The Panic Playdate. It’s just a really nice gaming console that is getting a lot of support from game devs. It’s one of the very few truly portable handhelds as it can easily fit in a pocket and the battery lasts forever too.
A custom cane. I know it’s silly but I get a lot of compliments on it. It’s hand crafted in Ukraine and it has a steel sculpture of Thors face adorned on the front.
If you’re someone like me that is going to need that for the rest of your life, why use some cold looking medical device or that stupid “hurry cane”? Nah I’d rather it be as beautiful as it is functional.
I’ve taken it on all my travels so far and it makes for a great conversation piece and a great way for others to broach the uncomfortable topic of my accident or walking impairment. Most people will ask about the cane first before asking me why I need it. Prior to owning the custom cane nobody asked me about anything.
I’ve been struggling with gout in my knee and ankle off and on. When it gets bad I’m almost immobile and I broke down and finally bought a cane to help me hobble around when it’s at its worst.
Mine also came from Ukraine and like you I wanted something with personality. I got an oak, ball top style stained cherry and I love it!
I got one made of holly, with a phoenix feather core. It’s very nice and supple.
did you pick it or did it pick you?
Same. It’s awful. It’s not gout obviously but the stiffness in my knee and ankle is the most debilitating. Ironically I didn’t break my ankle or my knee. My hip was broken and keeping my foot still for the better part of a year has been problematic for movement ever sense.
The hip aches a lot but I can tolerate that by modifying my walking and using the cane. I still haven’t figured out how to get the stiffness out of my ankle and knee.
Physical Therapy! Do the exercises/stretches. If you need to go back and ask a doctor for another round, do it. I get it though.
Sometimes KT tape can do wonders, but it really really depends. Personally, the best was with knees and arms. I wear a different kind of brace for my ankle, a Trilok, but there are apparently a whole bunch of similar ones now.
Other times you just suffer in silence…
I’ll give it a shot. I’m open to trying new things. I just wish I could wake up and have one day where I didn’t feel like the tin man without any oil.
Bitchin’
Two “gadgets” that I’m never without. My Leatherman multitool and my RovyVon Aurora flashlight. The multitool with locking blades is like carrying a toolbox on your hip. And that flashlight - it’s 2 inches long and 1/2 inch wide, but it can kick out a beam that lights up things 1000 feet away. Or provide enough light to read by for 40 hours. Yeah, I can use the smartphone’s flash, but it isn’t bright enough to show me if the two eyes reflecting back at me belong to a dog or a bear. That’s important where I live.
It’s a common thing I read on here. All the swiss pocket knives, Leatherman and flashlights. What are you people doing with those? I cannot remember the last time one of these items has been relevant to me.
I’m almost curious what kind of life you live? You never find yourself in a situation where having a knife, screwdriver, pliers, or a flashlight on you wouldn’t be a huge convenience?
I’m a network engineer, I always have a flashlight on me since I have to get into crawl ways to chase cables
I personally have an Acebeam E70 Mini because it’s high CRI and non-PWM.
A new bread knife
Shokz is a brand that makes them. I haven’t had a pair but a student of mine had them and liked them.
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.
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 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.
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.
Edit: I currently use an Elegoo Neptune 4 Pro
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 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 would love to see your models. Do you have a printables, thingiverse or something?
Sure, most of them are posted here: https://www.printables.com/@StephenSmith
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)
Geometric frames of the same size and thickness to make a 3 tiered windchime from upcycled glass!
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.
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.
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 just bought my first one, it’ll be here in 3 days, I’m excited!
Paramotor
Edit: And you should get a paramotor too so I have someone to talk to about it on Lemmy lol
How does one get into this hobby? Hell this looks like something I’d want to go setup a beach chair somewhere and watch.
Find a local instructor USPPA rated if in the US.
If they’re any good, they will be happy to let you come out and watch!
Honestly?
A fidget cube.
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.
Any recommendations? I wouldn’t mind getting one of these for my desk.
Not for everyone obviously, but I developed a synthesizer habit some years ago, and right now is probably the best time ever for a beginner to get into it. Korg’s Volca series, Roland’s Aira compact, teenage engineering’s Pocket Operators, Arturia’s Microfreak, and Elektron’s Model series are all affordable and a great way for a beginner to start making some cool-ass music. Beware developing a habit though. It only stays affordable so long.
Chulka chuks https://www.chukachuks.com one more way I can pretend i’m a musician.
A bidet 💪 even a cheap one is nice.
Cold water tho
Gotta get a heated one
I find the cold water refreshing. That said, I’ve never tried a heated one.
Came to say bidet. I have the poor man version … 25 at Amazon. I suffer Everytime I have to go back to only tp when not at home. I feel like a savage caveman without one. Smearing poop is just nasty and uncivilized to me. I have used the fancy ones in Japan but really did not like the warm water. I prefer the shocking cold glaciar feeling of butt refreshes. To anyone reading this…get a bidet, ANY KIND… Try cleaning up peanutbutter from your arm with just paper to experience what we talking about .
You don’t need a shower everyday just because your ass gets dirty. You need to shower everyday because the rest of you is dirty too lol
There are very few people in this world in my opinion who shouldn’t be showering daily or at least every other day.
I can spend all day doing nothing and still reek at the end of the day. I’m sorry but you sound gross. Ain’t no high quality shampoo. Keeping the stink off you that long.
Sounds like you don’t have enough experience with talking to people about hygiene? I know many people who don’t shower daily and are perfectly hygienic and not smelly at all, me included, and my wife. Kids definitely usually don’t need to bathe daily either. Sometimes weekly is enough. Especially infants shouldn’t rinse too much, else they develop skin problems.
If you spend all day doing nothing and reek?? Sounds like a you problem. Probably genetic.
Research Aleppo soaps. Might actually help you!
Good luck, stinky! ❤️😊
It takes a lot of water and energy to make toilet paper. Well, a lot more than turning on my bidet for 10 seconds.
I would also add on that, unless you REALLY rocked that toilet, every poo becomes a single flush. Rather than potentially needing to double flush to avoid clogging it
While you’re shopping for a bidet also shop for an Australian toilet. The half flush saves a lot more water too but the proper s-bend makes everything a single flush even if you rocked it hard.
and by rocked it I mean you filled it with mercury for some reason
What’s this now? There are a number of US toilets that have the dual flush feature, but what’s this about a modified S bend?
Literally no other countries have problems with toilets clogging. It’s not a modified S, it’s a normal one
One of those is a bathroom remodel and the other is twenty minutes with a wrench in a rental
That’s my secret, I’ve got a 50 year old toilet with a five gallon tank. There’s nothing this bad boy can’t take down.
Here is an alternative Piped link(s):
https://piped.video/DGyaFzRciMA?si=AAOU8yHrWBnT0ti4
Piped is a privacy-respecting open-source alternative frontend to YouTube.
I’m open-source; check me out at GitHub.
Ten seconds? I think Mother Nature can understand if you wanna live it up a little bit more you know?
I spray my ass with the force of a thousand tsunamis—10 seconds is more than enough.
Hahaha well then what better experience can you have with an ebb and flow like that? That’s beyond living it up, and more like riding the storm 😆
Warning. Purchasing a bidet will ruin travel because you don’t feel clean the entire trip
I recently started carrying one of these in my travel kit. Absolutely recommended for just that reason.
As someone who speaks Spanish
culoclean
choking on my White Russian
Same here my friend! They nailed the name.
You mean those handheld bidets like a tiny shower head on a flexible hose? I actually much prefer those over the ones mounted inside the toilet bowl. I can aim them wherever I want, and I find it handy for all kinds of non-bidet things - you can hose things down in the tub or sink next to the toilet, for example, or use it to clean the toilet bowl itself.
I’m Italian and I must support @FaceDeer 's point, these are standard in my country (and they should be standard everywhere, damn barbarians) and they are definitely better than a spray nozzle attached to a toilet. You can also use them for other things, like washing your feet.
So you have a dirty crack, you got to get up, and waddle through the bathroom with pants on your ankles?
Yeah, I’m wondering about that. I’m a filthy TP barbarian but, how exactly does one make this style of bidet work?
How do you guys use that? I’m guessing you live somewhere where it’s warm? That would be spraying ice cold water up my bum over here.
The opposite, actually - I’m Canadian. :)
All I can say is that if you’ve never tried a bidet before you’ll likely be very surprised by how little sensitivity you’ve got to cold water down there. It’s simply not uncomfortable or even particularly noticeable, either in my experience or in anyone I’ve talked to about it (which is admittedly not many - it’s not a common topic of conversation).
The hand bidet was super cheap and the shipping was free, so I figured “why not give it a whirl?” And it worked out great.
ill second that, i thought it would be a problem but decided to just endure the cold because i didnt feel like running power over to the toilet but turned out not to be a problem at all. if anything its sort of refreshing lol
How do you make it work though? You slip a hand behind you and aim at the crack at an angle so it sprays into the bowl?
Bidet for sure. A good one in the $300-400 range. It is such a gamechanger to always have a clean ass. And without TP, the toilet never clogs and you aren’t spending extra on TP. Also helps with hemorrhoids if/when you get those, as TP is really rough on your asshole/not good for you.
I still have some TP for guests, but with the dryer built in, it really isn’t needed.
Also, a bidet is a lifesaver if you like extreme hotsauces. Basically, it’s the only piece of daily furniture that makes me go “God, I’m so glad I bought this” for literal years since I got it in the pandemic. No cold toilet seat during winter. Heated seat that doesn’t slam. Hot water. Hot air blow dryer. Self-cleaning.
How well do they self-clean? How often do you need to clean it manually?
I’ve cleaned it twice just to feel good about it, but it’s been sparkling aside from some hard water deposits, which came off pretty easily. It always runs water over it after use, and the nozzle angle is so steep, it doesn’t get poo on it. I have a toto one. (I’ve had mine since about mid 2021)
I still clean the toilet seat and the underside of the seat though, which can get a bit of pee on it if you’re a guy. I’m a bit of a clean freak too, so when I say clean, I mean clean, lol.
Came to say bidet, but I have the poor man version … 25 at Amazon. I suffer Everytime I have to go back to only tp when not at home. I feel like a savage caveman without one. Smearing poop is just nasty and uncivilized to me. I have used the fancy ones in Japan but really did not like the warm water. I prefer the shocking cold glaciar feeling of butt refreshes. To anyone reading this…get a bidet, ANY KIND… Try cleaning up peanutbutter from your arm with just paper to experience what we talking about .
Well, you can spend 300-400 or you can buy a “portable bidet bottle” and clean your asshole with warm water. You’ll still need to use some toilet paper (or maybe a towel) to dry, but you’ll be spending $15 more or less and you can carry it with you when you travel.
Have you ever used one of these? I thought about getting one for backpacking trips; TP becomes a major consideration on those, and - frankly - I often have all the time in the world to wait, and airdry, and enjoy the view. At least, on summer trips. But I’ve wondered how well they work in practice.
I’ve been using a 0.5L one for years now. Usually it’s enough, but there are times that when I dry (with toilet paper) I see that I need a little more cleaning and then I either finish with the paper or refill the bottle and try again.
i have a backpacking bidet (culo clean specifically) and I would say it gives mixed results. basically, you need to practice and develop a technique to “get the most” out of it in terms of water usage, how clean you can get, etc. I don’t have a normal bidet so i have nothing to compare it with and maybe my technique isnt so good. mine gets me mostly clean but i still need a square of toilet paper to make sure in almost every case. better than not having it, but not the results I was hoping for.
A home server. Originally a Dell R710, now a custom built desktop.
If I can possibly self host something now I will do that over using big tech proprietary services. I feel free.
Same. I’m almost completely off the cloud at this point and I love it.
Just don’t forget backups! I use Borgbackup for mine.
I know some people don’t want a home server because of the space it’d take up, but you can get pretty powerful mini PCs these days (look for ones with an i3-N305 processor) or buy cheap second-hand ex-office PCs on eBay.
For people that still don’t want to have a physical server at their house, you can do a lot of the same self-hosting stuff using a VPS. If you live in an area with expensive electricity (like California or Australia), you can usually get a VPS with a modern processor, ~8GB RAM, and a decent amount of NVMe disk space for $5/month or less, which is easily what it’d cost you just for the electricity usage of a home server.
Can you recommend a good VPS service? I’ve been meaning to get a Synology, but it’s out of my budget for now.
How do you access it away from home. I’m able to access my NAS since Synology gives us a domain to use and we do everything using port forwarding. I would assume that if you set everything up by yourself, you would need to get your own domain and ssl certificates and everything?
I setup my own VPN using this on a raspberry pi. Using the ikev2. I like DietPi for the OS.
Fuck Bezos, but this fidget spinner with a tiny built in knife. It’s actually pretty durable and I’ve used both sides a lot. It’s also a great fidget spinner for me since I clip my keys to my waist.
