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Ask HN: Most life changing things that you bought?
61–70 of 165 posts
Re: Ask HN: Most life changing things that you bought?
#62If you live in a cold climate, a heated mattress pad is a game changer. It lets you sleep more comfortably and also reduce energy use by turning your central heating further down at night. They are pretty ubiquitous in Korea (probably from a legacy of under floor heating and sleeping on mats), but not commonly used in the US. They should be!
Re: Ask HN: Most life changing things that you bought?
#63A pressure cooker. I originally bought it because I wanted to grow mushrooms and needed to sterilize the substrate, but ended up using it mostly for cooking. Lots of meals that usually take too much time are suddenly very reasonable to cook. I especially use beans and other legumes a lot more than I did before.
I discovered pressure cooking just a few years ago, via the Instant Pot. Ended up switching to a real pressure cooker, and use it all the time. The real pressure cooker is just even faster and takes up less space. edit: Aided by an inductive stove which is just insanely fast. I have a pasta dinner that's pressure released before the IP is even up to temp.
Re: Ask HN: Most life changing things that you bought?
#64AirPods. Eliminating the cord changed my exercise and my life.
Re: Ask HN: Most life changing things that you bought?
#65Yes to the air purifier. People living without them are insane. Also, buying and running an air purifier destroyed my marriage! My wife said she didn't like the sound of it. So I bough a new, super quite one. Then she said she didn't like the "frequency" not the volume of the machine. One day I came home and she had unplugged it and we got into an argument. I told her to please just "shut up" and that was when she at…
That escalated quickly
Re: Ask HN: Most life changing things that you bought?
#66Yes to the air purifier. People living without them are insane. Also, buying and running an air purifier destroyed my marriage! My wife said she didn't like the sound of it. So I bough a new, super quite one. Then she said she didn't like the "frequency" not the volume of the machine. One day I came home and she had unplugged it and we got into an argument. I told her to please just "shut up" and that was when she at…
What brand of air purifier was this?
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Re: Ask HN: Most life changing things that you bought?
#67If you live in a cold climate, a heated mattress pad is a game changer. It lets you sleep more comfortably and also reduce energy use by turning your central heating further down at night. They are pretty ubiquitous in Korea (probably from a legacy of under floor heating and sleeping on mats), but not commonly used in the US. They should be!
My fear would be a pad or electric blanket catching on fire.
Re: Ask HN: Most life changing things that you bought?
#68Zalto wine glasses. $60 per, and well worth it if you enjoy wine.
A honyaki chef’s knife and a vinyl cutting board to go with it.
Re: Ask HN: Most life changing things that you bought?
#69Sleep:
- blackout curtains, blackout rod, and white noise machine.
- latex hybrid mattress. I settled on Luma's version of this.
Exercise: Mini home gym settup
- Bowflex SelectTech dumbbells with stand. Power blocks would be equally good, these were just on sale at the time.
- Cheapo belt-drive indoor bike
- Pull-up bar
- Bench if you have extra space.
Work:
- Ergo mouse and keyboard (I use Freestyle 2 for keys and Evoluent vertical mouse).
Liesure:
- Kindle with buttons. Used the old keyboard one until it died, then switched to the Voyage.
Car:
- Honda Fit. Incredible value in this car. Parks anywhere.
- Roof rack w/cargo box. Turn your subcompact car into a station wagon.
Cooking:
- Instant-read thermometer
- Vintage cast iron pan. They cost about the same and have a much nicer surface. Best I've found is Griswold.
- Forged knives with decent steel. Best value here is probably something Japanese (e.g. Tojiro Gyuto)
- Japanese water stone for sharpening. It's a fun skill and doesn't take long to learn - or just pay for it regularly. Sharp knives are life changing.
- Tri-ply pots/pans. I went for All-Clad, but Cuisinart seems to do fine for much less $$.
- Panasonic IR toaster (FlashXpress). Compact, super-fast , bulletproof. (I'm on year 10 of consistent operation).
- Moccamaster or knockoff version - I use the "Motif Essential" which sporadically shows up for $50. 85% of the flavor of pour-over, 20% of the work.
House:
- Battery-op electric lawnmower/blower/trimmer. No more gas fumes, low maintenance, quiet.
- Cordless drill
- Basement dehumidifier. No more funky smell.
- Color tunable light-bulbs. Bright blue in the morning, orange-y in the evening. It's flux for your house.
Health:
- allergies: sublingual immuno therapy. Same benefits as allergy shots, no shots.
- IR thermometer. Especially if you have kids.
Re: Ask HN: Most life changing things that you bought?
#70A small (~4qt) water boiler for the kitchen. Having on-demand hot water makes tea as available as a glass of water.
First benefit: tea is a beverage hobby with some stunning depth (think wine, beer, scotch, etc).
Second benefit: Lots of flavor diversity means you won't have to reach for sugary or alcoholic drinks as often to fight off boredom.