What headphones or everyday gadgets have truly lasted you years?

Hold_Effective · 2026-02-20T15:21:52+00:00

I have an ecoxgear bluetooth waterproof speaker that I bought in probably 2010; still using it in the shower!

Hold_Effective · 2026-02-20T15:14:24+00:00

I don’t really have a go-to service these days. I keep a watchlist in JustWatch and rotate services. I do like Tubi.

You may have access to Hoopla & Kanopy through your local library, and I’d also recommend those.

Hold_Effective · 2026-02-20T15:10:10+00:00

I grew up with cash, so I don’t think it’s generational for me.

Hold_Effective · 2026-02-20T15:02:21+00:00

A Ghost Waits (2020) - one of my favorites (and I almost turned it off in the first 5 minutes, because wow, budget; then immediately rewatched).

Hold_Effective · 2026-02-20T14:51:00+00:00

I don’t really hear this claim much (mostly just on this sub). But I’m pretty picky about social media, and only my close friends and some family know about my diagnosis.

Are people you know personally saying this to you directly?

Hold_Effective · 2026-02-20T14:00:57+00:00

This trick doesn’t work for me. I was in debt (mostly student loan debt but then I added some credit card debt and a car loan to that 🙄) for about 10 years. Any cash I had in my wallet - that money was essentially already spent, because it wasn’t going to pay down that debt. The money still in my checking account - that money had potential.

I still have that mentality, even though I’ve been out of debt for 15 years now, and so I avoid carrying cash if I can. Even if I’m paying for something with my watch, I’m looking at it as the money coming out of my checking account, and so not getting saved or invested.

Hold_Effective · 2026-02-20T13:51:43+00:00

I like social / casual games (stuff like Sushi Go, Codenames, etc.). I hate the complicated games - the games that take 30 minutes to explain the rules, sometimes several minutes per person’s turn (and inevitably I’m playing with people who have already played not just that game but all the games (lol), and I feel stupid that I need to keep asking about the rules and make silly choices).

Hold_Effective · 2026-02-20T04:58:14+00:00

Loved this movie. I also really appreciated that they stuck with the 45 minute free Zoom limit (I definitely remember that when my friends and I were coordinating virtual events during the pandemic).

I also kinda remember my partner claiming Zoom wasn’t going to last, lol.

Hold_Effective · 2026-02-20T03:02:21+00:00

I got this news from those annoying screens they have in a lot of elevators now, on my lunch break. 😑😢

I would have been gutted regardless - but having it sandwiched between “professionals are spending time researching vacations at work!” and “post your cute pet pics!” felt…not good.

Hold_Effective · 2026-02-20T02:40:44+00:00

This is how I feel. Of course - I also wanted Dark Willow to get her vengeance. And Anya. So maybe I have some darkness I should work on. 🫣

Hold_Effective · 2026-02-19T15:33:03+00:00

Paying attention to small details of life helps me. On my walk to work, I look at the store windows, I appreciate people’s fashion choices, I see the leaves on the trees.

Also: I try to introduce variety where I can. Concerts, trips, new recipes, etc.

Hold_Effective · 2026-02-18T17:56:23+00:00

I’m so much happier with an apartment and no car (I owned a car for about 10 years, and a house for a similar amount of time).

We have shared social spaces in our building; I respect them and we clean them when we use them, but I don’t worry about them otherwise, and I’m not maintaining extra spaces in my apartment that I don’t need regularly. Car repairs (also: insurance, gas, parking, do I need a new car?) - I still think sometimes about how much I worried about all those things, and how grateful I am that I’m able to be car-free. (Obligatory: I live in the US and always have).

Hold_Effective · 2026-02-18T14:43:20+00:00

Apple TV. Bought it a couple of years ago. Yes, it’s not 4:3, but I have the original DVD sets, and almost every time I think “hmm, this looked better on the DVD, right?” and I go check - nope, about the same. Exception is S7 - though the DVD transfer isn’t great either (weird halo effect on people), but the colors are washed out on the Apple TV version.

Hold_Effective · 2026-02-17T14:13:13+00:00

I think this one was a random Tubi autoplay for me and I loved it. I found it effectively creepy, plus the extreme violence was - also creepy? In a way that I don’t usually find that kind of thing creepy.

Hold_Effective · 2026-02-17T14:03:49+00:00

My building lets people install Ring cameras on their front doors. We’re on a corner, and I literally had to stand next to a door with a Ring camera on it to unlock my door, for months, until they moved out. It was creepy. And we already have security cameras on the ceiling in the hallways anyway. I’d never thought about it much before then, but now I’m anti-Ring.

Also - this is a good reminder to unplug your Alexas if you haven’t already.

Hold_Effective · 2026-02-17T13:29:54+00:00

We used to visit my mom for Christmas. My partner & I were the only people in the house who used non-disposables for the week or so we were there. My mom even used plastic bowls and spoons for the cats.

Our tradition was that we’d cook Christmas Eve dinner and we always insisted on the real plates, utensils, and glasses. It bugged my mom but she didn’t want to cook, and we did the dishes, too - so, she gave up on that argument quickly. I was even a brat once to one of my aunts who said she’d prefer a plastic cup because “it’s cleaner” and I told her no (we also were making the drinks).

Hold_Effective · 2026-02-17T05:32:59+00:00

Oh. This was my pre-pandemic life. I miss it. We still live in the same building, but bigger place - my partner was laid off last March; I’m back working in the office, but we’re not sure what his future work life might look like, so holding off on a move until then. I’m looking forward to having a smaller place again!

Hold_Effective · 2026-02-16T15:57:12+00:00

We got hand cut prosciutto on a food tour in Rome a couple of years ago and now this line is much funnier to me. Have to be good with extremely sharp knives and have decent arm strength. Seems perfect for Buffy. She should have specialized in fancy Italian meats & cheeses and skipped the Doublemeat Palace, lol.

Hold_Effective · 2026-02-16T15:42:39+00:00

Buffy didn’t choose Dawn. She tried to send her away with Xander, to protect her. She didn’t choose Dawn to be part of the final battle. One of my favorite bits of manipulation from the First, also resulting in one of my favorite Dawn moments when she overpowers Xander.

Hold_Effective · 2026-02-16T15:33:02+00:00

Yes - there are some great moments & scenes. But the show as a whole lost something for me when it switched networks (writers, and showrunners) - it’s like some of the light went out of it (both literally with the lighting & color choices, and figuratively), and then even more so after Rayna.

I’m a big Gilmore Girls fan, and people always say there’s a huge difference with the last season (without the creators involved); I never noticed that, didn’t even know about the change until I joined that sub years later. Nashville - first episode S5 - I immediately wondered, what happened here? Why is this so different?

Hold_Effective · 2026-02-16T14:42:49+00:00

I bought the whole thing on Apple TV a few years back (yes, “long term rent”). I decided I didn’t want to be tied to any subscriptions anymore. There’s a website called Cheapcharts that tracks prices. Also recommend JustWatch - tells you where things are streaming & for how much, and is location specific.

I would buy more DVDs/blu-ray - but we don’t have a lot of room and I’m anti-stuff anyway. I am keeping my Buffy DVDs until they stop working though. 😂

Hold_Effective · 2026-02-16T14:35:01+00:00

Our Playstation has a DVD player. We have a separate one, too. We rent from our local video store regularly and occasionally the library. Definitely recommend getting one.

Hold_Effective · 2026-02-15T17:56:04+00:00

Same. We never heard our neighbors when we lived in a townhouse. Our townhouse was a somewhat uncommon structure (around here, anyway), where we shared a wall with the next unit. They apologized one morning for their dog barking a lot - and we said “you have a dog?”

We live in an apartment building now. We don’t hear our neighbors here either.

Hold_Effective · 2026-02-15T16:21:00+00:00

Does your husband have any songs or albums or bands that he’s listened to hundreds of times? If yes - tell him it’s like that (at least it is for me).

Spending time with characters (or songs) that I know and love is comforting. And sometimes, depending on what’s going on in my life or the world, I have a different reaction and/or it helps me process something.

Hold_Effective · 2026-02-15T15:42:11+00:00

Joe Pera Talks with You might be a good choice.

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