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Ask HN: What tiny purchases have disproportionately improved your life?

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Re: Ask HN: What tiny purchases have disproportionately improved your life?

#201

Silver and Gold ink Markers - When you purchase a device with a wall wart charger, write the device name on it. Labels peel off, the ink tends to stay forever. Now when I move/pull something out of storage/my bag I know exactly what adapter goes to what.

Paint pens. Available in many colors.

Re: Ask HN: What tiny purchases have disproportionately improved your life?

#202

Room air purifier ten years ago. Knowing the health impacts of indoor air, and the effect of prolonged exposure, it has been a huge relief knowing the family is sleeping in more safety in a home that we spend 20+ hours a day in (during the -20C winters).

Not cheap, but the Austin Air bedroom machine is incredible. It's the best HEPA filter I've ever bought by far.

Re: Ask HN: What tiny purchases have disproportionately improved your life?

#203
post #6

What a great question! * A very long USB-C cable from an Apple store. I get jealous looks when I break it out to charge my phone. * Scented candles from Aldi. It's such a quality of life boost to have the place smelling nice. They last ages and cost nothing. * A creme brulee hand blowtorch. Surprisingly useful! Excellent for lighting aforementioned candles instantly, without burning your knuckles. * A real P3 respira…

Often a real P3 respirator has a valve to prevent fogging with doesn't filter what you exhale though so you're not helping the pandemic.

3M is now making a high-quality respirator that has an optional exhalation filter attachment. I forget the model number but you can find it on the grainger website.

Re: Ask HN: What tiny purchases have disproportionately improved your life?

#204
um...no on the USB flash drives.

These days, hackers stays in a computer system for 5 or 6 months before making their move. So they can destroy your backups and put their virus on USB flash drives, and you won't know until that day comes. So if you re-use your USB flash drives, they can be bricked.

However, if you get a brand new USB drive for every backup, then that would probably work. Are do you purchase 365 USB flash drives per year (or however many backups you do per year)? But then, you will have to buy a new computer because if you try to use that backup on the old computer that is hijacked, that backup is compromised as well.

Re: Ask HN: What tiny purchases have disproportionately improved your life?

#205

A dog. Overall for around 100 bucks a month in food/trifexis the value a dog brings to your life is massive. People will constantly talk to you so youre socializing. There's a creature that loves you unconditionally which is a really cool feeling. Theyre a ton of fun so it's hard to be bored. They're good for getting exercise as they always want to play. And more. Theres studies that say owning a dog increases your l…

What breed of dog? How much is the insurance?

I got an Aussie. No insurance.

I would just pay the 40 bucks for the vet visit if I need it which I haven't in two years of dog ownership so far.

Re: Ask HN: What tiny purchases have disproportionately improved your life?

#206

A dog. Overall for around 100 bucks a month in food/trifexis the value a dog brings to your life is massive. People will constantly talk to you so youre socializing. There's a creature that loves you unconditionally which is a really cool feeling. Theyre a ton of fun so it's hard to be bored. They're good for getting exercise as they always want to play. And more. Theres studies that say owning a dog increases your l…

God, I've low-key been wanting to adopt a husky...

Huskys are awesome. I see them at the dog park. They're gorgeous dogs and have a ton of personality.

I don't know if I would get one if I lived in a tropical climate though. Like the southern U.S. states.

West Coast or New England...hell yes!

Re: Ask HN: What tiny purchases have disproportionately improved your life?

#207
Dextrose. You can't buy it in grocery stores, but it is available online. Don't pay more than $2/lb. It is sold most cheaply labeled "corn sugar", marketed mainly to home beer brewers. There is only one actual supplier in the US, who ships 50 lb bags. Others break it up and sell 10, 5, and 2 lb bags. Some relabel it "dextrose" or "glucose" and jack up the price. I get mine 10 lb at a time from "Homebrew".

Regular sugar (sucrose, fructose) is poison without accompanying fiber, and is the cause of the US's (and India's and Pakistan's) epidemic level of "metabolic syndrome", liver disease that, indirectly, kills way more than COVID. Your liver can neutralize small amounts, as it does alcohol, but Americans take in way more than it can process. When your liver is impaired, you die from things a healthy liver would have prevented. (Really, nowadays people who don't drink are dying from cirrhosis!)

So, you can use dextrose anywhere you would have used table sugar. It has the extra advantage over table sugar (besides not being poison) that it does not make you more hungry after you eat it. Note, it is on you to ensure there is fiber in whatever you take in at the same time; without fiber it (like table sugar) causes insulin excursions you are much better off without. Coffee and cocoa have surprisingly large amounts of fiber.

For more about metabolic disease, the best place to start is youtube vids of presentations by Robert Lustig, a respected endocrinologist specializing in liver disease. He has several books out, most recently "Metabolical", that you probably can get from your local library.

Re: Ask HN: What tiny purchases have disproportionately improved your life?

#208
post #141

Some that come to mind. __Health__ Melatonin. There is no other way for me to go to bed and this knocks me right out (I use 0.2 - 0.4 milligrams). Sleep mask (no more waking up because a stray light hits my eye) I'd say sleep earplugs but I have a sound in my ear, but otherwise earplugs Mosquito repellent scent (for sleep as well). Silicon earplugs when going out, I never thought I'd get ear/hearing damage because I…

For some people, me included, melatonin can cause an uptick in very real feeling and (depending on mental state) very weird dreams. Do be mindful of that. On the other hand if you're practiced at lucid dreaming this can be a real trip.

>very weird dreams.

Verified. By me.

Re: Ask HN: What tiny purchases have disproportionately improved your life?

#209

A dog. Overall for around 100 bucks a month in food/trifexis the value a dog brings to your life is massive. People will constantly talk to you so youre socializing. There's a creature that loves you unconditionally which is a really cool feeling. Theyre a ton of fun so it's hard to be bored. They're good for getting exercise as they always want to play. And more. Theres studies that say owning a dog increases your l…

I get what you're saying but quite a few of my neighbors have dogs that they leave to roam the garden during the day whilst they're out... And said dogs will bark at everyone and everything, which causes me stress (noise pollution). Please only get a dog that you can spend a lot of time with.

Yeah, dogs are pack animals.

If the owner has to leave every day ,they should be bringing their dogs to doggy day care or have another dog to keep it company.

I personally view leaving a dog alone all day as abuse.

Re: Ask HN: What tiny purchases have disproportionately improved your life?

#210
post #141

Some that come to mind. __Health__ Melatonin. There is no other way for me to go to bed and this knocks me right out (I use 0.2 - 0.4 milligrams). Sleep mask (no more waking up because a stray light hits my eye) I'd say sleep earplugs but I have a sound in my ear, but otherwise earplugs Mosquito repellent scent (for sleep as well). Silicon earplugs when going out, I never thought I'd get ear/hearing damage because I…

For some people, me included, melatonin can cause an uptick in very real feeling and (depending on mental state) very weird dreams. Do be mindful of that. On the other hand if you're practiced at lucid dreaming this can be a real trip.

If you are sleep deprived, anything that helps you sleep better can result in an uptick in very vivid, strange dreams. It is a common side effect of quitting caffeine and any number of other things.

Anything that suddenly and dramatically improves your sleep quality can potentially have this effect.

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