If you have a car get a dashcam. It’s more valuable than any insurance because it will definitively prove what happened when something goes wrong. Bonus: you can post videos of bad drivers doing stupid things on the internet for imaginary points.
If only there was actually a good car dashcam, but every time I go down that rabbit hole I give up frustrated. The quality (build, mounting, video, whatever) is shit in pretty much all of them, and the “passable” ones look like a web cam from 2005 still.
There’s a reason for that, Linus Tech Tips did a great video on it. You’re better off buying an old go pro and using that.
One I didn’t see mentioned yet: a rice cooker.
Put in rice, add water, push start button, and you get perfect rice every time. I’m usually against single-purpose kitchen tools but a rice cooker is soo worth it.
Really only if you eat a lot of rice. For once a year or so, a pot on the stove works just fine. The actual benefit I’ve see for ricecookers is how well they can hold the rice for hours ready to go, but that’s more of a commercial benefit I think.
[…] but that’s more of a commercial benefit I think
For me, this is the primary benefit of a rice cooker. Having warm, cheap, filling food on demand at any time is fantastic. I am so lazy and my little rice buddies are always ready to go when I can’t be bothered.
“Rice is great if you’re really hungry and want to eat two thousand of something”
I eat a lot of ice and I still just make it in a pot.
I like to imagine you huddled over an ice field, stirring water in a pot until it turns to the perfect slushy consistency for your fresh homemade ice.
Living in Japan, this almost didn’t register to me. I have literally never met anybody that didn’t have one. When you move out, you use your family’s old one until you can buy a newer one.
Everyone should have one, absolutely.
I know this will be a popular response, but I don’t get it.
I just use a pot and the rice is always perfect? Not hard at all? Am I just good?
A pair of high fidelity earplugs (aka concert earplugs or filtering earplugs). You can get a good non-custom pair for $15–$40, and that’ll work well for the average person for a long time.
They’re excellent for live music, airplanes, and anytime you want the world to be quieter but still need to be able to understand speech. And for music specifically, they can bring the volume level down just enough to be safe without muffling the sound like traditional foam earplugs do. Protect your hearing, kids!
Protect your hearing, kids!
Seriously, PROTECT YOUR FUCKING HEARING. I was young and stupid (now I’m no longer young) and went to way too many raves, gigs etc. without any sort of hearing protection, and now I have a nice constant background track of EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE and can’t hear higher frequencies worth shit
I didnt even go to any concerts or anything and i still have it 😭
I can get tinnitus if I have too much ear-wax and I have to remove it periodically, since it wont come out on its own.
Yep, tinnitus is your brain filling in the absence of hearing, its not a condition in itself
Right ear went to working in a call centre. Left ear seems to be trying to decide if it’s going to recover or not from some unaware idiot in Tesco suddenly walking up and slamming his stock cart shut right next to me. I really hope I don’t end up with stereo EEEEEEEEEEEEE but it feels like an inevitable matter of time at this point. There goes the left one again…
I know it’s way more expensive, but the last gig I went to, I used my AirPods Pro in transparency mode, and it reduced the sound down from an insane ~110db to peaks of 90! Definitely worth protecting your ears.
Do you have any brand and model recommendations?
I’m no earplug connoisseur, but I’ve been using Westone’s WM16 for smaller venues, and Etymotic Research’s ER20XS dual-flange for louder situations. I haven’t tried much else, but these work well for me. I’ve also heard great things about Earasers, Eargasm, and Hearos.
Earasers are a bit more expensive and appear to have a unique ergonomic eartip. iirc you can get them for $40 elsewhere, maybe Amazon. I’ve read that Earasers’ “-19dB Peak” model has a very slight sound reduction, so I’d probably opt for their middle “European Standard” model. On the other end of the price spectrum, Hearos is particularly inexpensive at a glance. Idk anything about specific models.
Some brands have multiple types of earplugs (e.g. for music, shooting, construction work), so make sure you’re getting one designed for music or “high-fidelity” or something like that. Any of the “good” brands are probably going to work just fine. (Read the reviews if you’re unsure.) Most brands seem to include multiple eartip sizes in the package so you can choose the right fit.
Beyond that, there is some element of personal preference. For example, I first tried Etymotic’s classic triple-flange version and didn’t like how deep they stuck into my ears. It felt invasive. But the dual-flange model feels great for me.
And finally, there are different options for how much attenuation (noise reduction) you want. Like I mentioned, my “-16dB average attenuation” earplugs feel good for small/medium venues (a backroom venue of a bar, maybe a theater). For a larger venue (arena or stadium, or even just a really loud loud theater) you’d definitely want more significant average attenuation, probably in the low-to-mid twenties.
Most earplugs will be confusingly marketed with multiple attenuation values. One will be an official NRR value, which is apparently required but controversial, and the other(s) will be the average and/or peak decibel reduction “when the product is used correctly” as reported by the manufacturer. It seems people don’t talk about the NRR as often. But it’s fun that they’ve made it more complicated for us to compare products.
I should also mention that if you’re a performing musician or hardcore concert-goer, you may consider springing for custom-molded earplugs, which are way pricier. I haven’t made that upgrade yet, but everyone who does seems to think it’s life-changing.
This got long, sorry!
I’m no earplug connoisseur
7 paragraphs about earplugs
uh oh, they’re onto me
3 dozen pairs of identical socks. Mine are black crew cut. I’ll wear them until the last few pairs are worn through and I’ll never have a sock without a mate.
A bike. Poor people in underdeveloped countries can use it to get access to education and markets, while people from developed countries can ise it to keep healthy and reduce their environmental footprint
I was going to say that, but out of the 6 bikes in the garage none of them are under $100 even second hand.
In fact I would advise against getting a cheap shitty bike that isn’t going to last. Spend the extra money, get something good. It’s better for the environment and your wallet in the long run.
I’ve driven “good” bikes all my life. Aluminium frame, disc brakes, fancy suspension, 3x9 gears. That sort of thing.
Wanna know what my best biking experience was? Riding a steel frame, 3-speed dutch-style rental omafiets with no suspension and regular-ass brakes on a vacation. That thing was hella comfortable, sturdy as a brick and convenient.
If I lived in a not fully car-brained city where you can safely bike and was tight on money, I’d absolutely buy an old cheap used regular-ass steel frame bike with no frills and use the hell out of it until it’s irreparably broken. You can leave that thing standing in the rain, locked with just a frame lock (or perhaps even no lock at all) all without worrying that it might get damaged or stolen because there isn’t much to damage or steal in the first place.
I also don’t see how buying a “good” bike in any way helps the environment when the alternative is re-using something that’s already been built and successfully used before.
I love my 2000€ Brompton that I daily-drive but I’d be nearly as happy with a 100€ bike like I described above. You don’t get more bike when you go above that price point, you only get a more fancy bike.
But I walk everywhere … not sure getting a bike would reduce my footprint.
It would increase your travel distance though. Mechanical advantage for the win.
A bidet. Fight me.
Fight me.
Okay, but I’m bringing my power washer.
PSA - Do not use a power washer on your parts.
“Bidet - the power washer for your parts”
Can I use it in others parts?
Preach it brother. Enlighten the unwashed (m)asses.
The only people who would fight you about how great bidets are are people who have never actually used one
The only people who would fight you about how great bidets are
are people who have never actually used oneAre people with dirty bums
After I going through my second ~$30 bidet. I upgraded to a ~$300 Toto bidet with heated water and seat. No regrets.
How does that work? I don’t have hot water or an outlet in my toilet room. Did you have to renovate, or was there service already?
I have an electric one and just ran an extension cable. If I owned I would definitely install an outlet next to the toilet.
It must’ve feel like being blessed by the rains down in Africa
I wonder if I could rig up a bidet that would play Africa by Toto while it washed my backside.
We just got one. We even splurged for the fancy one that hooks up to warm water. It is life changing. I feel very dirty whenever I have to do a poo somewhere else. Underrated appliance, for sure.
You didn’t know you needed one until you use it. Life changing.
God damnit. I was hoping reddits love of bidets would stay on reddit, yet here we are
Have you used one? What do you have against them?
A fire extinguisher can be found for less than 100 USD and is a must-have. A smoke detector is also a bare minimum in my opinion.
A water kettle. Doesn’t have to be any fancy one, but it really fucking rocks for anything you might think of : want hot water for tea? No problem. Need hot water to steep something? No problem.
Most mid-range ones are insanely power efficient too, often being alot better than just boiling water on a stovetop, or using a microwave. And, depending on insulation, heat can be stored for over 6! hours.
I’m going to guess you’re in the States? I’m from England and live in the Netherlands. I’ve never met anybody ever who didn’t own a kettle. Is it true that it’s really not that common in the States to own a kettle?
A kettle is such a default kitchen item in the UK that I find it kinda crazy that it’s not standard somewhere like the US, though I know I’ve seen the difference in base voltage being a factor before.
I went to visit a friend in the US (los angeles). She asked me what I want for breakfast and I said just some tea please and nothing else. I saw her going from confusion to terror in 5 seconds. And I was like whats wrong? Is everything ok?
Eventually she boiled water in a mug in the microwave, put in some pieces of apples and called it tea.
A few weeks later I went for work in the bay area. I just cannot start a day without tea. I saw the hotel I stayed in had a bit of difficulty in the tea department. Decided to buy my own kettle so I can have my tea in the room. Naively went to an electric store to buy a kettle. There was none. I was like WTF. Went to target, there were none. Only stove ones. But my room didnt have a stove. Then it hit me americans just dont boil water like the rest of the world.
A towel
good for covering your ears in case of Vogon poetry
As recommended by the Hitchikers Guide to the Galaxy
You can wrap it around you for warmth as you bound across the cold moons of Jaglan Beta; you can lie on it on the brilliant marble-sanded beaches of Santraginus V, inhaling the heady sea vapours; you can sleep under it beneath the stars which shine so redly on the desert world of Kakrafoon; use it to sail a miniraft down the slow heavy River Moth; wet it for use in hand-to-hand combat; wrap it around your head to ward off noxious fumes or avoid the gaze of the Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal (a mind-bogglingly stupid animal, it assumes that if you can’t see it, it can’t see you — daft as a brush, but very very ravenous); you can wave your towel in emergencies as a distress signal, and of course you can dry yourself off with it if it still seems to be clean enough.
A first aid kit
99 bucks
99.99 would be more profitable:-D
The Haynes manual for your car. Even if you’re not a mechanic they are so detailed they will walk you through fixing almost anything, they’re made for the laymen. I’m a diesel mechanic and even i own one for my cars.
When friends buy a new car i buy them a Haynes manual.
They don’t do them for ever single car in the world and the coverage isn’t as great on later model stuff but if you own s car 5 years or more old they’re great.
A decent set of precision kitchen scales, and some general use scales that don’t have a massive delay on them #WeightSupremacist4Lyf
But seriously, fuck you, measuring cups. Fuck. You.
Sometimes multiple scales are important too! I’ve got the big ol boi with the white bowl, has worked amazingly for food for years. Then the standard blade scale for weighing… Parsley and… salt. Finally, the lil guy with the tiny metal saucer that goes down to .001 for weighing… really… small amount of… yeah it’s drugs
As a homeowner, a Dremel. I’ve replaced half my tools with a single device and counting. Best 80 bucks I’ve spent on useful stuff in ages. You can get literally anything as an attachment, Lol. I’m waiting for the attachment that will do my taxes.
A decent flashlight.
A streamlight stylus pro is $20, uses 2 AAA batteries, is barely bigger than a pen, and can be an absolute life saver. It produces way more light and throws it way further than your phone’s light, and I’ve been carrying the same one every day for nearly 15 years now with no signs of it failing. I use it nearly daily in my personal and professional life, you will genuinely wonder how you manages without it if you make it a habit of carrying it.
Or go nuts and get yourself a something like a surefire G2. Bigger, heavier, but more durable and incredibly bright.
Your phone is already a flashlight
