Electric wheelchair.
Pretty much been housebound since 2018. I can walk short distances, but large stores like a grocery store or a Home Depot were out of reach unless they had their own scooters available, which were often broken, or un-charged.
Malls were out entirely. City centers? Not a chance.
The wheelchair opened all that back up to me!
Tough comment to follow
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I would bet on it being a little bit (well, a lot) of ablism mixed with people wanting only answers that they personally can use. Which circles back on the ableism… people don’t want to believe that they could suddenly join this minority group at any time.
I had to be in a wheelchair for a year. The internalized shame from pervasive background ableism is horrible.
Thank you for warming my day, friend.
Replaced all my mismatched socks with 24 pair of identical.
Interesting. I went the opposite direction, and prefer it. Grasses greener type deal maybe
Depends on if you think socks are a fashion accessory or a utility.
Not sure it’s so binary. I don’t know the first thing about fashion, but I do like having different kinds of socks, even if no one else sees them.
I do this kinda like magical thinking thing where I think about how I want my day to go and pick socks/etc that go with that.
I know it’s not the most mentally healthy thing
Eh, it doesn’t sound destructive or interruptive to your day.
Manifesting isn’t just a new-age hippy thing. Ritual can put your brain in a certain space, and that can be a massive motivator for someone. Picking your socks to fit the theme isn’t all that different than telling yourself affirmations in the mirror.
It’s kinda like the “lucky shirt” concept. Sure, the shirt doesn’t really have some metaphysical power, but you’re putting yourself in the mindset of “Good things happen when I wear this”, and when you’re already in that frame of mind, the good things stand out even more.
That’s a great way to rephrase it. That’s exactly what that is: I know my choices don’t actually have any magical effects. Pretending like they do gives me the feeling of control, even though I know intellectually that I can only control myself.
I don’t see anything mentally unhealthy about what you do, sounds cool.
That’s fashion. You don’t have to be into the latest trend. Fashion is just how you express yourself in whatever way you like.
Yes, and at the same time I went with thin wool socks too. And I’m in Texas where it’s hot and humid too. Wool socks were a game changer, they don’t hold onto moisture like cotton and synthetics do.
Didn’t want to be a shill, but I got a bunch of medium thick wool socks from Darn Tough and sweaty wool socks are a lot nicer than sweaty cotton/poly socks.
I did this same thing and my life has been changed forever
Yes same, the darn touch T series have been my favorites with the best fit for my thin build. T4021 if I wear my boots, T4016 if I’m rocking tennies.
I tried smartwool and a few other Amazon and popular brands. Came back to darn tough each time.
I did recently get some Alpaca Wool socks and a sweater and they are a close second to the DT socks.
Then I discovered smartwool quarter zip long sleeve shirts, lightweight 150 weight wool, excellent t-shirt replacements
I did that and my wife got annoyed… then started wearing my socks. Now we buy more and just use athletic socks
She’s still got her colorful, playful ones that are a pain in the ass to match up.
Yep. We have grey and black.
Get ‘hiking’ socks, as opposed to ‘athletic’ - they last far longer.
Work socks as well.
They’re socks that go with construction boots. Basically the same as hiking socks but cheaper.
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Ultimately trivial cost-wise and to install, but game-changer:
butt game changer.
That would have made my post so much butter.
What I was about to post, too. It’s ridiculous how much better something as simple as taking a shit can be.
Not specifically mine but definitely that of my wife: a company called Beurer in Germany makes this little tool with a small ceramic plate that you can heat. Press the hot thing against a mosquito bite and not only does the itch go away, the actual inflammation is diminished. For 20 euros one of the best impulse buys I ever did.
We’ve also put in an order for an electric bicycle which I think will lead to us leaving the car now often.
I looked up the bug bite thing. Im glad that someone paid attention to the way most proteins in bites/stings break down if heated. I bet it works pretty good
I doubt that you can get your skin hot enough to denature those proteins without damaging yourself. I’ve given myself a blister before trying.
it says it gets to 170F. thats hot enough to get shallow stuff like mosquito bites and most stings.
That temperature is dangerous, will burn you, and the mechanism of action for these things isn’t denaturation.
How hot does it need to be?
im not sure and it would vary from protein to protein but the thing says it gets up to 170F which is probably enough for a fair few
This is probably going to be life changing for my wife and daughter. They’re both super reactive to mosquito bites to the point of not wanting to be outside. Luckily, we live where there are only flies and moths so most of the time at home this is literally not a problem. However, when camping in the mountains it can be. Thanks for the tip!
My partner is also allergic to mosquito bites and he got a HeatIt and it was life-changing. He previously had to stay home and permanently ice his bites to not get blood poisoning and was in huge pain, but now since it’s always with him on his keychain, he can treat the stings right away before they get too bad and can go out and do pretty much everything now. He still needs to treat the stings regularly, but it’s so much more portable and accessible than the ice packs he used before.
Compared to the larger devices like BiteAway, it performs a bit worse and it’s a bit pricey and the durability is kinda shit, but the fact that it’s always on him and ready to use (as long as you bring your keys and phone), he can treat the bites right away on the go, which makes a huge difference in effectiveness.I get what you mean, but nearly everyone is allergic to mosquito bites. That’s why they itch.
You can achieve the same thing with a metal spoon dipped in hot water, like after stirring a fresh cup of tea. It should be hot enough to hurt but not to burn/damage your skin. I’ve been doing this trick for ages and it works every time :)
wife and daughter.
oh no
They
oh phew
You can also run a spoon under hot water for a more improv tool. Works great.
It’s the same principle, true enough. But this tool I think reaches higher temps which makes it more effective.
Using a hairdryer really helps do this en masse
Over many years, I’ve settled on hydrocortisone cream followed by an ice cube. Those little buggers love me.
I suffer from eczema pretty badly so I always have some sort of cortisol cream nearby. They clear up any bug bites quickly. Luckily, mosquitos prefer my wife’s blood over mine.
CPAP, so I can breathe while I sleep.
Pressure cooker, so I can make a delicious stews in 30 mins instead of hours.
Got any good recipes to share?
African ground nut stew is my favorite recipe. This set of instructions is for stovetop, for pressure cooker, I just throw it all but the peanut butter and hot sauce, which are to be stirred in after high pressure. 25 minutes on high pressure.
8-10 chicken thigh Large can of diced tomato Small can of tomato paste 1 large onion 2 medium carrot 2 stalks celery 8 mushrooms or 2 cans of sliced mushroom 1 or 1.5 cup stock chicken 2.5 tbsp peanut butter Hot sauce optional 3 clove garlic
instructions:
prep: dice the onion peel and chop the carrot/celery Clean and slice mushrooms mince garlic or one small spoon worth of pre minced cut chicken into small pieces to quickly cook or cut thigh in two or breast into three if you want bigger chunks
cooking: put olive oil in large fry pan on high add onion,carrot, and mushroom cook until onion is getting soft then add chicken and garlic keep everything moving around so the onion and mushrooms don’t burn when the chicken is half cooked (white on the outside 50% or so) then add both cans of tomatoes (paste and diced) and stock let simmer for 20-25 mins so the tomatoes break down and chicken finishes cooking, stirring every few minutes add peanut butter in 1/2 tbsp at a time to the pan and mix in with the liquids add salt and pepper approx for 2 more minutes making sure not to let the sauce burn on the bottom Add hot sauce to taste. serve over rice
This makes a good amount of leftovers too.
Custom molded ear plugs. I can play for hours and still hear the full spectrum of frequencies and no ringing.
More please, what brand did you go with? Cost?
I’m also interested. My work provides moulded ear plugs, but they definitely don’t let the same range of frequencies through.
I have molded plugs, the filters are etymotics. Cost was about 200$ at an audiologist that did the molding. You can get filters with varying levels of attenuation, I think mine are 20db and they recommend 25 for drummers.
I had etymotic musicians earplugs before, but they never worked that well. I couldn’t understand lyrics with them in, for instance. But I can with these.
Thanks! $200 sounds expensive but probably very worth it to save you from tinnitus or from going deaf.
Too late on the tinnitus, but at least it doesn’t seem to be getting worse. Lost count of how many concerts and even movies I’ve used them in by now.
Interestingly, a good pair of noise canceling in ear headphones. I have ADHD, and being able to block out the world to focus on what I need to do is a godsend.
Can you share which one you are using? I am looking for good ones.
It depends on if you’re on Android or Apple. The Bose Earbuds 2 and the Apple Airpods Pro 2 trade blows pretty well, both in noise canceling and sound quality. I personally prefer the sound stage of the Apple ones but if actually care about stuff like that, I pull out my cans.
While I wouldn’t recommend this avenue… A trip to the ER and a 2 week quarantine stay at the hospital. I had pancreatitis that was suspected to be caused by a contagious virus? Idk after I was placed in my room I wasn’t allowed visitors and I was pretty isolated aside from blood draws every 4 hours. Cliché but it allowed me to reflect on my life and identify faults in myself and devise ways to become a better.
Still working on a lot of things, but comparing myself to me 6 months ago, I feel amazing about my growth that I don’t think I could have otherwise achieved without this major life event. :)
An e-bike. I used my regular bike for errands but the e-bike just made it so much easier to pedal in high winds or when I was hauling my trailer full of groceries. Plus it increased my range because I knew I could go farther in the same amount of time. I bought a class 1 e-bike so I always have to pedal, like a normal bike. Because I use it more, I think I actually get MORE exercise despite the assist. I really love it.
I live in a cycling-mad but very hilly place. They love it here. To give you an idea of the massive impact ebikes have had, the average cyclist age has jumped up twenty years in the last few years.
It’s not unusual to see octogenarians blasting up hills now. They’ve been absolutely revolutionary
Fr im B?
A lot of people make fun of me for having an ebike “it’s not proper cycling etc”, but they all want to ignore the fact that without it, I would be driving (as they are).
Yeah, it’s pretty BS. No one would ever make fun of someone driving a car for not being 100% human powered.
I will say that the only time I get a little uptight about ebikes is when I come across them on trails/paths that are designated for non-motorized traffic only. Somehow people think that motorized only means combustion engines.
A semi-professional portafilter espresso machine paired with a great grinder.
I can make coffee at home that’s better than what’s being served in most cafés and I can just have that for breakfast every morning. Felt like quite the quality of life improvement.
For me Bazzera Magica and Baratza Vario grinder some time back. Better coffee than most cafes.
I don’t do the espresso machine, but the Baratzza Encore for my pour over or Aeropress has been one of my best food/beverage investments. Between that and a bag of different single origins beans a month almost makes getting up for work bearable! 😄
My style, exactly! But even my $20 grinder works wonders compared to pre-ground coffee. I’ve thought about updating that component but I make pretty good coffee as is.
After getting it, I didn’t notice the hugest difference at first as I was learning to dial it in, but the first time I went back to my fav preground it just tasted so flat and stale.
It’s given me access to do much great coffee now that I can get whatever I want, and being able to adjust grind to tweak the flavor even more has been great.
You and me brother.
Which machine did you choose? I went for the Lelit Bianca, never regretted it.
got the breville bambino and its awesome. drip coffee maker has gone into the garage now, and every morning is coffee christmas.
Food, everyday.
A good shower head with better pressure and spray pattern. The one I got was Oxygenics, hopefully they are still good.
Reusable, vacuum sealable ziplock bags. Cuts back on waste & lengthens the shelf life of most foods.
It’s also really nice to be able to buy bulk meats & be able to separate them into vacuum sealed single servings.
And last but not least, it really helps with using the sous vide. I like being able to separate a bulk package of chicken into individual meals with different marinades. Just pull a bag out & defrost it, then it’s 90 seconds a side to gourmet meals midweek.
What brand did you get?
Just went with a generic option. I have some that have blue zip tops & some with gray.
The one big recommendation I can make is to get one with a battery powered suction pump. They’re little bit more expensive, but the handheld pumps have broken on me in the past.
Thanks!
How reusable have you found the bags to be? I recently (as in, just today) started looking into getting one, but I don’t want to be constantly throwing out bags.
I’ve found that with proper care & paying attention to what I use each bag for helps.
If I use a bag say for tandoori chicken sous vide…
When the chicken’s done, I rinse the bag thoroughly, fill it to ¼, add a lil soap, seal it up, & put it back in the sous vide bath, while it’s still warm.
Let it cool off & then give it a rinse & scrub, before drying.
It’s gentler on the bag than the dishwasher, but still gets it sanitary & clean.
I’ll try to continue using that bag for chicken, if not specifically tandoori chicken.
This is where having two different colors can be helpful. I use gray for meat & blue for everything else.
Blue bags obviously last a bit longer, but this current batch of gray is a year old & still in decent shape.
Tech to make day to day chores easier have had the largest impact for us. The automated self cleaning liter box for the cats, the cordless vacuum, the cordless electric mop (such as Tineco), electric lawn mowers (no maintenance), smart outlets and automations via home assistant.
Another big one is the RO water filter at the kitchen sink. No more bottled water. Bonus points if you get one that tells you when fillters need to be changed. So nice.
I have heard nothing better than mediocre reviews of any of the robotic litter boxes. May I ask which you have, and what you like/don’t like about it?
I got the new Litter Robot 4. I was worried about the price, but after 5 months with 2 cats, I love it. It scoops the litter 15 minutes after they go and keeps the smells contained really well. We change the tray about every 5 days and it takes a regular kitchen trash bag. So it’s just as easy and taking out the trash. No regrets, money well spent
We have the litter robot. It was pretty expensive, and can be a little quirky at times, but for the most part it’s been a real time saver.
The biggest problem is that it can get stuck while doing it’s rotation, which then requires you to intervene. It really doesn’t happen often, though. It’s had errors similar to that around 5 times or so in the past couple years. Not too bad.
We change out the turd bag around once per week. 2 cats have access 24/7, and another cat has access 12-15 hours per day.
I live in Finland and so the seasonal daylight varies from almost none in winter to always in summer. I got a smart socket connected to my grow lamps for all my plants. I used to have an analogue timer that I would have to keep changing the times on as the season progressed. The smart one now turns on when my alarm goes off in the morning and turns off an hour after sunrise, turns on again an hour before sunset and turns off at bedtime.
No messing about anymore, it’s one less thing to worry about.
That’s great! I also use smart plugs for grow lamps! So convenient. The home country of the creator of Linux. Lucky! :)
- A new apartment with all new home appliances. Big quality of life change right there.
- New hybrid bike, with proper bottle and lock holders. Takes me to work very quickly.
- A big set of iFixit tools to fix electronics and toys for my family. (The manta kit, and the pro tech kit.)
- Other proper tools for fixing bikes and such smaller adjustment work.
- A proper power drill.
Can you expound a bit on the hybrid bike? Make, model, price point? Wifey and I are very keen, but we’re lost amongst all the options, costs…
I understand it all depends on what “we’re” looking for, but I’m interested in what others do, to see what matches.
It’s a Nishiki Pro Air from 2015, they are handmade here in Sweden. (Probably in other places as well.)
It cost me around 16,000 SEK at the time, but they seem to be around 13,000 today.
Excellent.
cheers,
My pleasure. I hope you find something that works well for you!
If I were you, I’d check around your area for a bike co-op. They often have great deals on used bikes they tuned up, so you’d save money and end up with something as good (or even better!) than entry-level hybrid models. Plus co-ops tend to be staffed by the hugest bike nerds who are sincerely eager to help new cyclists.
If you’d rather buy new, I’d recommend an entry-level (starting at around 600$) hybrid from any of the big bike brands (this advice is a bit location-specific, I’m talking about North America here). I ride a Trek FX1, but all the big bike brands have similarly-featured models.
Whatever you do, please stay away from cheap, big box store bikes. These are usually assembled by people who are not trained bike mechanics and shoddily assembled bikes can easily be dangerous. They also often have non-standard parts, making repairs and maintenance frustrating.
Thank you.
