Fidget toys got a bad rep, especially after Fidget Spinners became trendy for the younger generation.
But just having a little thing I can toy around with has been great for my pens and game controllers, as in the before times my grabby hands would fiddle with them whenever I was thinking about shit and it was bad for their durability.
For less than a dollar? (ay, currency exchange rates) Yeah, one of the best things I bought.
I find that my brain processes information better if my hands are also doing something. So, I use various fidget toys to help me concentrate during meetings.
This one seems silly, but one really useful cheap thing I bought that I use much more than I thought I would is an electric kettle. (I should point out I’m in the US) I use it to make iced tea, my wife uses it for hot tea, and we both use it for boiling water for whatever cooking project needs it. We have a gas stove, and it takes about twice as long to heat up a liter of water as this kettle. It uses a normal US 120v outlet and I think it draws 1,000w. (Edit: I looked it up and it’s 1,100 watts)
At 110V that’s a 20A kettle. So you aren’t getting that high of wattage kettle in the US. Most standard US residential breakers are only 20A (some are only 15A) and they aren’t designed to continuously run near the max amperage so the biggest we can run on a “normal” circuit is probably around a 1760W kettle but it would also have to be the only thing running on that circuit at the time.
Can’t say I know what that looks like, but the US is a big place. There’s a lot of different looks to it.
But even poor Poland Villages have electric kettles.
We do have them. You can get one at nearly any big box store. They’re cheap too. Most Americans still don’t own one because we have no particular need.
plus one and I use it for a lot of non cooking where you want water of a specific temperature. Unclogging drains and filling the carpet cleaner comes to mind.. Its like I want 135 degree water. Oh also nasal irrigation water. Its great for it to have a wide temperature setting.
Seconding an electric kettle, even a cheap one was a game changer over not having one at all. Crazy how 99.99% of people I know as an American don’t own one
Its kind of silly, but VR. I like hanging out in vrchat with my internet friends and it makes me feel a lot closer to them. Even when we’re just talking and goin to cool worlds.
Was also gonna say this since expensive gadgets weren’t excluded. I played a bunch of VR minigolf over pandemic to socialize with my irl friends who I couldn’t hang out with and these days VR has been the center of more than half of the social gatherings at my place where I demo games and we pass the headset around for everyone to try different stuff. Seeing new people try VR for the first time never gets old.
Not op but quest 2 is a great deal right now for cassual gaming. It works stand alone and with PC. I have also quest 3, but quest 2 is insanely cheap right now and will hold at least a couple of more years. The differences vs quest 3 do not justify the cost difference unless you are hardcore gamer. Imo
I got an older Vive Cosmos headset for like 300 dollars. The controllers kinda suck but its easy to use. Might upgrade tracking and get valve knuckles but its expensive to do so.
Valve Index kit is the best overall setup for the money. Quest headsets are for more casual gaming but the Index uses the power of your PC and its GPU for the graphics.
Cordless vacuum was a costly one but certainly made that chore a lot more easy and kinda fun. I planned to store it in a closet but I’d take it out every few days so eventually I started leaving it on the floor, it’s not in the way there either.
On a similar note, robot vacuum. It cleans quite nicely, is surprisingly reliable, and as a bonus you keep the floor less cluttered to make sure it doesn’t run into stuff it shouldn’t.
This year, my partner and I traded our large “traditional” vacuum for a robot + cordless stick vacuum.
Honestly, a great decision. Robot vacuum runs once a weekday, house has never been cleaner. Anything it doesn’t get, we can quickly grab the cordless for.
Yeah I got one of those Samsung ones with the dock you set it in when not in use. It charges it up and empties the canister into it’s own built in vacuum. I use it all the time to pick up the loose cat litter and quick vacuum jobs on the floors.
3D printer. At any moment in time I could just print something out and it would be ready by the time I finish eating. The possibilities are endless, plenty of free models online or just learn how to design yourself.
What are some fun or useful things you print? I see a lot of prints online that are toys or action figures, and that’s pretty neat but I usually am not impressed with the quality.
I dunno about other guy, but I came here to say 3d printer.
I’ve printed small plastic parts to fix the flush mechanism of a toilet for pennies. I’ve printed little utility items like hangers for parts to paint. Holders for dnd minis to make painting them easier. Storage boxes to organize small parts for various other hobbies. Giant realistic cock and balls turned into a trophy. Replacement parts for board games that have been lost or broken over the years. Custom dice towers and dice boxes for dnd dice sets. Etc.
The ability to see a need, take some measurements, and spend a few minutes in a cad software to have a replacement part that you otherwise can’t find (or can’t find by itself) is honestly amazing.
I use my printer for making replacement parts for things, and for making simple stuff I need like tools, and also for prototyping.
An example: I used to have this motorcycle. The mount for the taillight broke. A new one was $100, and it would break again the same way. So I measured the socket in the fender, measured the bolt holes, and designed my own, which worked flawlessly the rest of the time I had the bike.
Off the top of my head I made a ssd>hdd mounting adapter for my pc. A replacement clip to fix my headphones when they broke, a latch for a pet carrier, replacement part to fix a lamp to it’s base, and a mount for a bearing my mom used to make a lazy Suzan.
The simplest thing I printed is the one I’m most happy about, I had a power bar dangling beside my bed for all my chargers and I printed 2 small clips and it holds it great.
I printed bookcase supports, an air filter and tons of custom boxes for electronics. I learned the basics of SolidWorks so I could design stuff for my printer (ender 3 S1)
I almost exclusively print functional things so here’s my list of things I’ve designed or printed:
Tubular key to bypass paying for laundry
Furniture leg extensions on almost all my furniture to give minimum 4" clearance for the robovac
Custom mounting bracket / spacer for mounting road sign to the wall with command strips
Tapestry mounting shim to clamp tapestry in binder clips to hang on the wall without ripping the tapestry
Rubber band powered sandal holders that stick to the wall and clamp onto sandals which can be used without using your hands / while holding something (I needed to keep my basement sandals from being eaten by my old robovac and I needed to be able to put them on and put them back without needing to put down anything heavy I’m taking to/from the basement, and the space required it to be flat against the wall)
Replacement shelf pegs for bathroom shelves which are normally only sold in 20 packs for >5$ when I only needed 1, the print cost like 1c instead
Replacement D-slotted electrical box key since the one that came with the box broke
Backyard lamp holder that attaches to the fence pole and provides a loop to hang a lamp
Replacement side panel clip for my PC case which came with 1 broken - manufacturer doesn’t sell replacements
Custom piece for 2 sectional couch legs to slot into which keeps the 2 halves of my couch from sliding apart causing someone to fall in between onto the floor
Some of this could have been bought online but having a 3D printer really reveals how overpriced plastic stuff is. I rarely print something that costs me more than a few dollars in filament - and that’s if it’s a very large object, it’s easily less than the shipping cost of an equivalent item alone, and small things can often only be found in large packs online while usually costing only a couple cents to print. And plenty of the stuff I print benefits from being able to be made custom and to the exact dimensions I need, for example the furniture leg extensions I made fit perfectly on the furniture legs and raise them up exactly as high as they need to be for my robovac to go under, not a centimeter more. A whiteboard marker caddy I made holds the exact number of markers I have / want to have and attaches under a light switch wall plate which I designed in order to avoid needing to attach it with command strips or screws (it gets clamped between the wall plate and the wall by the existing light switch screws). The first item I listed, the tubular key, was printed with the exact bitting needed for the lock (layer height of 0.05mm is enough vertical resolution for the key to work).
I’ve recently been working on a cube tomato project. I have those models up on my Printables account. I’m planning on uploading more useful stuff I print up.
Your physiotherapist and your sleep doc will both agree that watching or reading your phone in bed is a bad idea.
You may rock out a rebuttal that sounds like “I know driving drunk is bad but I need to”, or so, but your bed is for sleeping and sometimes play-dates.
Cool, except I have one room that I rent so the bed is really the ony option as far as relaxing goes. If the physiotherapist and sleep doc want to pitch in and help me buy a house I’m more than happy to switch to a couch though.
Yep this is correct. People are downvoting you because they don’t like to acknowledge their bad habit.
People are too engrossed with their phones in general, and keeping on staring at one when you go to bed is the cherry on top of a day’s bad habit indulgence. Of course if you are just resting in bed and looking at the phone temporarily it’s not as bad as using the phone while you’re supposed to be going to sleep at night.
I’m sure that generally that is true, but my brain tends to pick something from a show, movie, song, and play it on repeat for the entire time I’m asleep. This results in me having terrible sleep. I play a show or movie as I’m falling asleep and this doesn’t happen. I usually fall asleep within 5 minutes. When I have a decent amount of sleep 6+ hours, I wake up refreshed using this method.
Again, I’m not saying you’re wrong. I’m saying there may be exceptions like mine.
I did not downvote you, because I don’t downvote people who are trying to have conversations/discuss topics.
Related to the use of an articulating arm for watching in bed, it was amazing when my neck and back were hurt and I needed to lay totally flat for a few days.
Bone conducting ear phones, I have tiny narrow ear canals and can’t get any type of ear bud to go in my ears, the bone conductors are a revelation for listening to audio books, radio and music when I’m out and about
Shokz are awesome. I also have finicky and small ear holes that don’t like earbuds that much, along with piercings that can get annoyed depending on the style. Shockz solves all that plus I can hear my surroundings. Pro tip for camping…wear the shockz WITH earplugs and play white noise or sleep music. It was the only way I slept during a bass music festival with after parties going until dawn.
My wife was a bone conduction earphone candidate for multiple reasons and I convinced her to try some. Her first pair from Shokz died relatively quickly, but they sent her a replacement without much hassle. She likes them a lot. Every now and then I steal them for a bit. I call it the “voice of god” because when you play something through them it’s like telepathy. You can hear the outside unimpeded, but there’s also this extra sound being injected into your head. Would recommend.
I have been using them for years… reliability is questionable… but their warranty is hassle-free. Got 3 pairs in one year .very little questions asked.
This. Got 3 in a year but got tired of playing all the shenanigans customer support played, got an equivalent $35 at Amazon and if I’ve to buy it 4 times in a year I’m even. Can also run it first trough warranty and get another pair next dsy so I’m always connected. They use to be the best and break about the 20 month mark,.now is just another device waiting to die quick.
Shokz are awesome. I can’t have my hearing impared at work for safety and just practical reasons but the shokz don’t block my hearing so they’re fine. The battery on them can also easily last through a whole 12 hour shift. I’ve had mine for a couple of years now and only just recently one of the buttons has started to act up, otherwise I’ve had no problems with them.
Mine are Shokz, I’ve had them a couple of years now with no issues at all, the battery lasts for many hours, I’ve never had then run out for.my use case
I have tinnitus, and bought a Bluetooth audio sleep mask so that I could sleep with the TV off and not keep my partner awake. That in itself was a game changer, but on top of that, I sleep way better with my eyes covered and I use it now even when I’m not listening.
(It’s extra weird because I have thick eyelids and see black when I close my eyes even in a well lit room, so I never considered that I’d need one.)
I use mine largely for TTRPG stuff, but it’s the little things that are really satisfying. Like throwing together a little bracket that needs to be exactly this shape, and then being able to test fit it, make adjustments, and print up the exact perfect thing that no one makes for the exact purpose you need it for.
I’d like to get a 3D printer but I live in a 1br apartment so I don’t have a great place to put it. I might be able to make space in the living room or bedroom but I’m a little leery of health concerns (seems like a bad idea to have something that’s melting plastic right where I’m sleeping or eating, is rather have it in a garage or basement or something)
Swapped out the head unit on my 2016 car for a touchscreen that supports Android Auto. I got spoiled using a similar one in my friend’s rental car. It was only $600 installed at Best Buy. It’s so nice not to have to fight with keeping my phone in a display holder where I can see the map, and now I can control my phone-streamed music with my steering wheel controls. Makes driving so much more pleasant.
I did this too around five years ago, but I installed it myself rather than paying for installation. I bought it from Crutchfield and they provided very good instructions.
It’s harder to do in newer cars though, since the head unit has more of the car’s systems going through it. Mine (2012 Mazda 3) only uses the head unit for what you’d expect - the radio, door/seatbelt chimes, and steering wheel controls.
I did this last month in my 04 Honda CRV, such a massive upgrade. I don’t have steering wheel controls, and I didn’t want to tap a screen for volume control, so I went with the boss be7acp because it has a physical volume knob. Added a backup camera because why not.
It’s been a massive upgrade! Crutchfield is the bomb, installation wasn’t that hard, a bit fiddly getting to the wires for the backup and park, but I was done in a couple hours, backup camera included.
An Ice Cream Maker. Been making my own Ice Cream for years now and its amazing. The cheap machines which requires you to freeze the bowl is nice, but the one with a heat pump built in is amazing. In 3 hours I can make batches of Mint, Chocolate and Vanilla Ice Cream.
Amazon sells them with the search term “with compressor”. I got this one 2 years ago, it’s pricey but you can get smaller ones with less volume for cheaper. www.amazon.ca/dp/B01FXMW4AS/
I’ve had a look, not purchased, but watched a lot of review videos and I’d recommend you to do the same as no one here is going to have really tried all the different models available.
Unfortunately, the price does seem to correlate with the quality and performance and the most expensive auto vacuums cost in the £300 region. They also will never be as powerful as a traditional upright, can’t do stairs and of course you still have to empty them and take them up and down the stairs to do the different floors of your house. But yh, the price is the biggest reason I’ve not gotten one myself.
I had Neatos for years. They worked great until they didn’t; I always had to do a lot of troubleshooting. Now I have a Wyze vacuum, which I think is a rebrand of a larger Chinese brand. It doesn’t clean as well as the Neatos, but it’s had no problems so far, and it was much cheaper.
There’s plenty of reviews out there if you want to get into it, and it does seem like some of the more expensive ones out there have some really nice features. But if you’ve been on the fence for a while my advice is to pick a well reviewed affordable one and go for it.
Once you have something cleaning your floors you’ll have more time to research which one is the ultimate vacuum.
I have a Roomba j7+ and I love it. I also have a Braava Jet M6, so mopping is taken care of too. The mopping is slow, but it’s quiet and it’s not like I have to wait for it.
These free up so much time. Love mine too. I cook a lot and mess around a lot in the open kitchen/living room area and had to sweep the floor daily…not anymore.