I prefer the ease and relaxation of a console I can pick up whenever, take anywhere and game instantly as opposed to something I have to sit down with and work at. Sold my PC for it and a bunch of extra money
I have a gas one. But I also work from home, so I use much less gas than the average person to begin with. I plan to replace it with an electric unit when this one quits.
I mostly clean them off the driveway, paths, and grass since they get slick as it's quite rainy here. I usually will try to mulch them and add them back to the flower beds, or compost most of what I clean up. I uave a few areas where I don't clean them at all. But the drive and paths are a must.
I want to eventually convert the front grass to a native habitat and am in the process of getting certified, but that takes time and we just started recently. Once it's mostly converted, I won't need to leaf blow that area any longer.
I recently moved to a new place surrounded by leafy trees and realized I'll actually have to rake the yard, for the first time in a very long time.
But I also just bought a small leaf blower to clear the driveway after mowing... and you made me realize that it's... well... a leaf blower. I hope it's powerful enough, but I bet it'll still speed things up regardless
Yeah, it should help some. It was taking my wife and I a fair amount of time to clean it all up, every weekend during the fall. Now, I can blow it into a huge pile in about 15-20 minutes. Then I can mulch it, add it to the compost, or just send it to the yard debris container. It was a bit pricey, but has saved me countless hours.
I'm a heavy shitter, I shit alot and I shit so much my ass crack looks like caramelized fondu. When I go outside flys swarm around my ass and get stuck on my sticky ass crack. Everyone would avoid me in the local Walmart when I shop for gaming supplies (Doritos and Dr Pepper mostly). I have difficultly wiping because I can't physically reach under there and I can't stand up in the shower. One day my mom told me to lose weight (yeah thanks for bullying me again mom 😒) and I know I'm a little heavy at the moment because I have to use cooking oil to greese up the doorframes so I can squeeze through but that's only because of capitalism shrinking all the rental apartments and cramming as many people in as possible. Anyway I was playing Amongus and one of my femboy friends told me about bidgets. At first I was like "huh?" and he explained that because he plays Genshin he cannot physically leave the house or bathe and he has a special toilet that cleans his butthole for him. So I ordered one off Amazon and my god it is the best thing ever, now this device shoots water up my asshole and poof! No more shit streaked stretch pants woohoo!