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Review a product/service you first used over a year ago
Give an honest review of something that you've been using (or possibly stopped using) that's at least a year old, so we get an idea of what it's like for long-term use, rather than fresh. Anything is fair game: webhosting companies, kitchen gadgets, facial cleansers, etc.
My Tushy bidet. Picked it up late 2019 (serendipitous timing!). Holy shit. I’m not joking about how much it has changed things for me. Easy to install on existing toilets, incredibly refreshing, and cleans things up so much quicker.
A bidet attachment is something I've considered buying for years but never pulled the trigger on due to analysis paralysis. There's a wide range of bidets with a wide range of prices--what made you go with the Tushy? Is there anything you wish you had from a more expensive one? Also, a question especially important to me: is the water line metallic rather than plastic so that you don't flood your house with a broken plastic water line?
Slightly ashamed to say this, but my mom saw an ad and suggested it to me. Water line is metallic. I’d love a pricier one (such as a Toto Washlet), but being in a rental home kinda discourages such pricey investments.
The Bugzooka. If you're dealing with a lot of medium sized bugs that tend to land on surfaces, the bugzooka is awesome. It's basically point and click, and it sucks the bug into a transparent container that super easy to empty out. It's way quieter than using a vacuum cleaner, and much cleaner than smushing them. I'm not very comfortable with bugs and it's great because I can maintain a pretty good distance when catching them.
I've been dealing with a lot of 'brown marmorated stink bugs' recently and it's made dealing with them much more tolerable.
All my life I’ve felt a vague yearning and today I learn that that yearning was for this exact product. It might not make happy but it will make an entomophobe like me much less miserable.
About this time last year I signed up for Hello Fresh because they were running a really good deal. I know they advertise on line a lot so I'm not going to make this sound like an ad but just say that I have been very impressed with the consistency of the quality. There have been a few minor things over the last year but they have all been quickly addressed with refunds. A few of the biggest positives for me is that there is a much wider diversity to the type of food we eat, we are eating more fish, we are better at portion control and we are saving a significant amount of money by eating at restaurants less. I plan on continuing to subscribe even once we are vaccinated and can start eating out again. If you enjoy cooking and have the time do it on a regular basis then the plan really works well.
My husband and I did Plated for about a year, which was basically the same thing as Hello Fresh, and like you we loved it. It exposed us to a lot of different foods we wouldn’t have normally tried, made us focus on eating in rather than eating out, and helped develop our cooking skills.
The downsides are that there was a TON of plastic packaging (I don’t know if this is true for Hello Fresh). Because they send you individual amounts of each ingredient for each meal, there were a lot of little plastic packages for very little amounts of food. The upside to those little amounts though was that there wasn’t any food waste, and we wouldn’t end up buying large containers of more specialty ingredients. It was nice to have just the right amount of something each time and not have to fill our pantry with assorted one-off ingredients we’d only use intermittently, if ever.
Hello Fresh does a pretty good job at keeping the plastic to a minimum. The meat comes vacuum sealed in plastic and some of the delicate herbs and vegetables. I would say 75% of the packaging is recyclable. And reduced food waste is a plus. Our refrigerator is no longer filled up with leftovers which no one eats all the time.
The Harbor Freight 2.5 gallon air pressure paint tank, converted to a resin casting chamber, is definitely one of those Harbor Freight roulette products that over-delivers. For $99 the thing is an unbeatable bargain. There are much nicer pressure pots to be had in the $300-$2000 range, but for the light operation of resin casting around 40-60 PSI it's perfectly adequate. I've taken it to pressure and back probably 300+ times now and the clamps' threading is finally starting to get visibly worn out, though it's still tightening well. Keep the threads lubricated and the seal greased and the thing will just work and work and work with no complaints.
I've been thinking about getting into resin casting, do you mind sharing what you did to convert it aside from plugging the outlet?
Very familiar with the roulette! I generally don't touch anything of theirs that plugs into electricity, is a "precision" tool, or safety device. Hammers, hatchets, air tools, and most of the hand tools are good. I had many, many sets of the
deathjackstands that were recalled last year and were refunded at a higher than paid for price, and filled up a few gift cards in store credit that I've only just exhausted as I outfitted my garage with new air lines, drops, and sandblasting cabinet.Is the threads on the clamps, the bolts, or both wearing out? Bolts should be easily sourced with something higher strength, the clamps might be a little more difficult, but either heat treating them to harden or using threaded inserts.
Sure! So I put an elbow, valve, and muffler on the outlet, removed the down pipe on the inside, and put a quick connect, valve, oil separator and filter, regulator, and safety blow-off on the inlet. Make sure the little air diffuser thing is still screwed in on the inside so that incoming air goes sideways instead of straight down into your resin.
It's the little C-clamp like things that the threads are wearing on. The bolts actually still look pretty good, but the clamps are pretty clearly getting worn. I can't seem to find drop-in replacements for them, so I'll likely just buy another tank just to grab the clamps off it. I'd swap tanks entirely, but my bottom half is sort of affixed into the rest of my setup and painted to match everything, so I guess the new tank just becomes spare parts.
Oh, one more thing! Pizza liners. Buy big paper pizza liners. They're cheap and round and resin can't seep through them, which is perfect. Stick those down in the tank when you cast. Even if resin spills, it won't harden into the tank then.
Thanks, bookmarking your comment for when I get around to resin casting.
As for the clamps, I'd imagine they're some sort of cheap steel (check if they're magnetic) and if so then grab yourself a blowtorch and harden them on the next tank you buy. Super quick process and should get you some better life out of it.
Anker Soundcore Life P2 bluetooth earbuds: I love these things. I wish I had them when I was stuck in LAX last January when my flight got delayed five hours. They've got a 7-hour life on the buds, and can support three full recharge cycles before you need to recharge the battery base. I believe the earbuds recharge in an hour. The only issue I have is my right ear canal seems to be bigger than many earphone brands, but I was able to drop in a generic pack of really large ones on both buds, and they work totally fine.
Something people probably take for granted: Aeropress: Famous in coffee circles. It'll make a cup of coffee that's like espresso in about three minutes (two to heat the water, one for inversion brew), pungent, strong and dark, but not overextracted and obscenely bitter. Drink it straight for a smooth, great extraction, or dilute it into something that vaguely resembles an Americano for something that more closely resembles your drip brew. Cream, sugar, season to taste. Probably my favorite way to consume coffee. Don't even buy any imitators, I've seen to many people attempt to come out with something "better" only to make something worse in every way. For anything, my aeropress feels like it is hands down my best investment in anything, ever.
Anker TW buds are underrated. I ended up returning them, but I had some Liberty Pro (I think) for a time and I really liked them for normal audio. I ended up with the Jabra Elite Active 75Ts and I love 'em.
Regarding the Aeropress --- I don't think there's a better non-espresso brewing method going. Its more versatile than anything. The paper filters give such a beautiful, clean cup, where the mesh filters lean toward a cup you'd get from a french press. Pretty much perfect.
The Aeropress is great for a wide range of things, too. I've done tea, infusions (alcohol and various things), cold water extractions for pills (removing acetaminophen from T3s for a brief time a few years back), and pretty much anything else that needs a good filter.
It's also fun to get into different types of papers / materials for filters. I love it.
Picked up the Liberty Air 2 Pros [1] about a year and a half ago.
It may not be an exaggeration to say this is one of if not the best single purchase I've made in the 2010s. I have very sensitive ear canals: tried the Bose earbuds (and every type of ear tip for them) and couldn't stand them, tried various high-end products and couldn't find something I could wear for hours at a time. I listen to music while working out, coding, doing homework, and listen to podcasts and audio-books on my commute. These ear buds are god tier; they sound perfect (to me at least; great bass and treble while maintaining crystal clarity in the mids), are excellent at isolating sound (tips + active noise cancellation,) battery that lasts a week or more even for me, and are so comfy that I often forget they are there. I recommend these to anyone who has sensitive ear canals that can't tolerate the heavy, bulky alternatives.
Edit: I'm looking at my current ear buds and think these are the same, but they look slightly different. Oh well, I doubt you are going wrong with anything from their lineup.
[1] https://us.soundcore.com/products/a3951011
How good is the noise cancellation? That's pretty much the only reason I'd have for upgrading, and those Liberty Air 2 Pros look like mine, but with noise cancellation.
I looked up my Amazon purchase history and I bought those same Anker earbuds on April 1st, 2020. So I'm just a few days short of the thread theme, but I absolutely second the recommendation.
For the price (I paid 60 USD, it looks like they've since dropped to $40) they're absolutely unbeatable. They've gotten a ton of use over the last year, both for calling into Zoom meetings as well as listening to audiobooks & podcasts while I'm cooped up inside.
The carrying case being USB-C rechargeable is also a really nice touch, there's a frustrating number of devices like wireless headphones that still want micro-USB.
I got mine for $50 last January, I think I grabbed them when they went on sale. It was an absolutely easy buy for me because of the USB C and battery life.
Since Apple just notified me that my subscription renewed, I have been using Overcast podcast app on iOS for almost exactly a year. I think that it is by far the best podcast app on iOS. The volume boost feature is spectacular, and is really good at remastering poorly edited podcasts and audiobooks. It is simple, just do podcasts and do them well. If you get premium, you can upload files to download them on your device. This feature works very well as it was designed, but it is still annoying and clunky. You only get 10gb of storage with 1gb max files. There are a handful of audiobooks that surpass that 1gb minimum, and splitting up the files is very annoying. I really wish overcast would implement the iOS files api, and you could import files directly into the app from any cloud server.
Volkl Kendo skies. I got these many years ago, and have used them extensively. They are spectacular on the groomers and rip through off piste excellently. They are fast, and they maintain speed through traversals very well. I don’t think that I will ever be limited by these skies unless I get into back country and heli skiing (although I am sure they will still perform well). I really like having a metal top sheet. It makes them thinner and feel more polished. It does sometimes make the snow melt and stick to the top sheet, but I feel that it is minor. My Kendos have a really cool flag waving art, in black and white with subtle sepia hints. I really like my skies.
I'm also using Overcast on iOS, and I think the main feature that I wish was there was some sort of history view. Maybe I'm just missing it? But I often am listening to the back catalogue of a bunch of podcasts and lose my place after I spend some time with recent uploads. It would just be nice in general to see what I've listened to before, and it doesn't seem like something that difficult to implement - hell, I'd be fine with a purely local history.
This sort of exists actually! If you go to the info-screen for a podcast (either tap on the "home" screen in Overcast on the podcast, or tap the i of an episode in a playlist and then the name of the podcast) you can select "all" and it shows you all of the episodes for this podcast, including if you have played them or not!
Yeah but it doesn't work well on podcasts with a bajillion episodes. For instance, I started to listen to ATP like 2-3 years ago, starting from the episode that was current then and keeping up with new releases. But I've always been working on the back catalog.
So I'm at like episode 200 in the back catalog something. If I have to find my place, I have to scroll allll the way to where it stops saying I've viewed episodes.
There's also a thing where I listen to a podcast, and then some new episodes from other shows come out and I temporarily move on, but then I forget that I was supposed to finish listening to one episode. I mitigate this by making a playlist and adding unfinished episodes to it but a linear play history would be nice.
Marco said in a recent ATP that he is considering a reverse chronological system as an option for podcasts. It sounds like it will be after a swiftUI rewrite and possibly a completely redone UI overhaul. That is maybe my only problem with the app I love how it keeps everything simple.
I'm writing this message from a OnePlus 6T which I got in November 2018. In fact I looked at a CAT phone at the time and asked on Tildes about it. I landed on the OnePlus 6T and bought a protective case as recommended by @patience_limited.
The case's threading gets loose and rips off unfortunately. It got replaced and the replacement did the same thing so it appears to be a design fault. However it has done its job marvelously well. That phone has fallen several times onto hard surfaces and it doesn't have a single scratch. I can take off the case and the phone looks brand new.
It also pretty much feels brand new, too. I've also had what I initially thought were battery issues as my phone stopped charging sometimes, but am now convinced are charger issues - using another charger cable solved it. As it is, the battery still holds as much charge as the first days. Unlike my previous phone, keeping bluetooth and/or wifi on doesn't drain it.
Really happy with it and makes me think that my next phone might still be a OnePlus, despite my disagreements with their software policies lately. The hardware is solid. I am disappointed with the camera though...
According to my Amazon order history, I bought my first Klean Kanteen water bottle in 2012.
I have several now - two 64oz / growler-sized ones that are useful for camping/backpacking, my "everyday" 40oz one that I like because it fits in my hand (which the 64oz ones don't), and a 27oz one that fits in my car's cupholder.
One of the 64oz ones has a dent in the bottom where I dropped it, full, onto a cement garage floor (if it had been a tile floor I would have been more worried about damage to the tile than the bottle...) Other than that, they all look pretty much like new. They're dishwasher-safe but I usually don't bother, I have a sanitizer called one-step that I use for homebrewing beer but is also excellent at cleaning things like this since unlike soap it doesn't require lots of rinsing.
A month or so ago I picked up a Sunjoy Collison Electric Sit/Stand Desk - 48" x 28" desk for around $400CAD. The thing is great, especially for the price. The base is easy to expand if I decide to replace the top, but I don't need a lot of space since everything is on arms. It has four memory settings, which is handy. Assembly was a total breeze.
I have a feeling that this is a generic desk that a lot of companies slap their name on. The controls have a USB port on the side, which could be useful for some, but I've never used it.
I mounted a basket underneath with some clamps for all of the cables.
Another excellent thing I picked up was a 512gb drive and an enclosure. Since I keep everything on my NAS and Apple changed the way Music and all that works, I needed some sort of local storage for all of the otherwise useless ALAC files. The overall form factor is tiny and perfect... and out of the way. I drilled some holes and did some cutouts into a dollar store cutlery tray for my USB hub, some drives, my passthrough vape (a mod that uses a PSU.) It still looks chaotic, but its tidier than before.
Lastly, I bought a shitload of velcro straps for cable management. I used to use zipties like the old days, but velcro is so much better. They came in three sizes and I've been using them on everything.
Ok, one more --- I bought a big mixed box of incense. I really like the Positive Vibes one, but having 12 different types of incense kicking around has been really nice. My place always smells dreamy and not like garlic or curry or onions... its so pleasant at all times.
I agree with you on the incense. I have an essential oil diffuser but once the uniqueness wore off I don't use it very much. Then I discovered the incense cones that you burn and I use them all the time. The smoke permeates smell throughout the house more evenly and the smoky, smoldering smell as far more appealing and comforting than just essential oil droplets suspended in the air.
yeah, diffused essential oils (even fragrance oils) just don't have enough throw.
Audio-Technica ATH-M50x
I've had these for 2 years or so now. Build quality is great; it's plastic, but it has taken quite a bit of abuse over various forms of transportation (and being crammed in various backpacks), but it's taken it like a champ. No real wear on the headphones themselves.
The included earpads are uncomfortable, at least for me. 3rd party memory foams are more comfortable, but they also look ridiculous (in that they're huge) and start to flake after a few months.
But honestly the real story is that I think my ears are broken. I can notice a difference between these and, say, air pods pro if I really focus and listen to audio that's more suited for telling a difference (in particular, tracks where the much better soundstage can shine), but it's honestly hard to tell a difference most of the time.
I guess I just am unable to appreciate good audio. So I'm probably going to pick up a Sony WF<numbers> next - things like being wireless and having noise canceling matter more than audio quality evidently. But hey, for just $150 the ATH-50x does fine - Airpods Pro cost $250 and the Sony's cost anywhere between 200-300, and I'm still going to use it as a monitor headphone (which also saves me from using an adapter to a normal 3.5mm jack or swapping out the cable)
I have a pair of Sennheiser HD 58X's that have been nothing short of amazing for me.
They are so comfortable that I can wear them all day without noticing and with an open-back your ears never sweat in them. Its going to differ depending on your head shape but for me they are by far the most comfortable headphone I've worn.
They also sound amazing. I'm not a huge audiophile or anything but they have a great sound without a headache-inducing level of bass.
The only conn is they are open-back so if you are in a noisy environment or quiet environment with co-workers they might not be the best choice. On the other hand if you have a quiet office space but like being able to hear the door or your partner while wearing them they are a good choice. :P
I would highly recommend them if you are looking to move on from your headphones.
I bough a $80 ceramic knife two years ago. For cutting fruits and soft vegetables it's a life-changer (even more so than just a good sharp steel knife in the same price range. Chopping goes quicker. You can chop things thinner if that's your thing.
You shouldn't bend a ceramic knife because then they snap. The blade breaks into parts. I ventured into harder vegetables. Potatoes, sweet potatoes, carrots and rutabaga. That went very well to, until it didn't. Half the blade of the knife snapped in one clean piece.
I tried not having a ceramic knife for a while, but found myself quickly ordering a new one. Now The hardness limit for what I use it on goes at relatively soft types of potatoes. The steel knives will have to do for the harder stuff.
We did ceramic knives for a while and then switched to a set of steel knives and have dedicated to keeping them sharpened. They are life changing. We've been taking them to the farmers market every 6 months to have them professionally sharpened and honed and they come home feeling new every time.
For anyone who doesn't know, sharpening metal knives is (a) a must, and (b) cheap to have done professionally—I pay in the single-digit US$ per blade. Pretty much any kitchen supply store will offer knife sharpening, and hardware stores may, as well. Knives aren't infinitely sharpenable (material is ground off each time), but it absolutely renews the feel of the blade.
Another trick is to hone the knife after each use; this delays the point at which you'll need to sharpen it.
The Valve Index. I got it almost exactly a year ago, for various reasons. I had been looking into getting into VR since the first Oculus, had just re-arranged my furniture (and coincicentally now had the space), was planning to upgrade my gaming setup through 2020 anyways, and Half-Life: Alyx was the last bit which tipped mne over the edge.
I have no prio VR experience (except a few short sessions with the Oculus of a friend). Generally, it's fantastic! The wide FOV looks pretty good, and having a 144Hz refresh rate is a blessing (even my GTX 1070 could do some games at 144Hz when I was still using that). Finger tracking works well enough (not perfectly, but well, good enough!) and setting it up was a breeze.
I wish it dealth with frame rates better. You can select select at which framerate the Index runs (80, 90, 120, 144Hz) and you can switch while using it, but you can not automatically set it on a per-game basis. (Resolution-scaling is on a per game basis though). If a game can't meet the selected frame rate the Index drops to half of what was selected. So if you set it to 144 but your game can only reliably output 130 it#ll drop to 72 instead of 120Hz which is, well, not great. I'd love to be able to set Beat Saber to 144, Alyx to 120, Star Wars Squadrons to 90, etc. instead of manually needing to change it.
Second complaint is glasses: The only way to use glasses wit it, is ordering a pair of lenses fitting the Index (such as VR optician and a few other providers who do that). It works, but it sucks for letting friends try it on or if your eyesight worsens over time.
But, all in all, I'd very happy with it!
I've found that at least for my glasses, the Index works quite well. Just eke out a bit more eye relief. Will depend strongly on the glasses though, mine have a relatively low profile.
Mine are fairly large, and while I do have smaller backup glasses it felt super uncomfortable (and I was scared to scratch the lenses)
Bosch 1/4 shank and 1/2 socket combo impact driver, purchased mid-2019. Has more than enough grunt to take off lugnuts and most bolts I come across on my projects (and I have two more powerful options if it can't do the job) and the 1/2 socket connection gets it into tighter spaces than the impact drivers that friends have as it doesn't need a 1/4" shank adapter to use a socket. Batteries last longer than expected despite having the same stated capacity as other brands and it's light and compact enough that I don't mind lugging it around junkyards. Recommended if you're looking for an impact driver.
Sort of breaking the rule here because I haven't used this for a year yet but by the time that's true it probably won't be on my mind.
This website has been pretty great for getting our under-one eating solid foods herself as well as exposing her to a bunch of potential allergens. They have some babyled-weaning guides available for purchase (or for free if your household income qualifies) but I can't speak to those. What is amazing is their food database in terms of when and how to serve different types of food to your infant as well as nutritional and allergen information. Everything is reviewed by professionals so you're not worried it's coming from a random blogger. From bread to macadamia nuts they have a bunch of information that is very useful.
Neat idea. Here's one. The Rotato. It's an apple or potato peeler. I really didn't think they would work very well so I put it off for a long time. I think I must have had an Amazon gift card from Christmas; I ordered it January 17, 2018. I've used it a ton. Some of the reviews have videos if you want to see it work and there are many different brands.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000X9EPT0/
Sharkoon ER2 headset. Gave up on me after about 2-3 years, not exactly sure. First the synth-leather of the muffs started flaking a few months ago, and then I couldn't get the microphone to work anymore a few weeks ago. This is something like the 3rd or maybe even fourth headset I've had. Can't seem to find one that'll last. This Sharkoon felt comfortable, and the creative one I had beforehand too, but both failed. The new one I have now is not nearly as comfortable.
With how long these things seem to last, irrespective of price it seems, I'm starting to think of them as a wear item.
The ear pads will never last forever unless perhaps they are real leather and you condition them regularly. Ideally you would be able to replace them when they wear out.
Issue #2 I see all too often is that the mic just ceases working.
Makita CXT 12V drill/driver and impact driver. I was a bit concerned that the little (and they are super little, maybe slightly smaller than a pack of cards) 12V/2Ah batteries wouldn't provide enough power or runtime but I almost never run out of juice and I've successfully drilled into concrete and high-tensile steel, and driven timber screws unpiloted into old oak beams.
The huge advantage for me of the CXT/12V system isn't that it's a lot cheaper than the 18V or new 40V stuff (although it is), it's that the hardware is so much smaller and lighter. I have long-term back issues which mean I have to be careful about hefting around heavy stuff, especially for extended periods or up at (or above) shoulder height. So a range of smaller, lighter tools which are still powerful enough for everything I've asked them to do is very welcome.
I just added a CXT jigsaw to my collection but that's only a few months old and doesn't qualify for this (spoiler: it's awesome).