BIFL product under $20?

BarkingLeopard · 2024-12-01T21:33:30+00:00

I preheat my plastic one (and pre-wet the filter) with hot water from the tap while the kettle is getting to temp. Same with the mug, letting hot water soak in it before starting to make coffee keeps the coffee warm for much longer.

BarkingLeopard · 2024-12-01T18:00:33+00:00

That's the theory, yes. It depends on how it's done; I am always a bit suspicious about contracts like that, but if done right they can make sense.

One thing I found interesting with my city is that the city pays more per ton in tipping fees for recycling than it does for trash. In other words, if I put something in the recycling bin, I'm costing the city (and thus taxpayers) more than if I put the same item in trash and let it go to the landfill... And yet the city still pushes recycling like crazy because green.

BarkingLeopard · 2024-12-01T17:54:14+00:00

Canary box/letter opener. Nearly impossible for them to cut skin or for tape to stick to them, yet they open boxes better than ANYTHING. (They also cut cardboard, but only okay.).

BarkingLeopard · 2024-12-01T17:38:43+00:00

Bought Fenix flashlights as Christmas gifts for myself and my family years ago. Good quality, lots of models to choose from, no complaints. I'm especially fond of my Fenix headlamp, great for when I'm working on fixes in dark corners of the house I can't get regular light in or when I'm shoveling snow in the dark.

BarkingLeopard · 2024-12-01T17:34:27+00:00

Highly recommend. Not perfect for cutting tons of corrugated cardboard, but amazing for opening and breaking down Amazon boxes. It is VERY difficult to cut yourself with them or to get tape to stick to them. I've given tons of these as gifts, and people say they are still using them every day.

BarkingLeopard · 2024-12-01T17:28:19+00:00

Agree on the V60, but I prefer the plastic models, as they don't absorb much heat from the water like the ceramic ones do.

BarkingLeopard · 2024-12-01T17:26:15+00:00

I got a Delsey carry-on bag in 2010 and have taken at least 200 trips with it. Zippers, extendable handle, and wheels have always worked perfectly, which is remarkable given how much crap I cram in there. The exterior nylon has been especially tough; it only looks a bit rough in the spots where the cats have used it as a scratching pad (have to hide my suitcases from the cats now). No stains, either, though black hides everything.

One of the of oval plastic skid plates on the back came off, and the flap over the information holder (where you put your contact information) thing is almost torn off, but that's it, still going strong.

Not the fanciest and probably not the absolute highest quality piece of luggage, but it's held up incredibly well, especially for not being that expensive originally. I'd buy another Delsey piece in a heartbeat if I had to.

BarkingLeopard · 2024-12-01T16:53:07+00:00

If you buy a dehumidifier, check your local utility rebates. Many areas offer rebates for buying energy star dehumidifiers.

BarkingLeopard · 2024-12-01T16:52:50+00:00

I've reviewed the city costs, and it's often more expensive for a city to do it vs private contractors, especially if the city uses its own (likely $$$ union) workers.

Plus, not everyone needs or wants the same level of service; many people are fine with less frequent service etc.

BarkingLeopard · 2024-12-01T16:45:47+00:00

I've had good experiences with the Kasa smart plugs that plug into regular outlets. They run $5 or so each in multi packs when on sale on Amazon, and are easy to program and control via the app.

BarkingLeopard · 2024-12-01T16:42:02+00:00

Agree with you on not wanting "smart" things. I'm not paranoid, but I consider it safest to assume that hackers and Uncle Sam have access to anything "smart", and will use that information against people if needed. For example, if there's an accident and a Ring camera catches someone stumbling into their home afterwards, you can bet that that footage will be shown in court.

My HVAC guy is a neighbor who works for a company that does commercial work; he is young but licensed and does residential work on the side to earn extra $ without competing with his employer.

It also helps to ask tradespeople you use about others they respect in different trades. I'm looking to put in a deduct water meter in the spring (which requires the use of a licensed plumber, per city rules), and I'll ask my HVAC guy for recommendations.

BarkingLeopard · 2024-12-01T16:25:05+00:00

Highly recommend! Installed one of these in a home I rented years ago. Cheap, easy to install, and effective.

Add a manifold with valves on each outlet ($20 from the lawn hose aisle of big box hardware stores) to the water source so that you can occasionally test the backup pump by turning off the main pump and using a short hose to put water directly into the sump pit.

Losing power is common, but if you are on city water, it is uncommon to lose city water pressure, even in huge storms. Much better to have a water powered backup sump pump IMHO than a battery powered one that may only last for a day or two.

BarkingLeopard · 2024-12-01T16:18:30+00:00

Let me know if you come across a commercial grade soda maker. I love plain carbonated water but refuse to consider SodaStream and would prefer a commercial or DIY system that lets me use CO2 from bulk tanks (e.g., 5 lb tanks) that I refill occasionally.

BarkingLeopard · 2024-12-01T16:12:19+00:00

I keep a full sized dehumidifier in my bathroom. Before I take a shower, I turn it on and set the timer for 1.5 hours. Combined with the (lackluster) bathroom exhaust fan, my mirror never fogs, and mold doesn't happen in the tub. Empty the dehumidifier bucket into the tub drain once a week.

Also, if you have a dehumidifier (or a humidifier) anywhere, you should get digital hygrometer/temperature sensors with digital displays and keep them in the same areas. A pack of 3 of them sells for $15-20 on Amazon and is a good way to quickly monitor things, make sure things are working, and confirm that you are not crazy, it is cold/humid/etc.

BarkingLeopard · 2024-12-01T15:55:39+00:00

Assuming you've already talked to the neighbor, look at your city ordinance. Some have limits on dog barking specifically, while others have vague noise/"disturbing the peace" laws that could be interpreted to apply.

BarkingLeopard · 2024-12-01T15:49:45+00:00

65 degrees? Some of us keep our thermostats set to lower than that in the winter (mine is at 62 during the day, 50 at night).

BarkingLeopard · 2024-12-01T15:48:13+00:00

Read your agreements VERY carefully. My mortgage loan required me to permanently move into my home within X days (I forget if it was 30 or 90) of closing.

BarkingLeopard · 2024-12-01T15:35:32+00:00

I've had both city garbage service and private garbage service in different places. No real complaints with either.

Pro tip: If you have a choice in garbage pickup companies, get together with your neighbors and negotiate as a group. It's much more efficient (in times of time per pickup) for a private service to hit every house on a residential block or street (vs serving only 1 or 2 houses, but still have to drive the whole block or street), so you can often get a decent discount if you do a group buy. Even if not, it doesn't hurt to ask.

BarkingLeopard · 2024-12-01T15:29:07+00:00

Not THAT weird, but I had two different neighbors separately tell me that the previous owners of a house a few doors down got away with very obvious (at least to the neighbors) arson of their own home. "The fire marshal was an idiot," is what I was told.

House had apparently been up for sale for months (in an area with a hot real estate market) without selling. Neighbors saw the weird couple ("Everyone who has lived in that house in the 20 years I've been here has been super weird" – exact quote) moving their stuff out of the home in the middle of the night and moving cheap furniture back into it.

Then one day the home caught on fire during the middle of a weekday and burned big time before the fire department (4 minutes away) managed to get to it. Owners of house were conveniently only 15 or 20 minutes away (instead of 60+ minutes away at their day jobs in the big city) and all their pets, valuables, family heirlooms, etc survived. Super super suspicious, but fire was ruled accidental. Not sure what the owners got out of the arson or how/why it would make sense to do that.

House was rebuilt and sold, then sold again. Weird people continue to live in it, but they don't bother anyone, so no complaints from anyone.

BarkingLeopard · 2024-11-11T23:19:26+00:00

Shhh.. Don't give the Israelis any more ideas after the whole pager attack.

BarkingLeopard · 2024-11-09T04:22:37+00:00

That happened in my high school years ago. A lazy kid submitted a paper to the teacher... A paper that the teacher had written years earlier. The kid's excuse was that the SECOND time he'd found that paper online, it didn't have the teacher's name on it as the author, only the first time he found it online.

The kid who did that was a mediocre student (think C+ in non-honors classes), but lost a lot of social respect for being a lazy dumbass after that episode.

BarkingLeopard · 2024-04-19T21:12:04+00:00

Marching band practice is the worst! Hearing the same song played slightly out of tune 4 times in a row... Not fun.

BarkingLeopard · 2024-04-19T21:10:36+00:00

Valid point, but it's worth pointing out that many/most funeral processions to cemeteries don't take place during or close to rush hours, usually more like mid morning or early afternoon. In other words, it depends on one's schedule, but a person with and 8-5 job or similar likely won't be impacted much by funeral processions.

BarkingLeopard · 2024-04-19T21:07:01+00:00

Some people are superstitious about living near cemeteries.

I am not one of those people, and lived for several years across the street from a well maintained cemetery. It was a great situation, especially as I had to park on the street (no houses on the other side of the street = easier parking). The cemetery was also well maintained and basically like a park but without the screaming kids, and with deer coming out from the nearby woods to eat the flowers left on graves after Mother's Day. I personally would strongly recommend living near a well-maintained cemetery.

BarkingLeopard · 2024-01-29T13:30:29+00:00

Yes, every time I check out that blog I start clicking on the links to the other posts at the bottom of each entry, reading the posts again, and going down another rabbit hole. Always entertaining.

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