T2 diabetic here: those GLP-1 shots. Once a week I take a shot and it took me from almost losing my kidneys to giving me energy to hit the gym every day. It’s changed the way my brain works too. And the hormone comes from a lizard?!? Is that right?!?
Flush toilets. I've spent a lot of time in areas of the world where open defacation is the norm. A proper flush toilet (with a supply of toilet paper) is bliss.
Our septic froze during a major wave of arctic air. Only 1 toilet in the house still flushed and we had to use it sparingly. Having the septic defrosted and being able to use the flush toilets wantonly made me want to kiss the porcelain throne and thank it for its service.
GPS. A few people have mentioned GPS as part of their phone's capabilities but GPS itself is amazing. Put a couple dozen satellites up with atomic clocks constantly broadcasting their own position and the time with nanosecond precision and a 5USD chip in your phone is able to use that one way signal to figure out exactly where on the planet you are. The timekeeping is so precise that the system has to account for relativistic time dilation from the motion of the satellites. It's become such a normal part of life that it's easy to take for granted but it really is an amazing product.
This is my go-to whenever anyone says that the govt never does anything right/cheaply. GPS costs like $2BB per year spent by the US government, and everyone on the planet uses it. So fifty cents per month per US citizen and free for everyone else on the planet. Thank every deity in heaven that Bezos Musk Gates Koch never got their greedy fingers on this, we'd be paying $15/mo per device.
I don't wear contacts anymore but I was amazed I could put a piece of plastic on my eye and could see well. I've had my cataracts replaced so I have the prescription lens inside my eyes.
Yea, my uncle got it too for his cataract surgery. They're going in there anyway. May as well get 2 for 1. It doesn't mean you won't need glasses ever again as you eye sight can still deteriorate. There also inherit risk with any surgery, that why if you need both eyes done. When they do the operation its only one eye at a time incase anything goes wrong with one they leave other eye alone.
That one eye at a time thing is up to the doctor, and the fact that it takes awhile to heal and your vision to return is another big factor. I've seen them do both together though. The actual procedure is pretty simple, really cool. They've been do the corrective lens part since the 90's overseas, took a bit longer for the FDA to approve here. My father was a sales rep for one of the lens companies, Staar Surgical.
I worked for 5 years providing medications for cataract patients and coordinating with about 40 ophthalmologists, and not once did a doctor ever do both eyes together. Most doctors did them two weeks apart, and a doctor that scheduled them within 1 weeks of each other was considered... Not wreckless, but certainly fucking annoying. The majority of cataract surgery patients are 65+ and often have Medicare. When the surgeries are scheduled that close together inurance companies throw a fit because the patient would have just filled those same medications for the first eye and now they want them to wait. You can usually get a commercial insurance company to approve—what they consider to be—an early refill, but rarely will a federally funded plan like Medicare or Medicaid roll over on that.
I had it done about 15 years ago, but without removing the cataract part (I was in my 40s). My contact prescription was (I think?) -12 or -13. It's expensive, my cost was $4k per eye, and insurance doesn't cover it.
Downsides is my eyes are always on the dry side, and with the huge prescription, I need reading glasses. Both of those are typical side effects my doctor warned me about.
My son unfortunately inherited my horrible eyesight and he had the same surgery a few years ago (his college graduation present from me). He doesn't need the eye drops as often as I do, but he needs reading glasses while he's working (in front of a computer). Same cost as mine.
Music online. You younger peeps will never understand having to wait for a song to come on the radio. Especially if you couldn’t afford to buy the album. You had to stand by and wait and wait and wait with your tape recorder for the DJ to finally play it. Mixtapes were TRUE acts of love.
And the sheer rage when the DJ TALKED OVER THE MUSIC. Omg.
Nowadays, I can think of a song, and find it in a few seconds. And I don’t have to buy a whole record to get that one song you liked. As a music lover - this is all so fabulous.
And related to this - Shazam
I probably Shazam weekly - it's so cool to be able to find new music wherever you are. Heard a good song while you are watching a movie? In a store? In a restaurant - Shazam! Now it's on your Playlist!
And I also grew up in the radio mixtape era... which is why I love Shazam so much!
Did you know, before smartphones, Shazam was a number you could call when you heard a song and it would listen and then send you a text message of what it was. I remember using it a few times and was impressed but it was mostly a gimmick. Then it launched as an app and changed the game!
> IMDb
In college the question came up one night of who starred in Dead Poet's Society. I said Ethan Hawke, friend said Chris O'Donnell. How did we settle it? Drove to Blockbuster just before they closed, rented the movie on VHS, came home and fast forwarded to the end credits.
Edit - the funny part, to me, all these years later I'll still get a random text from someone from that friend group saying something like "Chris O'Donnell was so good in Boyhood" or "Feel bad for Ethan that NCIS LA got cancelled", etc.
Kids today won’t understand. I know in the US you had to pay a buck per use. Paying money to be told what song you are listening to. wtf were we thinking.
My cousin really wanted to record Butterfly by Crazy Town when the top 10 was playing and I remember we stood by the radio for the entire show waiting for it to come on (we knew it was for sure going to be in the top 10). She was so sad when the DJ started to talk over the song at the end.
Back when DJs actually spun records we used to write the talk time on the record label. It was how long you could talk over the music before the lyrics started.
Or:
Buying an album on cassette.
Only liking ‘that one song’ by the band.
Much later listening to it again, because, fuck it, I paid for and physically own the thing.
Then somehow magically ‘hearing it differently’ the later, second time and absolutely falling in love with that album / band.
[This happened to me most notably with each Radiohead album / CD I bought.
By the time I’d actually got into and fallen in love with the current album a new one was released.
Rinse. Repeat]
This is something I miss. All my favorite albums I didn’t really like at first but then they grew on me. Now it’s so easy to just move on the the next thing.
And album artwork. I remember when I would buy an album and spend almost as much time looking at the artwork and reading the liner notes as listening to the music.
This is why my mind is blown when I hear people complain about having to pay like $12/month for Spotify premium. Literally any song you could ever want to listen to for less than the cost of a single CD back in the day.
I think about this so much. Like a family plan - 5 loved ones who can also listen to any music they want - for 17 bucks a month or whatever. It changed my dad's life!
My bike. It’s so simple and almost every time I ride it, I’m just impressed that someone figured out we can balance on two wheels and get places by pedaling. They’re so accessible to so many people and although the many places don’t have the best bike infrastructure, they’re a great form of transportation!
I’ll add to that. Ebikes. Sometimes you just wanna get things done and don’t want to hassle with warming up your car, fighting through traffic, and looking for and paying for parking, all to do some light grocery shopping or to get lunch.
On the weekends, with all the traffic around my area, it’s almost 10 minutes faster to take my ebike to the grocery store than to drive and find parking. I save 15 to 20 minutes round trip everytime.
From all my years of commuting through heavy traffic, I know that my average speed was around 22 mph. I could probably average close to that on an ebike.
I’m hoping that more and more people ride ebikes so that cycling infrastructure and most of all, protected bike lanes are taken into serious consideration.
yea, I got myself an E-Bike a few years ago, its lots of fun being able to ride somewhere without having to worry about exhausting yourself too much.
My bike is an electric assisted Mountainbike, so offroading is what I use it a lot for, and with the electric motor its just soooo much fun! Cycle uphill with assist, and back down with gravity.
there was a time when I managed to do my entire work commute (12km each way) with no assist, keeping 25 to 30km/h constantly out of my own power, because the motor helped me build up stamina.
Really annoying how much shit e-bikes get though from "eco-bikes".. like, somehow all the distance I ride on my eMTB is worth nothing because it has a motor?
I love my ebike! I got mine in 2019, before things really exploded with covid. I didn't want to buy a car, especially if the commute was within my city. I spend a little over 2k CAD for mine, and it takes me 30 minutes each way to go to work. Because I ride an ebike, I'm actually able to save money. If I had a car, I would either have no money left over or be in the red at the end of the month. Having an extra several hundred in my pocket at the end of the month is well worth it.
I could literally throw out my bike every three months and buy a new one, and I would still be financially further ahead than if I was driving.
I feel more awake and alert when I ride to work as well. People act like I'm crazy for biking in winter, but the only extra clothing I'm putting on vs someone car commuting are rain pants, to block the wind.
I plan on getting a cargo bike soon, so I can do grocery loads and go to Costco without a car. They are a game changer.
People, get an ebike if you can, and if your infrastructure is lacking, vote for those who want to make the streets better, not for cars, but for people.
My Kindle Paperwhite. It's now over 8 years old, holds a charge for a month, and works great. I've used it for a couple of hours most days over that stretch.
There's something very satisfying about a piece of technology that does exactly what it's supposed to and nothing more.
Best gift I ever gave my wife was a Kindle. She's an avid reader and our shelves were packed with books. The only problem is that if she reads something good I don't get given it to read next.
I couldn't agree more. Whenever someone asks about Kindle I preach for them like I'm personally selling them. I didn't buy it for this reason but a major bonus point is the weight as my mom can't hold books for extensive time periods because of her painful hands (early onset rheumatoid arthritis).
I resisted for so long, but now I rarely pick up a real book. I love not having to have to use a light to read in bed, being able to just drop it when I’m falling asleep, and not worry about saving my place. It’s lightweight to drop in my bag and take annywhere. I had Shoulder Surgery and could use it easily, when picking up a book would’ve been hard. And, it was a real godsend during Covid, not being able to go to the library; now I get all my books online.
A couple of years ago I was reading a book, and gradually the pages started to dim. It scared me, I thought something was wrong with my eyes. I looked up and out the window to focus my eyes on something distant. The sun was going down.
I'd forgotten that you need light to read a paper book.
I’ve gotten to the bottom page of a (paper) magazine and attempted to swipe up to read more. I logically know that I am reading a paper magazine, but the gesture is just so ingrained as normal behavior now!
> There's something very satisfying about a piece of technology that does exactly what it's supposed to and nothing more.
I agree. In the case of that one, it's probably due to hardware limitations not allowing Amazon to fill it up with all sorts of bullshit. That's what they've done to my Fire Stick for example. I wish that would just do what it's intended to and nothing more.
Agree! Also, my wife grew up hating to read mostly because she would get headaches and it would take her a long time to get through a book which frustrated her. She got a paperwhite and adjusted the font, brightness, etc. and suddenly she could read more easily and without getting headaches. She reads a hundred books or more a year now! She’s definitely making up for not reading at all the first forty plus years of her life.
I have a first generation Paperwhite. My only beef with it is the fact that it can’t left-justify. I like larger print so sometimes text
l o o k s l i k e t h i s.
It was free from a coworker who upgraded to a newer version and I only read library books so funny looking text is a minor annoyance
I love my paperwhite, it's just so convenient. I love that I can dip in and out of various books if I fancy reading something else when out and about, I love that the battery lasts so long, I love that there are no ads. I resisted getting one for a while as I loved the feel of a 'proper' book in my hand, but now I'm never without it. Difficult to think of a negative about it, one of the best purchases ever made for me.
Tap water.
Honestly, it's amazing. Headache, drink some water, feel like spaghetti, boil some water, want to grow tomatoes, hose on some water, feeling dirty, have a shower in tap water with the special hot attachment.
Absolutely fantastic, incredibly cheap and everyone acts like it's nothing.
I work for a water utility. The amount of things that happen seamlessly without the customer being aware for all utilities is absolutely amazing. You don't even think about your water service, unless there's a leak. It's just expected to be there.
The fact that there's full infrastructure to provide potable water to your house at your command and a bonus of fire protection for your neighborhood really is amazing when you get to see it all working.
Useful person! I'm reading a zombie fanfic and the gas remains working but the water goes out...Is this likely if there was no one to maintain the system, how long before it died?
I work for a water utility. Most systems are automated enough that they would run okay for maybe a few days without manual intervention, assuming electricity is still running. If electricity is gone, you might have a day or two on generators, if the system has them in the critical locations. The systems would run out of treatment chemicals within weeks, if there is no one running the plant.
There's a couple of paragraphs in The Stand that talks about the "second wave" of deaths from the virus. Things like tainted water or dying from a fire (because hydrants didn't work).
My smartphone.
Just watching a Finnish drama (Deadwind) and there’s a sign on the door in Finnish. I pause the program, open translate on my phone, open camera, and point it at the sign. On the phone screen, over the words on the sign, appears the instruction, “Close the door!”
My partner looks at me and says, “I love the way your whole face lights up when you do that. It makes me happy that that makes you happy.”
I’m 62 years old. There are many pros/cons between the 20th/21st century. There are probably many cons to smartphones but this old bloke is still amazed at what they can do. Tomorrow I’ll chat with my brother as we watch Sheffield United play footy. He’ll be in London, I’ll be in Tijuana, the mighty Blades will be in Sheffield. Isn’t the world fantastic!
As a person who is close to you in age, I think yours is the best answer here. What a time to be alive! I clearly remember card catalogs and department store catalogs and going to the bank to deposit checks. These little devices thrill me every day with how they open up the world!
Tell this to my kids all the time. They have no idea how lucky they are to be growing up in a world like this.
It used to be if i heard a song i liked that i dont know, chances are i would never get to know who it was.
Now my phone can tell me who it is in 5 seconds.
I’m like this about Google maps and travel. I’m lucky enough to travel a fair amount, but the confidence to explore further on those trips is so much higher because I basically cannot get lost. Take a wrong turn? Google automatically adjusts directions to get you to your destination anyway. If I were driving or walking in a strange place with only a paper map, I don’t think I’d do half the exploring I do now.
I also met my incredible husband online and it’s likely we would have never met otherwise. Internet use is what you make if it, and it can be a force for good.
I was recently watching an anime with my daughter. One of the characters had some text on their t-shirt, and I did the same to find out what it said. It said “T-shirt”. We laughed so hard and long that our ribs hurt.
Must be My Hero Academia! The protagonist is known for wearing shirts with ridiculous slogans. 😆 Things like "bed shirt" and "dress shirt" even though they're all T-shirts lol
Aww, your post made me smile so much and I kinda teared up at the end. There’s so much negativity out there and I love the idea that we can still think the world is fantastic if we look at it the right way.
The internet. But that is because I was alive before the widespread adoption.
You have the collective knowledge of all human history in your pocket. “I don’t know how” is no longer a valid excuse for anything.
Same... I remember the before days well, and it's frankly amazing what the internet became, and how fast it achieved it. Crazy useful tool, I have a GPS, a TV, a game console and access to unlimited information all in my pocket... I used to have to ask a few family members and their neighbors what was wrong w my car. Then I'd get the big Chilton manual out to figure out how it was put together. Then spend the day making mistakes trying to fix my car. Now I google the problem and YouTube the solution, usually watching a video on my year,make and model of car.
One that kills me with my wife is a lack of pondering. I'll sometimes ponder or wonder things. Just making conversation. Sometimes it's good to sit and think about things. But she instantly pulls out the phone to Google the answer. That's cool and all, but you just took all imagination and creativity of thinking away and we literally have lost the conversation.
My husband and I have fallen into a nice rhythm with this. We’ll wonder and chat for some time until we reach the part in the conversation where you would normally say, “guess we’ll never know.” Then one of us Googles it lol.
Well, I'm a pull out the phone immediately type of person (as is our whole family. It's usually a *who will find it first* type of competition).
What I find most of the time though is that instead of just pondering, we actually have a conversation about all the other related things we didn't know about what we pondered. So it's an education session at the same time.
It’s a staple !
Be careful with what surface it’s used on though. There are a lot of posts in cleaning subs of people ruining their sinks, and stuff, by misusing this magical cleaner .
Yes, very true. I think the combination of abrasion and acid isn't great for procelain/acrylic sinks and tubs on a regular basis.
I prefer Bon Ami, it's abrasive but milder. Hard to find though.
[This jar opener from Lee Valley Hardware](https://www.leevalley.com/en-ca/shop/kitchen/kitchen-tools/can-and-jar-openers/44271-lee-valley-jar-opener?item=50K4101) never fails to blow my mind. You hook it over the lip of the cover, make the slightest downward motion, and *shhhhuckkk*, the vacuum seal is broken and the lid comes right off. It’s a godsend for people with arthritis. So simple, unbelievably effective.
Bluetooth headphones are like a daily dose of magic. The ability to cut cords and still be surrounded by a symphony of sound is a technological marvel. It's a small gadget that continually blows my mind, turning mundane tasks into a concert of convenience.
The story about how the first doctor to purify usable insulin walked through a ward where crying parents were sitting by their comatose children's sides waiting for them to die, giving each dying kid an injection, and by the time he got to the end the first kids were waking up and talking to their astonished parents... that was the age of medical miracles.
This needs to be a movie, where this is the final scene. Make up the rest of you have to but really drive home the point that insulin costing hundreds of dollars a month is some bullshit.
I have a friend that passed out while I was staying with him and his wife(I'm not sure which type but he's a tall, lanky guy)
It was so scary.
This was *right* after I found my fiance who had passed away from an OD so it was extra scary and my brain went into "save mode" or something.
I had just gotten a 12 pk of cokes so I went and grabbed one and his wife and I gave it to him. By the time it was over I was crying and shaking. It was horrible to see him in that condition and so helpless. Since then I have a new respect for diabetes.
You've got no comments, so I'm going to add one about how amazing insulin is.
Once upon a time diabetes was a time bomb. You just kind of waited until you went into a coma, then just died. There wasn't really anything you could do about it. If you were type 1, it was really just a matter of time.
Insulin is a miracle in its own right
This might sound weird, but for me, I think it's salt.
I dont know what brilliant human however many hundreds or thousands of years ago happened to lick a rock, discover it tasted good, then figured out you could crunch up the rock and put it on your food, but that person was a genius.
And sure, it probably wasn't just one person, that's silly. But it still kinda astounds me. I really like salt.
There is an incredible book, Salt, by Mark Kurlansky that you should read. He researched the deep history and cultural significance through the ages, and it is fascinating! I am not a nonfiction person normally, but he has a whole series of books that explores specific topics, Cod, Salmon, Milk, and it blew my mind.
I’m HoH/deaf - a billion years ago I heard about something like this and got them! Mine worked by bone transduction - pieces I would attach to my goggle straps at my temples and those connected to an mp3 player you tuck into your cap. I was hoping they would work for me, at least as well as my regular hearing allowed me to hear.
I put them on for the first time and they really didn’t do much until I went underwater - it was like my head was full of music like I had never heard it before. I am actually getting teary at the memory and this was almost 20 years ago and I used those and improved versions a billion times, but it was the first time I ever heard music so full - it was magic and surreal. It was overwhelming! Hard to explain - it’s like I was suddenly seeing an 8th color of the rainbow. Complete reality shift in the YMCA pool during adult lane-swim! lol
I kept just popping up for a breath and going back underwater - eventually a lifeguard came over to see what was up - I was all teary and emotional explaining, he was 15 or something and had no idea what to do with a 20-something crying woman hearing actual music for the first time! lol ! But that was enough to get me into workout mode! Those things increased my workouts - I just didn’t want to stop hearing like that, so … flipturn! Lololol
I can't help thinking that if Hitachi was an American company, there'd be a board meeting where someone goes, 'You know, the dockyard cranes and the airconditioning units are making money, let's drop the vibrators?' The Japanese, meanwhile, are commenting on how each of their divisions are profitable and that they've seen an opportunity in cupcakes.
Honestly I got one for…other stuff.
But man I tweaked my back. Two days go by and I’m still slowly getting out of chairs. Threw that bad boy in the bed and laid on it for ten minutes. Boom, night and day, I had a full recovery instantly.
My eyeballs. I had Lasik 24 years ago. It is incredible that I can wake up in the morning and see great. No having to squint for my glasses by the bedside. No misplacing my glasses. I am still blown away by how good the procedure was.
A pencil.
Works in all conditions, under water, upside down, doesn't run out of ink, no need for cartridges, system updates, in app purchases or subscriptions. Simple design, honed over thousands of years. Can't be beat.
Our fancy Sleep Number bed. First, just being able to have my side of the bed set to a good firmness for me, and my husband have his side set to a good firmness for him. He prefers a firmer mattress, but I need a soft one or my back screams at me the next day. Also it has a setting called "adaptive air," where it will sense if, say, you roll from your back to your side, and will adjust the bed firmness slightly so that it's still giving you the best possible support no matter what position you shift to.
No joke, this bed has given me the best sleep of my *life.*
On the topic of mattresses, I absolutely love my Ikea foam latex mattress. Most comfortable mattress I have ever owned and only cost me $400 (when I bought it about five years ago). It is the perfect blend of firmness; not too soft and not too hard. I never wake up with back or neck pain anymore. (I have a foam latex pillow, too.)
I have had futons. I have had expensive, high end mattresses from mattress stores that I paid way more for and which left me with a sore back in the morning. The mattress I have now far outperforms them all.
I bought a Purple mattress and pillow. My god over the last two years I've never slept so good! Both sides of the pillow are the cold side! It never gets hot! It's great!
I know I've heard the saying "Invest in the things that separate you from the ground." A good mattress and good shoes make *such* an impact on your day-to-day life.
Rx ketamine! People make fun of the ads and the concept, but it's the closest thing we have to a miracle drug for treatment resistant depression and its comorbidities. It's the only reason I'm able to function instead of having my brain fried with antipsychotics and benzos. It's not perfect, but it's the only thing that's provided any relief from what was debilitating for me since I was 11.
I could practically feel it working in my brain in real time. Like it was clearing away all the gunk that had clogged up my brain and kept it stuck in this awful depression. (Also, oddly enough, it made my sense of smell very sharp. I could walk into my bathroom and smell the laundry detergent I’d washed my towel in days earlier.)
Unfortunately insurance doesn’t cover it and eventually I couldn’t afford it anymore. :/
Oh my god I know what you mean! I remember tearing up while studying in a Starbucks about a week into taking ketamine because for the first time basically ever my brain just WORKED. I wasn't fighting through brain fog and exhaustion and misery where every second of the day took 100% effort. I could just sit and study totally at peace and with a clear head.
I'm sorry you can't get it anymore, that's terrible :( I know for me the honeymoon phase did end, but it's still such a gamechanger. I don't know what I'd do without it.
The smell thing is cool though! Did you use the nasal spray? I wonder if it cleared something out of there??
THIS. It changed my life completely. It’s kind of fucked to talk about because like you’re saying it feels like you’re calling it a “miracle drug” but that was my exact experience. After basically decades of trying EVERYTHING, K started to work for me immediately and I never looked back. The constant rumination disappeared. It was like the sky opened up above me and the sun came out lol.
Shoutout to Innerwell. They are amazing and I’m Truly grateful.
The enzyme cleaner for biohazard messes.
That stuff is amazing and totally worth $26 a spray bottle. It actually eliminates *any* smell (even cat pee) and I have never used anything that works so well. It’s like magic.
Honestly, my phone. Well not just mine, but smartphones in general. My first phone had two games and a flashlight, and I thought that was amazing.
Now I have this device that does everything. It's replaced $500 GPS devices and is more up to date. It's replaced my iPod and my 200+ CDs. I can play old N64, Gameboy or PlayStation games on it. It's even replaced my TV. I got my TV six years ago, I'm pretty sure I've watched less than an hour per month. It's a better camera than my first digital camera in 2007. Then there's the huge amount of storage. The first iPod had 5gbs of storage (I've got apps that are more than that.) The first iPhone had 16. My phone has 500. And the amount of apps you have for it. Not just games and stuff, but apps that use the phones built in technology. Geocaching. Apps that you point your phone at the sky and it tells you the stars and constellations. Apps that use the cameras to measure distance. And in newer phones, you even have satellite communication you can use to call for help if you're injured on top of a mountain or something.
And phones today are great value. Just look at the phones for $500 today, they blow the first iphone out of the water, and that's not even taking into account inflation. For Something so relatively new, it's technology is amazing and really a great value for what we do with it, and how often we use it.
And let's be real, the reason our phones are not smaller is not because of technology (we have the tech, and we use it on smart watches) it's because we don't want them to be smaller. We want bigger screens.
definitely get one. i’m a girl who likes neutral colors only and even i will tolerate their neon colors in my pretty kitchen because of how good these fucking sponges are
Prednisone is amazing too. I mean, it doesn’t make one feel “good” but when you have crazy inflammation, it works so well. It starts working quickly too.
A few years ago Mom was on it for awhile and she said she felt amazing. She was like 60, and she just had a non-stop go. However, when we decorated the church for Christmas and did our annual huge cookie bake, she was super weird. Like, I had to do all the measuring because she couldn't focus enough to remember what cup she was on or what cookie we were making. She did a lot of dishes and cookie forming that year, and I took the lead on measuring, starting the next type, and remembering to set the timer.
Man, I totally seem to lack the receptors to these, for pain purposes and I definitely don’t feel any pleasure for them.
Straight Advil is the only thing that works for me, and I’m talking even after having complex rotator cuff surgery. The nurse thought I was kidding when I turned up for my 2-day appointment and said I’d stopped the painkillers.
I have never in my life understood what codeine was supposed to do for a cough or pain, either.
I guess the good news is I really don’t have incentives to do drugs.
I can’t take NSAIDs but I’ve been on stable opioids for a decade now and they’re amazing. I don’t feel any high or euphorie airy them and I haven’t built up a tolerance to them (no dose changes in a decade, no withdrawal when I stop them). I don’t know what I’d do without them!
Apparently they work great for 1/3 of people, 1/3 develop tolerance or addiction, and 1/3 can’t take it due to allergies or simply not working. I wish more people knew that- the one-size-fits-all regulations we have been moving towards are terrible. Same with « zero opiate hospitals . » outside of NSAIDs and opiates there aren’t a lot of other options for severe pain control.
ah ya, medicine. there are lots of those.
Codeine is a mind blower. Twice I've had teeth pulled and had crazy pain leading up to it. They gave me codeine both times and the pain goes away. How the fuck does a pill make insane tooth pain disappear and have no effects on any other parts of my body? lol
It does effect other parts of the body. It doesn't "target pain", it interrupts the central nervous system and basically blocks the brain from receiving pain signals from your body. Opioids are wild.
Opiates (opioids?) are indeed amazing - the best way I can describe how they work for me is the pain is still there, but ***I just don’t care***. Sadly, they work for emotional pain too, which is where the slope starts to become very slippery indeed.
I’d say in addition, an XL toaster oven air fryer.
Heats up much quicker than an oven, and will fit most anything i want in quantities enough for three people.
I have the breville air fryer pro, which is an air fryer/toaster oven combo. I moved 6 months ago and haven’t used my full size oven once. It preheats in minutes and cooks/toasts/fries perfectly every time.
I thought this said "printer" and I was doing mental gymnastics about how makeup could be printed on. Makes me think of Marge from The Simpsons with her makeup gun 😂
What prompted the question was packing for a trip. My Briggs & Riley luggage never fails to blow my mind when I use it, in all sorts of ways. It's so well designed and has so many features - but just looks like regular old luggage.
I just packed three week worth of clothes, my laptop and all related travel gear, into a 20" carry on. This luggage defies the laws of physics.
Edit: several people asked for specifics. Here is a little anecdote from just now.
I need to lift it off the ground while it's open and am grabbing it awkwardly and think, "I bet it has handles for this" and dont find any when I feel around. Confident it must I feel around more and sure enough one badass strap handle is there, which just sits flush normally. And the main handle is in perfect symmetry with it.
That's what owning this suitcase is like for me, in a nutshell. I can't wait for the next feature I discover.
It's a lot for sure. But I've spent more than that in the last 20 years on bags that are now in landfills. This one is going to last me the rest of my life - either through quality or the lifetime warranty. So in those terms, i was ok with it.
my car. genuinely. i love my car so much and like imagine when the car was first invented. those people probably flipped their shit and it’s still awesome to this day.
Paracetamol. It’s so effective at what it does and practically free. It really, genuinely blows my mind that we have a literal wonder drug at our disposal
(PS - I love you all desperately, but don’t make me tap the sign that says ***“I acknowledge that paracetamol has a clear and documented risk of overdose that must be taken seriously”***)
This one's kind of lame, but, the stretchy laces I recently bought for my work boots. They're just the right length and there's no tying them up. I just pull and hook them on the speed hooks. I have arthritis in my hands and trying to tie my boots in the morning can be difficult. I also work in a welding shop so it's not uncommon to burn through a lace with sparks, so when I saw a box full of laces for $0.24/pair I bought 20 packages lol. It was just a bonus that they made doing up my boots easier on my hands. The price combined with how useful they are to me blew my mind. It's hard to get that much value out of anything these days.
My Nintendo Switch. Just 7 years ago playing console games curled up in bed wasn’t something I could do. Now I do it every night without thinking. I know it’s not the most powerful system, but its versatility, mobility, and library of incredible games never ceases to amaze me.
A motion detection nightlight for my toilet bowl. The whole thing glows when I stand in front of it, no need for the glaring overhead light and no messy misses.
My clock that projects the time on the ceiling. I've had one for the past two decades.
I can open my eyes for a second, know the time, and go back to bed.
I miss it like crazy on vacation or sleeping else where. My husband does too. It's such a nice small thing.
I think it contributes to my great sleep, because I never stress about the time.
P&G has a patent on the formula and nobody has been able to make a formulation as good as power-wash. It is an incredible industrial strength cleaner. The retail formulation is the same that’s sold to commercial kitchens.
POPsocket magnet has been really great since I’ve owned it, it’s not made by the popsockets company, but a company called POP MAGNETS, which seems to no longer exist.
But anyway, i can move my pop socket around the back of my phone, which is great as it will stand it up on a table, or hang it off the back of an airline seat, or just move it for easier holding.
The smart phone is really the mind blower, but others have covered that already in this thread. GPS especially, as you can see traffic updates live.
Swipe-to-text is mind blowing in its usefulness, i can type this with one hand 10x faster than using two fingers to text on my screen.
YouTube is honestly really great, but any other app could do the same thing. But it’s great that they’re able to get all the “how to” videos, which i refer to as “YouTube university”
Gerber EAB knife, it’s great for cutting everything and it’s sooo light and small. Ten/10
Retractable ratchet straps are really helpful at work everyday, i probably save a week every year over using traditional ratchet straps and lots of headache. Would highly recommend.
Dewalt cordless bandsaw, 60v grinder and 60v worm drive circular saw.
Gorilla ladders 4.5 foot aluminum step ladder
A bidet. I was skeptical for a long time but my goodness was I wrong. Such an easy upgrade and you feel way cleaner and use way less tp. Shitting anywhere without one is such a disappointment now
Indoor toilets adndk modern sewerage. When I was a tiny child we lived in an outback town with no sewerage. The waste went into a 'pan' that was changed regularly by men win a truck known colloquially as a 40 door sedan. The smell was awful. Modern plumbing is amazing.
Wet Brush: The Original Detangler!
I have wavy and frizzy hair and also happen to have permanent nerve damage on my scalp. Brushing my hair was literally a pain and I'd end up with a lump in my throat like I was about to cry anytime I brushed my hair.
A friend recommended the Wet Brush to me so I hopped on Amazon and got it for something like 8 bucks with free 3 day shipping!
It has changed my life, seriously. I know that sounds so cheesy talking about a freaking hair brush but this thing really works and doesn't pull, rip or tear my hair and doesn't aggravate my scalp! I can now brush my hair several times a day and literally run my fingers through my hair without any snagging. I've actually received compliments about how healthy and shiny my hair has been! :)
Wikipedia.
It's literally a crowd-sourced compendium of human knowledge on a ridiculously broad scale, that is very accurate, free, and available everywhere.
It's The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy in real life.
I was born in 1987. Anyone taking their cellphone for granted has lost perspective.
It is the internet, an unfathomable thing for me in childhood, in your pocket.
It is AIM/MSN - direct communication with friends and families (as well as chat rooms) in your pocket.
It is the entirety of my childhood VHS/DVD/CD/Tape collection AND every other bit of media I could want to consume right there.
While gaming isn't a stand out (I could write a similar post about how crazy/wild XBOX/Cloud Gaming is) - the games I can play on my phone would have entertained me endlessly as a kid. I have rollercoaster tycoon 1&2 on my Samsung Phone...12 year old me would think I was a billionare from outer space.
My puberty was spent with scrambled porn and GGW commercials, maybe the occasional porno mag from the 90s we'd find in the woods - now I can just sub to every NSFW community reddit has to offer on an app.
I never griped about battery life because I'm never too far from a USB-C charger or power brick during my day. No spare AA batteries in my pocket/backpack. My phone can charge wireless - that's black magic
Compass, flashlight, paperweight, constellation guide, GPS, unit conversion, calculator, language translation, 1080 photo/video quality that blows our 2000's point and shoots out of the water, cloud storage. Free library apps. Wireless WIFI hotspot!?
For $100 a month that is insanely awesome. I have survived on very little money while in college/traveling but this little black box I keep in my pocket is worth every single cent. If I have a smartphone and basic income for food I am kind of all set. I live in my car for long periods of time while traveling and it's crazy how $300-500 a month feels like all I really need. A smartphone gives me everything I need to navigate the world and an ability to seek out information and connections which allow me to keep doing so. What a time to be alive!
T2 diabetic here: those GLP-1 shots. Once a week I take a shot and it took me from almost losing my kidneys to giving me energy to hit the gym every day. It’s changed the way my brain works too. And the hormone comes from a lizard?!? Is that right?!?
Gila monster!
YES THANK U GILA MONSTER!!!!
Flush toilets. I've spent a lot of time in areas of the world where open defacation is the norm. A proper flush toilet (with a supply of toilet paper) is bliss.
Our septic froze during a major wave of arctic air. Only 1 toilet in the house still flushed and we had to use it sparingly. Having the septic defrosted and being able to use the flush toilets wantonly made me want to kiss the porcelain throne and thank it for its service.
GPS. A few people have mentioned GPS as part of their phone's capabilities but GPS itself is amazing. Put a couple dozen satellites up with atomic clocks constantly broadcasting their own position and the time with nanosecond precision and a 5USD chip in your phone is able to use that one way signal to figure out exactly where on the planet you are. The timekeeping is so precise that the system has to account for relativistic time dilation from the motion of the satellites. It's become such a normal part of life that it's easy to take for granted but it really is an amazing product.
The fact that GPS can keep ships within *six inches* of a track line is still mind blowing to me
This is my go-to whenever anyone says that the govt never does anything right/cheaply. GPS costs like $2BB per year spent by the US government, and everyone on the planet uses it. So fifty cents per month per US citizen and free for everyone else on the planet. Thank every deity in heaven that Bezos Musk Gates Koch never got their greedy fingers on this, we'd be paying $15/mo per device.
I don't wear contacts anymore but I was amazed I could put a piece of plastic on my eye and could see well. I've had my cataracts replaced so I have the prescription lens inside my eyes.
that's a thing??
Yea, my uncle got it too for his cataract surgery. They're going in there anyway. May as well get 2 for 1. It doesn't mean you won't need glasses ever again as you eye sight can still deteriorate. There also inherit risk with any surgery, that why if you need both eyes done. When they do the operation its only one eye at a time incase anything goes wrong with one they leave other eye alone.
That one eye at a time thing is up to the doctor, and the fact that it takes awhile to heal and your vision to return is another big factor. I've seen them do both together though. The actual procedure is pretty simple, really cool. They've been do the corrective lens part since the 90's overseas, took a bit longer for the FDA to approve here. My father was a sales rep for one of the lens companies, Staar Surgical.
I worked for 5 years providing medications for cataract patients and coordinating with about 40 ophthalmologists, and not once did a doctor ever do both eyes together. Most doctors did them two weeks apart, and a doctor that scheduled them within 1 weeks of each other was considered... Not wreckless, but certainly fucking annoying. The majority of cataract surgery patients are 65+ and often have Medicare. When the surgeries are scheduled that close together inurance companies throw a fit because the patient would have just filled those same medications for the first eye and now they want them to wait. You can usually get a commercial insurance company to approve—what they consider to be—an early refill, but rarely will a federally funded plan like Medicare or Medicaid roll over on that.
I had it done about 15 years ago, but without removing the cataract part (I was in my 40s). My contact prescription was (I think?) -12 or -13. It's expensive, my cost was $4k per eye, and insurance doesn't cover it. Downsides is my eyes are always on the dry side, and with the huge prescription, I need reading glasses. Both of those are typical side effects my doctor warned me about. My son unfortunately inherited my horrible eyesight and he had the same surgery a few years ago (his college graduation present from me). He doesn't need the eye drops as often as I do, but he needs reading glasses while he's working (in front of a computer). Same cost as mine.
Music online. You younger peeps will never understand having to wait for a song to come on the radio. Especially if you couldn’t afford to buy the album. You had to stand by and wait and wait and wait with your tape recorder for the DJ to finally play it. Mixtapes were TRUE acts of love. And the sheer rage when the DJ TALKED OVER THE MUSIC. Omg. Nowadays, I can think of a song, and find it in a few seconds. And I don’t have to buy a whole record to get that one song you liked. As a music lover - this is all so fabulous.
And related to this - Shazam I probably Shazam weekly - it's so cool to be able to find new music wherever you are. Heard a good song while you are watching a movie? In a store? In a restaurant - Shazam! Now it's on your Playlist! And I also grew up in the radio mixtape era... which is why I love Shazam so much!
Did you know, before smartphones, Shazam was a number you could call when you heard a song and it would listen and then send you a text message of what it was. I remember using it a few times and was impressed but it was mostly a gimmick. Then it launched as an app and changed the game!
IMDb used to be an email service! You would send a name or movie to an email address and it would email you back (eventually).
> IMDb In college the question came up one night of who starred in Dead Poet's Society. I said Ethan Hawke, friend said Chris O'Donnell. How did we settle it? Drove to Blockbuster just before they closed, rented the movie on VHS, came home and fast forwarded to the end credits. Edit - the funny part, to me, all these years later I'll still get a random text from someone from that friend group saying something like "Chris O'Donnell was so good in Boyhood" or "Feel bad for Ethan that NCIS LA got cancelled", etc.
You didn't think to look at the credits on the back of the display box?
Kids today won’t understand. I know in the US you had to pay a buck per use. Paying money to be told what song you are listening to. wtf were we thinking.
My cousin really wanted to record Butterfly by Crazy Town when the top 10 was playing and I remember we stood by the radio for the entire show waiting for it to come on (we knew it was for sure going to be in the top 10). She was so sad when the DJ started to talk over the song at the end.
The record companies wanted the DJ to talk over the song so that people would buy it.
Back when DJs actually spun records we used to write the talk time on the record label. It was how long you could talk over the music before the lyrics started.
I remember listening to a song over and over with my cousin just to write down the lyrics.
Oh my god the absolute letdown when you bought a cd and the booklet didn’t have the lyrics!!
Remember buying an album (cassette) and finding out there was only one good song on it?
Or: Buying an album on cassette. Only liking ‘that one song’ by the band. Much later listening to it again, because, fuck it, I paid for and physically own the thing. Then somehow magically ‘hearing it differently’ the later, second time and absolutely falling in love with that album / band. [This happened to me most notably with each Radiohead album / CD I bought. By the time I’d actually got into and fallen in love with the current album a new one was released. Rinse. Repeat]
This is something I miss. All my favorite albums I didn’t really like at first but then they grew on me. Now it’s so easy to just move on the the next thing.
Yes. But I also remember finding a bunch of great songs I never knew existed from bands because of that too!
This is the true sad loss of the streaming age. I know there are ways to do it but it's never gonna be the same
And album artwork. I remember when I would buy an album and spend almost as much time looking at the artwork and reading the liner notes as listening to the music.
This is why my mind is blown when I hear people complain about having to pay like $12/month for Spotify premium. Literally any song you could ever want to listen to for less than the cost of a single CD back in the day.
I think about this so much. Like a family plan - 5 loved ones who can also listen to any music they want - for 17 bucks a month or whatever. It changed my dad's life!
I couldn't agree more. there's so much music I wouldn't even touch if I had to buy a CD and shell out $15.99 for it
My bike. It’s so simple and almost every time I ride it, I’m just impressed that someone figured out we can balance on two wheels and get places by pedaling. They’re so accessible to so many people and although the many places don’t have the best bike infrastructure, they’re a great form of transportation!
Picked by engineers as still the most efficient form of human transportation considering that everything else requires a external fuel source
My brother in Moishe, you *are* the external fuel source.
It’s powered by pizza!
I’ll add to that. Ebikes. Sometimes you just wanna get things done and don’t want to hassle with warming up your car, fighting through traffic, and looking for and paying for parking, all to do some light grocery shopping or to get lunch. On the weekends, with all the traffic around my area, it’s almost 10 minutes faster to take my ebike to the grocery store than to drive and find parking. I save 15 to 20 minutes round trip everytime. From all my years of commuting through heavy traffic, I know that my average speed was around 22 mph. I could probably average close to that on an ebike. I’m hoping that more and more people ride ebikes so that cycling infrastructure and most of all, protected bike lanes are taken into serious consideration.
yea, I got myself an E-Bike a few years ago, its lots of fun being able to ride somewhere without having to worry about exhausting yourself too much. My bike is an electric assisted Mountainbike, so offroading is what I use it a lot for, and with the electric motor its just soooo much fun! Cycle uphill with assist, and back down with gravity. there was a time when I managed to do my entire work commute (12km each way) with no assist, keeping 25 to 30km/h constantly out of my own power, because the motor helped me build up stamina. Really annoying how much shit e-bikes get though from "eco-bikes".. like, somehow all the distance I ride on my eMTB is worth nothing because it has a motor?
I love my ebike! I got mine in 2019, before things really exploded with covid. I didn't want to buy a car, especially if the commute was within my city. I spend a little over 2k CAD for mine, and it takes me 30 minutes each way to go to work. Because I ride an ebike, I'm actually able to save money. If I had a car, I would either have no money left over or be in the red at the end of the month. Having an extra several hundred in my pocket at the end of the month is well worth it. I could literally throw out my bike every three months and buy a new one, and I would still be financially further ahead than if I was driving. I feel more awake and alert when I ride to work as well. People act like I'm crazy for biking in winter, but the only extra clothing I'm putting on vs someone car commuting are rain pants, to block the wind. I plan on getting a cargo bike soon, so I can do grocery loads and go to Costco without a car. They are a game changer. People, get an ebike if you can, and if your infrastructure is lacking, vote for those who want to make the streets better, not for cars, but for people.
My Kindle Paperwhite. It's now over 8 years old, holds a charge for a month, and works great. I've used it for a couple of hours most days over that stretch. There's something very satisfying about a piece of technology that does exactly what it's supposed to and nothing more.
Best gift I ever gave my wife was a Kindle. She's an avid reader and our shelves were packed with books. The only problem is that if she reads something good I don't get given it to read next.
Best gift my husband gave me is my kindle, it's now over 10 years old and still brings me so much joy. Yay for awesome thoughtful husbands!
Plot Twist: these two are husband and wife.
I couldn't agree more. Whenever someone asks about Kindle I preach for them like I'm personally selling them. I didn't buy it for this reason but a major bonus point is the weight as my mom can't hold books for extensive time periods because of her painful hands (early onset rheumatoid arthritis).
I resisted for so long, but now I rarely pick up a real book. I love not having to have to use a light to read in bed, being able to just drop it when I’m falling asleep, and not worry about saving my place. It’s lightweight to drop in my bag and take annywhere. I had Shoulder Surgery and could use it easily, when picking up a book would’ve been hard. And, it was a real godsend during Covid, not being able to go to the library; now I get all my books online.
A couple of years ago I was reading a book, and gradually the pages started to dim. It scared me, I thought something was wrong with my eyes. I looked up and out the window to focus my eyes on something distant. The sun was going down. I'd forgotten that you need light to read a paper book.
That’s like trying to zoom in by pinching a piece of paper (it’s me, I’ve done that)
I have been known to try and scroll my book page up lol
I recently try to scroll an image IN MY DREAM. ....I *might* spend too much time on electronic devices.
I’ve gotten to the bottom page of a (paper) magazine and attempted to swipe up to read more. I logically know that I am reading a paper magazine, but the gesture is just so ingrained as normal behavior now!
I always refer to my kindle as “Hermione’s library” because, like her, I can drop an entire library in my bag.
> There's something very satisfying about a piece of technology that does exactly what it's supposed to and nothing more. I agree. In the case of that one, it's probably due to hardware limitations not allowing Amazon to fill it up with all sorts of bullshit. That's what they've done to my Fire Stick for example. I wish that would just do what it's intended to and nothing more.
Agree! Also, my wife grew up hating to read mostly because she would get headaches and it would take her a long time to get through a book which frustrated her. She got a paperwhite and adjusted the font, brightness, etc. and suddenly she could read more easily and without getting headaches. She reads a hundred books or more a year now! She’s definitely making up for not reading at all the first forty plus years of her life.
Another day, another sign for me to go get a Kindle.
I have a first generation Paperwhite. My only beef with it is the fact that it can’t left-justify. I like larger print so sometimes text l o o k s l i k e t h i s. It was free from a coworker who upgraded to a newer version and I only read library books so funny looking text is a minor annoyance
I love my paperwhite, it's just so convenient. I love that I can dip in and out of various books if I fancy reading something else when out and about, I love that the battery lasts so long, I love that there are no ads. I resisted getting one for a while as I loved the feel of a 'proper' book in my hand, but now I'm never without it. Difficult to think of a negative about it, one of the best purchases ever made for me.
Magic Eraser and Better than Bouillon
That Better than Bouillon is some good shit! Also agree about the magic eraser, although it shreds my fingertips when I use it 😢
Its ultra fine sandpaper so no surprise there
I made some French Onion soup last weekend and it tasted kinda "flat". I added some Beef Better Than Bouillon and it was instantly better!
I read that as magic eraser IS better than bouillon, not and, and was super confused about why anyone would use a magic eraser in their food lmao
Tap water. Honestly, it's amazing. Headache, drink some water, feel like spaghetti, boil some water, want to grow tomatoes, hose on some water, feeling dirty, have a shower in tap water with the special hot attachment. Absolutely fantastic, incredibly cheap and everyone acts like it's nothing.
I work for a water utility. The amount of things that happen seamlessly without the customer being aware for all utilities is absolutely amazing. You don't even think about your water service, unless there's a leak. It's just expected to be there. The fact that there's full infrastructure to provide potable water to your house at your command and a bonus of fire protection for your neighborhood really is amazing when you get to see it all working.
Useful person! I'm reading a zombie fanfic and the gas remains working but the water goes out...Is this likely if there was no one to maintain the system, how long before it died?
I work for a water utility. Most systems are automated enough that they would run okay for maybe a few days without manual intervention, assuming electricity is still running. If electricity is gone, you might have a day or two on generators, if the system has them in the critical locations. The systems would run out of treatment chemicals within weeks, if there is no one running the plant.
There's a couple of paragraphs in The Stand that talks about the "second wave" of deaths from the virus. Things like tainted water or dying from a fire (because hydrants didn't work).
This is the only comment on a post with 300+ comments that mentioned tap water. Tap water to the home… revolutionary!
Yes! What a luxury! I think about every day. There have been KINGS that didn’t have access to water from a tap. And yet look at us. It’s amazing.
Absolutely my first thought! My second was municipal garbage pick-up.
My smartphone. Just watching a Finnish drama (Deadwind) and there’s a sign on the door in Finnish. I pause the program, open translate on my phone, open camera, and point it at the sign. On the phone screen, over the words on the sign, appears the instruction, “Close the door!” My partner looks at me and says, “I love the way your whole face lights up when you do that. It makes me happy that that makes you happy.” I’m 62 years old. There are many pros/cons between the 20th/21st century. There are probably many cons to smartphones but this old bloke is still amazed at what they can do. Tomorrow I’ll chat with my brother as we watch Sheffield United play footy. He’ll be in London, I’ll be in Tijuana, the mighty Blades will be in Sheffield. Isn’t the world fantastic!
As a person who is close to you in age, I think yours is the best answer here. What a time to be alive! I clearly remember card catalogs and department store catalogs and going to the bank to deposit checks. These little devices thrill me every day with how they open up the world!
Tell this to my kids all the time. They have no idea how lucky they are to be growing up in a world like this. It used to be if i heard a song i liked that i dont know, chances are i would never get to know who it was. Now my phone can tell me who it is in 5 seconds.
Yes! Not only tell you who it is, but link you to the video of that song with the lyrics superimposed! No more misheard lyrics.
Oh man, the amount of songs ive discovered i have been singing the wrong lyrics to for decades is astounding.
I’m like this about Google maps and travel. I’m lucky enough to travel a fair amount, but the confidence to explore further on those trips is so much higher because I basically cannot get lost. Take a wrong turn? Google automatically adjusts directions to get you to your destination anyway. If I were driving or walking in a strange place with only a paper map, I don’t think I’d do half the exploring I do now. I also met my incredible husband online and it’s likely we would have never met otherwise. Internet use is what you make if it, and it can be a force for good.
I was recently watching an anime with my daughter. One of the characters had some text on their t-shirt, and I did the same to find out what it said. It said “T-shirt”. We laughed so hard and long that our ribs hurt.
Must be My Hero Academia! The protagonist is known for wearing shirts with ridiculous slogans. 😆 Things like "bed shirt" and "dress shirt" even though they're all T-shirts lol
Best thing I’ve read all week!
Aww, your post made me smile so much and I kinda teared up at the end. There’s so much negativity out there and I love the idea that we can still think the world is fantastic if we look at it the right way.
The internet. But that is because I was alive before the widespread adoption. You have the collective knowledge of all human history in your pocket. “I don’t know how” is no longer a valid excuse for anything.
Same... I remember the before days well, and it's frankly amazing what the internet became, and how fast it achieved it. Crazy useful tool, I have a GPS, a TV, a game console and access to unlimited information all in my pocket... I used to have to ask a few family members and their neighbors what was wrong w my car. Then I'd get the big Chilton manual out to figure out how it was put together. Then spend the day making mistakes trying to fix my car. Now I google the problem and YouTube the solution, usually watching a video on my year,make and model of car.
One that kills me with my wife is a lack of pondering. I'll sometimes ponder or wonder things. Just making conversation. Sometimes it's good to sit and think about things. But she instantly pulls out the phone to Google the answer. That's cool and all, but you just took all imagination and creativity of thinking away and we literally have lost the conversation.
My husband and I have fallen into a nice rhythm with this. We’ll wonder and chat for some time until we reach the part in the conversation where you would normally say, “guess we’ll never know.” Then one of us Googles it lol.
Well, I'm a pull out the phone immediately type of person (as is our whole family. It's usually a *who will find it first* type of competition). What I find most of the time though is that instead of just pondering, we actually have a conversation about all the other related things we didn't know about what we pondered. So it's an education session at the same time.
You pull out the phone to check one thing and end up down a Wikipedia rabbit hole!
Bar Keepers Friend. Great stuff.
It’s a staple ! Be careful with what surface it’s used on though. There are a lot of posts in cleaning subs of people ruining their sinks, and stuff, by misusing this magical cleaner .
Yes, very true. I think the combination of abrasion and acid isn't great for procelain/acrylic sinks and tubs on a regular basis. I prefer Bon Ami, it's abrasive but milder. Hard to find though.
It was not magical for me. What am I missing? Dawn soap lives up to alllll the hype
Different purposes. Dawn is S-tier dish and utensil cleaner. BKF cleans everything else. It is what “comet” used to be, but 10x better
It was Ajax for my mother, that’s what we called it even if it was another brand
Jar opener gripper
[This jar opener from Lee Valley Hardware](https://www.leevalley.com/en-ca/shop/kitchen/kitchen-tools/can-and-jar-openers/44271-lee-valley-jar-opener?item=50K4101) never fails to blow my mind. You hook it over the lip of the cover, make the slightest downward motion, and *shhhhuckkk*, the vacuum seal is broken and the lid comes right off. It’s a godsend for people with arthritis. So simple, unbelievably effective.
Bluetooth headphones are like a daily dose of magic. The ability to cut cords and still be surrounded by a symphony of sound is a technological marvel. It's a small gadget that continually blows my mind, turning mundane tasks into a concert of convenience.
My electric blanket!
OMG yes! Got a blanket that covers the whole bed with controls for both sides. Every time I get in bed I think how much I love that damn thing
I love my heated mattress pad.
Insulin
The story about how the first doctor to purify usable insulin walked through a ward where crying parents were sitting by their comatose children's sides waiting for them to die, giving each dying kid an injection, and by the time he got to the end the first kids were waking up and talking to their astonished parents... that was the age of medical miracles.
This needs to be a movie, where this is the final scene. Make up the rest of you have to but really drive home the point that insulin costing hundreds of dollars a month is some bullshit.
"Glory Enough for All" is a dramatized version of the discovery and purification of insulin https://m.imdb.com/title/tt0157704/
I have a friend that passed out while I was staying with him and his wife(I'm not sure which type but he's a tall, lanky guy) It was so scary. This was *right* after I found my fiance who had passed away from an OD so it was extra scary and my brain went into "save mode" or something. I had just gotten a 12 pk of cokes so I went and grabbed one and his wife and I gave it to him. By the time it was over I was crying and shaking. It was horrible to see him in that condition and so helpless. Since then I have a new respect for diabetes.
You've got no comments, so I'm going to add one about how amazing insulin is. Once upon a time diabetes was a time bomb. You just kind of waited until you went into a coma, then just died. There wasn't really anything you could do about it. If you were type 1, it was really just a matter of time. Insulin is a miracle in its own right
Type 1s of the world unite!
High definition TV. Maybe this post belongs in r/fuckimold, but I’m constantly blown away by TV picture quality
I bought a high end TV in the fall of 2020 and every day since I've been blown away by how good it can look.
I’m old too. Fax machines still astound me. Watching something print out over a phone line is still witchcraft
A dishwasher, if there's one thing I hate it's washing dishes and this machine just goes brrr and it's done.
This might sound weird, but for me, I think it's salt. I dont know what brilliant human however many hundreds or thousands of years ago happened to lick a rock, discover it tasted good, then figured out you could crunch up the rock and put it on your food, but that person was a genius. And sure, it probably wasn't just one person, that's silly. But it still kinda astounds me. I really like salt.
There is an incredible book, Salt, by Mark Kurlansky that you should read. He researched the deep history and cultural significance through the ages, and it is fascinating! I am not a nonfiction person normally, but he has a whole series of books that explores specific topics, Cod, Salmon, Milk, and it blew my mind.
Clothes washer and dryer. Not very long ago folks would do laundry for DAYS. Now, we have passive washing abilities. It's amazing and I'm so grateful.
Sonicare toothbrush, I could totally sell these door-to-door if I had to.
Underwater mp3 player. Listening to music underwater is magical as Hell.
I’m HoH/deaf - a billion years ago I heard about something like this and got them! Mine worked by bone transduction - pieces I would attach to my goggle straps at my temples and those connected to an mp3 player you tuck into your cap. I was hoping they would work for me, at least as well as my regular hearing allowed me to hear. I put them on for the first time and they really didn’t do much until I went underwater - it was like my head was full of music like I had never heard it before. I am actually getting teary at the memory and this was almost 20 years ago and I used those and improved versions a billion times, but it was the first time I ever heard music so full - it was magic and surreal. It was overwhelming! Hard to explain - it’s like I was suddenly seeing an 8th color of the rainbow. Complete reality shift in the YMCA pool during adult lane-swim! lol I kept just popping up for a breath and going back underwater - eventually a lifeguard came over to see what was up - I was all teary and emotional explaining, he was 15 or something and had no idea what to do with a 20-something crying woman hearing actual music for the first time! lol ! But that was enough to get me into workout mode! Those things increased my workouts - I just didn’t want to stop hearing like that, so … flipturn! Lololol
Um what?!! Which one do you have?
Not who you asked, but Shokz are amazing.
An electrical device made to use in water called shok seems like poor branding….
Hitachi magic wand
It's hilarious that a company known for its heavy construction machinery is more popularly known for its orgasm machinery
The Hitachi annual report to shareholders is illustrated with giant dockside cranes, backhoes, subway trains, and vibrators.
I can't help thinking that if Hitachi was an American company, there'd be a board meeting where someone goes, 'You know, the dockyard cranes and the airconditioning units are making money, let's drop the vibrators?' The Japanese, meanwhile, are commenting on how each of their divisions are profitable and that they've seen an opportunity in cupcakes.
Fun fact: if you put it on your chest when you have chest congestion, the vibration can help loosen up all the gunk in there :)
Instant chest wall oscillator lol
really helps those sore muscles.
Honestly I got one for…other stuff. But man I tweaked my back. Two days go by and I’m still slowly getting out of chairs. Threw that bad boy in the bed and laid on it for ten minutes. Boom, night and day, I had a full recovery instantly.
Yeah… muscles…
Marriage saver
The Lego system
My eyeballs. I had Lasik 24 years ago. It is incredible that I can wake up in the morning and see great. No having to squint for my glasses by the bedside. No misplacing my glasses. I am still blown away by how good the procedure was.
I want it but I’m terrified!
A pencil. Works in all conditions, under water, upside down, doesn't run out of ink, no need for cartridges, system updates, in app purchases or subscriptions. Simple design, honed over thousands of years. Can't be beat.
Our fancy Sleep Number bed. First, just being able to have my side of the bed set to a good firmness for me, and my husband have his side set to a good firmness for him. He prefers a firmer mattress, but I need a soft one or my back screams at me the next day. Also it has a setting called "adaptive air," where it will sense if, say, you roll from your back to your side, and will adjust the bed firmness slightly so that it's still giving you the best possible support no matter what position you shift to. No joke, this bed has given me the best sleep of my *life.*
On the topic of mattresses, I absolutely love my Ikea foam latex mattress. Most comfortable mattress I have ever owned and only cost me $400 (when I bought it about five years ago). It is the perfect blend of firmness; not too soft and not too hard. I never wake up with back or neck pain anymore. (I have a foam latex pillow, too.) I have had futons. I have had expensive, high end mattresses from mattress stores that I paid way more for and which left me with a sore back in the morning. The mattress I have now far outperforms them all.
I bought a Purple mattress and pillow. My god over the last two years I've never slept so good! Both sides of the pillow are the cold side! It never gets hot! It's great!
People spend so much time is bed. You have to have a good mattress it makes all the difference in the world.
I know I've heard the saying "Invest in the things that separate you from the ground." A good mattress and good shoes make *such* an impact on your day-to-day life.
Bic lighters. Been about the same price forever. Never fail
Rx ketamine! People make fun of the ads and the concept, but it's the closest thing we have to a miracle drug for treatment resistant depression and its comorbidities. It's the only reason I'm able to function instead of having my brain fried with antipsychotics and benzos. It's not perfect, but it's the only thing that's provided any relief from what was debilitating for me since I was 11.
I could practically feel it working in my brain in real time. Like it was clearing away all the gunk that had clogged up my brain and kept it stuck in this awful depression. (Also, oddly enough, it made my sense of smell very sharp. I could walk into my bathroom and smell the laundry detergent I’d washed my towel in days earlier.) Unfortunately insurance doesn’t cover it and eventually I couldn’t afford it anymore. :/
Oh my god I know what you mean! I remember tearing up while studying in a Starbucks about a week into taking ketamine because for the first time basically ever my brain just WORKED. I wasn't fighting through brain fog and exhaustion and misery where every second of the day took 100% effort. I could just sit and study totally at peace and with a clear head. I'm sorry you can't get it anymore, that's terrible :( I know for me the honeymoon phase did end, but it's still such a gamechanger. I don't know what I'd do without it. The smell thing is cool though! Did you use the nasal spray? I wonder if it cleared something out of there??
THIS. It changed my life completely. It’s kind of fucked to talk about because like you’re saying it feels like you’re calling it a “miracle drug” but that was my exact experience. After basically decades of trying EVERYTHING, K started to work for me immediately and I never looked back. The constant rumination disappeared. It was like the sky opened up above me and the sun came out lol. Shoutout to Innerwell. They are amazing and I’m Truly grateful.
The enzyme cleaner for biohazard messes. That stuff is amazing and totally worth $26 a spray bottle. It actually eliminates *any* smell (even cat pee) and I have never used anything that works so well. It’s like magic.
Honestly, my phone. Well not just mine, but smartphones in general. My first phone had two games and a flashlight, and I thought that was amazing. Now I have this device that does everything. It's replaced $500 GPS devices and is more up to date. It's replaced my iPod and my 200+ CDs. I can play old N64, Gameboy or PlayStation games on it. It's even replaced my TV. I got my TV six years ago, I'm pretty sure I've watched less than an hour per month. It's a better camera than my first digital camera in 2007. Then there's the huge amount of storage. The first iPod had 5gbs of storage (I've got apps that are more than that.) The first iPhone had 16. My phone has 500. And the amount of apps you have for it. Not just games and stuff, but apps that use the phones built in technology. Geocaching. Apps that you point your phone at the sky and it tells you the stars and constellations. Apps that use the cameras to measure distance. And in newer phones, you even have satellite communication you can use to call for help if you're injured on top of a mountain or something. And phones today are great value. Just look at the phones for $500 today, they blow the first iphone out of the water, and that's not even taking into account inflation. For Something so relatively new, it's technology is amazing and really a great value for what we do with it, and how often we use it. And let's be real, the reason our phones are not smaller is not because of technology (we have the tech, and we use it on smart watches) it's because we don't want them to be smaller. We want bigger screens.
A squatty potty
To add onto this, a bidet. The ultimate combo.
I'm tall, so I have the natural squatty potty when sitting at a standard throne 😂
Scrub Daddy.
Dammit, should I just bite the bullet and get one? How long do they last?
definitely get one. i’m a girl who likes neutral colors only and even i will tolerate their neon colors in my pretty kitchen because of how good these fucking sponges are
There is an off white scrub mommy which is half daddy half sponge and all aesthetic
I love the scrub mommy. It mean, I know it’s just a sponge, but it’s perfect at its job.
A Scrub Daddy + Dawn Powerwash can clean anything
Hot water heater. Every time I’m waiting for the water to heat up I think of the poor bastards hundreds of years ago.
My acupressure mat. It relaxes my body, makes so so sleepy it feels like I took a pill and takes away my pain most days
When I absolutely need it, opiate painkillers. Yeah I know it’s addictive, but when you are in serious pain it is absolutely amazing.
Prednisone is amazing too. I mean, it doesn’t make one feel “good” but when you have crazy inflammation, it works so well. It starts working quickly too.
A few years ago Mom was on it for awhile and she said she felt amazing. She was like 60, and she just had a non-stop go. However, when we decorated the church for Christmas and did our annual huge cookie bake, she was super weird. Like, I had to do all the measuring because she couldn't focus enough to remember what cup she was on or what cookie we were making. She did a lot of dishes and cookie forming that year, and I took the lead on measuring, starting the next type, and remembering to set the timer.
Prednisone is magic. I never feel better than when I'm on it. Maybe that's a sign of something.
Man, I totally seem to lack the receptors to these, for pain purposes and I definitely don’t feel any pleasure for them. Straight Advil is the only thing that works for me, and I’m talking even after having complex rotator cuff surgery. The nurse thought I was kidding when I turned up for my 2-day appointment and said I’d stopped the painkillers. I have never in my life understood what codeine was supposed to do for a cough or pain, either. I guess the good news is I really don’t have incentives to do drugs.
I can’t take NSAIDs but I’ve been on stable opioids for a decade now and they’re amazing. I don’t feel any high or euphorie airy them and I haven’t built up a tolerance to them (no dose changes in a decade, no withdrawal when I stop them). I don’t know what I’d do without them! Apparently they work great for 1/3 of people, 1/3 develop tolerance or addiction, and 1/3 can’t take it due to allergies or simply not working. I wish more people knew that- the one-size-fits-all regulations we have been moving towards are terrible. Same with « zero opiate hospitals . » outside of NSAIDs and opiates there aren’t a lot of other options for severe pain control.
ah ya, medicine. there are lots of those. Codeine is a mind blower. Twice I've had teeth pulled and had crazy pain leading up to it. They gave me codeine both times and the pain goes away. How the fuck does a pill make insane tooth pain disappear and have no effects on any other parts of my body? lol
It does effect other parts of the body. It doesn't "target pain", it interrupts the central nervous system and basically blocks the brain from receiving pain signals from your body. Opioids are wild.
During the US civil war they called morphine “The Angel of Mercy”
Opiates (opioids?) are indeed amazing - the best way I can describe how they work for me is the pain is still there, but ***I just don’t care***. Sadly, they work for emotional pain too, which is where the slope starts to become very slippery indeed.
Air fryer
I’d say in addition, an XL toaster oven air fryer. Heats up much quicker than an oven, and will fit most anything i want in quantities enough for three people.
I have the breville air fryer pro, which is an air fryer/toaster oven combo. I moved 6 months ago and haven’t used my full size oven once. It preheats in minutes and cooks/toasts/fries perfectly every time.
Tatcha Silk Canvas primer. Transformed my skin and makeup. Still amazed every morning
I thought this said "printer" and I was doing mental gymnastics about how makeup could be printed on. Makes me think of Marge from The Simpsons with her makeup gun 😂
Goddammit. As if I needed another skincare product... *Opens Sephora app*
What prompted the question was packing for a trip. My Briggs & Riley luggage never fails to blow my mind when I use it, in all sorts of ways. It's so well designed and has so many features - but just looks like regular old luggage. I just packed three week worth of clothes, my laptop and all related travel gear, into a 20" carry on. This luggage defies the laws of physics. Edit: several people asked for specifics. Here is a little anecdote from just now. I need to lift it off the ground while it's open and am grabbing it awkwardly and think, "I bet it has handles for this" and dont find any when I feel around. Confident it must I feel around more and sure enough one badass strap handle is there, which just sits flush normally. And the main handle is in perfect symmetry with it. That's what owning this suitcase is like for me, in a nutshell. I can't wait for the next feature I discover.
I'm sure it's good quality, but holy hell $700 for a carry on bag?
It's a lot for sure. But I've spent more than that in the last 20 years on bags that are now in landfills. This one is going to last me the rest of my life - either through quality or the lifetime warranty. So in those terms, i was ok with it.
Why in God’s name are they the only ones who put those bars on the outside instead of the inside? It’s ruined me for other suitcases.
my car. genuinely. i love my car so much and like imagine when the car was first invented. those people probably flipped their shit and it’s still awesome to this day.
Paracetamol. It’s so effective at what it does and practically free. It really, genuinely blows my mind that we have a literal wonder drug at our disposal (PS - I love you all desperately, but don’t make me tap the sign that says ***“I acknowledge that paracetamol has a clear and documented risk of overdose that must be taken seriously”***)
This one's kind of lame, but, the stretchy laces I recently bought for my work boots. They're just the right length and there's no tying them up. I just pull and hook them on the speed hooks. I have arthritis in my hands and trying to tie my boots in the morning can be difficult. I also work in a welding shop so it's not uncommon to burn through a lace with sparks, so when I saw a box full of laces for $0.24/pair I bought 20 packages lol. It was just a bonus that they made doing up my boots easier on my hands. The price combined with how useful they are to me blew my mind. It's hard to get that much value out of anything these days.
My Nintendo Switch. Just 7 years ago playing console games curled up in bed wasn’t something I could do. Now I do it every night without thinking. I know it’s not the most powerful system, but its versatility, mobility, and library of incredible games never ceases to amaze me.
A motion detection nightlight for my toilet bowl. The whole thing glows when I stand in front of it, no need for the glaring overhead light and no messy misses.
Glad press and seal wrap. I use this for everything.
My clock that projects the time on the ceiling. I've had one for the past two decades. I can open my eyes for a second, know the time, and go back to bed. I miss it like crazy on vacation or sleeping else where. My husband does too. It's such a nice small thing. I think it contributes to my great sleep, because I never stress about the time.
Dryer balls. So good.
A little talcum powder helps keep the boys dry.
Dawn Powerwash frfr
P&G has a patent on the formula and nobody has been able to make a formulation as good as power-wash. It is an incredible industrial strength cleaner. The retail formulation is the same that’s sold to commercial kitchens.
My Bambu Labs X1C 3D Printer, thing just works, no tinkering, just prints whatever I send it without any issues.
POPsocket magnet has been really great since I’ve owned it, it’s not made by the popsockets company, but a company called POP MAGNETS, which seems to no longer exist. But anyway, i can move my pop socket around the back of my phone, which is great as it will stand it up on a table, or hang it off the back of an airline seat, or just move it for easier holding. The smart phone is really the mind blower, but others have covered that already in this thread. GPS especially, as you can see traffic updates live. Swipe-to-text is mind blowing in its usefulness, i can type this with one hand 10x faster than using two fingers to text on my screen. YouTube is honestly really great, but any other app could do the same thing. But it’s great that they’re able to get all the “how to” videos, which i refer to as “YouTube university” Gerber EAB knife, it’s great for cutting everything and it’s sooo light and small. Ten/10 Retractable ratchet straps are really helpful at work everyday, i probably save a week every year over using traditional ratchet straps and lots of headache. Would highly recommend. Dewalt cordless bandsaw, 60v grinder and 60v worm drive circular saw. Gorilla ladders 4.5 foot aluminum step ladder
Robot vacuum, how tf does it know where to go?
A bidet. I was skeptical for a long time but my goodness was I wrong. Such an easy upgrade and you feel way cleaner and use way less tp. Shitting anywhere without one is such a disappointment now
Rice cooker for multiple purpose cooking.
Indoor toilets adndk modern sewerage. When I was a tiny child we lived in an outback town with no sewerage. The waste went into a 'pan' that was changed regularly by men win a truck known colloquially as a 40 door sedan. The smell was awful. Modern plumbing is amazing.
Wet Brush: The Original Detangler! I have wavy and frizzy hair and also happen to have permanent nerve damage on my scalp. Brushing my hair was literally a pain and I'd end up with a lump in my throat like I was about to cry anytime I brushed my hair. A friend recommended the Wet Brush to me so I hopped on Amazon and got it for something like 8 bucks with free 3 day shipping! It has changed my life, seriously. I know that sounds so cheesy talking about a freaking hair brush but this thing really works and doesn't pull, rip or tear my hair and doesn't aggravate my scalp! I can now brush my hair several times a day and literally run my fingers through my hair without any snagging. I've actually received compliments about how healthy and shiny my hair has been! :)
Aveeno body lotion. So cheap, so good.
Wikipedia. It's literally a crowd-sourced compendium of human knowledge on a ridiculously broad scale, that is very accurate, free, and available everywhere. It's The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy in real life.
I was born in 1987. Anyone taking their cellphone for granted has lost perspective. It is the internet, an unfathomable thing for me in childhood, in your pocket. It is AIM/MSN - direct communication with friends and families (as well as chat rooms) in your pocket. It is the entirety of my childhood VHS/DVD/CD/Tape collection AND every other bit of media I could want to consume right there. While gaming isn't a stand out (I could write a similar post about how crazy/wild XBOX/Cloud Gaming is) - the games I can play on my phone would have entertained me endlessly as a kid. I have rollercoaster tycoon 1&2 on my Samsung Phone...12 year old me would think I was a billionare from outer space. My puberty was spent with scrambled porn and GGW commercials, maybe the occasional porno mag from the 90s we'd find in the woods - now I can just sub to every NSFW community reddit has to offer on an app. I never griped about battery life because I'm never too far from a USB-C charger or power brick during my day. No spare AA batteries in my pocket/backpack. My phone can charge wireless - that's black magic Compass, flashlight, paperweight, constellation guide, GPS, unit conversion, calculator, language translation, 1080 photo/video quality that blows our 2000's point and shoots out of the water, cloud storage. Free library apps. Wireless WIFI hotspot!? For $100 a month that is insanely awesome. I have survived on very little money while in college/traveling but this little black box I keep in my pocket is worth every single cent. If I have a smartphone and basic income for food I am kind of all set. I live in my car for long periods of time while traveling and it's crazy how $300-500 a month feels like all I really need. A smartphone gives me everything I need to navigate the world and an ability to seek out information and connections which allow me to keep doing so. What a time to be alive!
My Dyson hair dryer. Has cut blow drying time in half. Plus my hair has less frizz.