- Alan Henry’s Discussions
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Nespresso Pixie.
I didn't buy it for many years because I thought the pods were going to give you bad tasting coffee like the Keurig. Besides, Lifehacker successfully converted me to the Aeropress for superior tasting coffee.Then, my semi-automatic espresso machine of many years broke and I ended up on a project that required me to get up early in the morning and continue into the evening. Long days.
I bought the Pixie and am totally hooked by the ease of use, surprisingly good tasting espresso ... with crema! My broken espresso machine never came up with anything close to the crema from the Pixie.
A well laid out kitchen, including a faucet with a pull down sprayer. I actually don't mind doing dishes manually with this thing - the jet mode peels grease off dirty dishes without a lot of work.
Also: a wall-mounted drying rack for dishes; no cluttering up of counter space, no manual drying.
Air compressor and air tools.
Took me a while to get this gear, mostly because it was expensive-ish and I didn't see the need. That was 25-ish years ago. I gave in because there was this frozen nut inside a motorcycle fork tube (inner part could spin and no way to limit the spin). Now I feel a bit crippled in the garage if I don't have at least a decent air impact wrench.
There's lots of other tools I feel this way about, but that's the obvious one.
Dawn Power Clean
Normally just bought this due to my unnatural obsession with Procter and Gamble products, but never looked back since. It more than lives up to all of its claims. One 440z bottle at about $8 (not quite sure on the price, that seems high) literally lasts me half a year. This stuff is super concentrated and a tiny dot of this can clean 4 dinner plates without needing to re-soap. I have a dishwasher, but due to laziness never use it and find myself with a mountain of dishes, a table spoon of this stuff later and they're all done. Then I use my dishwasher as a drying rack. It's not the cheapest dish soap, but it's the best and if you use it properly it can be stretched out to about $20/year (so about 2.5 bottles).
My suggestion: plug sink, squirt about a tsp of this stuff into it, fill sink with dishes and utensils, turn on water, soak for about 1/2 hr (though 5 min is more than enough to eat through anything stuck on your plate), drain, rinse, and re-wash each dish with the soap. 2-3 drops on a scrub head will easily take care of 30-50% of your dishes without losing suds and power.
Link Bubble on Android
It was one of those apps I heard about, but didn't really think it would be that useful. Once I succumbed and bought it I never looked back. Basically it loads a link you click in the background while you continue what you are doing at the time. In my photo example I opened this article in the background while continuing reading other Feedly headers. It's also useful to open a bunch of pages while on WiFi that you want to view on the go or later in the day like when you arrive home. Once you realize how great it works in things like Feedly, you will never look back too.
Wireless Charging
Thought it was silly and expensive at first.. and now I hate using regular USB charging.
I can just drop it onto the pad, never have to worry about snagging a cord or ruining my USB connector.
Barkeeper's Friend
This is the only thing to use for cleaning a stainless steel sink! I used to use steel wool or some Soft Scrub on a sponge, but this stuff works much better. Removes rust and stains quickly and easily.
I've also had success using it on stuck-on stove top grease. It dissolves grout, so you can use it to clean grout but you have to be careful. (this stuff is acidic).
This stuff is non-toxic, biodegradable, non-abrasive, non-flammable, and you can find it cheap pretty much anywhere.
Simple Green was originally used 30 years ago for industrial use, it's perfect for pretty much any surface cleaning at home. It doesn't leave any residue, has a very pleasant odor (smells like an herbal extract), and the pH is slightly alkaline at 9.5 as opposed to most other cleaners that are FAR more caustic (which means the surfaces that you use it on don't degrade).I would recommend diluting it if you aren't using it on a grill or outside because it lasts a very long time this way, and if you follow the dilution chart on the back it is just as effective. It costs about $4 for the spray bottle which is a concentrated solution.
T-Handle Allen Wrenches.
If you have a set of allen wrenches hanging from an oversized keychain that you got at the dollar store, you are basically using a model T when an F-150 Raptor is available for only a little more dough. These things make any job so much easier, it is worth the extra storage space. And don't get me started on the Gear Wrench!
iROBOT ROOMBA
I lived with my wife and 2 cats for 10 years. There was always time to vacuum. Now we have a toddler. He demands a lot of attention and makes a lot of messes. I bought a Roomba last weekend. HOW HAVE I LIVED THIS LONG WITHOUT ONE?! Seriously, this thing vacuums our kitchen and dining room daily, while we are at work. And then on the weeknights/weekends, we can just plunk it down in another area of the house and let it clean there, while we are out errand running or whatever. I've had one for a week and am already saving for another, to put upstairs.
Uber. I signed up ages ago but didn't actually use it for over a year. I resisted because it sounded extravagant - what do I need a black car service for when there's public transport or taxis? Reliability and convenience, that's what! When I'm out, for work or play, and it's late and I'm tired and it'll be an hour or more to get home on public transit, sometimes it just feels worth it to pay a driver. It's a splurge, and it took a while for that to feel okay to do sometimes.
Why not a taxi? Because I'll be on hold for 5 minutes before I get through to the dispatcher, and then it'll take the taxi 10 minutes to get to me (or worse, the driver will go to the wrong place and I'll spend another 5 minutes on hold with the dispatcher trying to find them), and then the driver won't follow my directions and the route will take another 10 minutes longer than it could have, and then I have to fumble with either an outdated credit card machine or mess with cash when I get there - at which point I've lost half an hour anyway and for the cost I should have just taken the subway.
When I call an Uber, they're there in 5 minutes, I can see the car on GPS as it approaches, the driver is always courteous and always knows the city well, understands and follows my instructions, and at my house I can just say goodnight and get out of the car without worrying about payment. When I'm exhausted and want to be in bed already, Uber is the easiest, fastest, and most reliable way to get home.
RSS Feeds.
I subscribe to my favorite sites within Outlook and Pulse app on my phone.
One thing most people don't realize is you can RSS a craigslist search. In the market for a used Nest Thermostat, Super Nintendo, or Subaru WRX? Search for it, scroll to the bottom of the page and copy the RSS URL to your reader of choice, and get notified the minute someone lists an item you'd be interested in!
Multiple Computer Monitors. The first time I ever saw someone using more than one monitor I thought "why would they NEED that?". Then, I started realizing how much time I wasted minimizing pages and trying to keep up with open programs. Now I have two monitors and it has made my work life so much more efficient. I wish I had the desk space for three monitors.
Nonstick cookware. Yeah, this stuff tends to be fragile, so you have to be careful how you clean/store it (wife, are you listening?), but while it works, it's a joy to use.
Pro tip - since it is inevitable that your Teflon cookware is going to get abused in various ways, it's best not to spend too much money on it. Get the cheapest pan that meets your requirements, and throw it away when it no longer performs.
Feedly
I resisted a Feedly type product because I felt I needed to be in control and enjoyed organizing my bookmarks. I stumbled upon the Lifehacker Firefox plugin that displayed the # of new articles at the site since my last visit. I went to Google Reader and then Feedly and haven't turned back. Though I am guilty of adding too many sites to follow.
Not sure if we can include apps but this one was a game changer for me: Llama
its a free app that uses cell towers and location to switch profiles. when in cell only mode it does not use much battery and allows my phone to know which profile to switch and knows to switch on bluetooth when i leave work!!
Zip ties and a pair of wirecutters. Two of my favorite things. Great for cable organization. Particularly if you have boxes of spare cables laying around.
I know this will seem kiss-assy but Lifehacker is one of my favorite websites ever. Except for the really hardcore techie stuff there is almost always something of interest to me. I recommend it to everyone and even my 12 y.o. daughter references it to her friends. Lifehacker has spurred me to take a lot of interesting online courses that I never knew existed, like Con Law, photography, writing code, and other cool stuff. The socializing "how to" articles are great and I have applied many of the child-rearing suggestions in my own life. My *only* complaint is that the writers are pretty fickle; this year's best to-do list app might not even be on next year's list, so what am I supposed to do now that I'm hooked on Workflowy and a new better app is available???
Glades
Until now, everyone used them but me, or it seems that way. My basement stank like a basement, even at the best of times. A recent flood made the problem much worse. So while things were drying out, with hi-speed fans blasting away, I decided to try a couple of the plugins. And yes, my place *does* smell much better, even coming in from outside, I'm no longer confronted with the stink of a castle keep. Glades have been around forever, but I've been elsewhere.
