Some years ago, my MIL gave me a Ron Popeil set-it-and-forget-it rotisserie for Christmas. I thanked her and stuck it on a shelf, figuring it for another stupid appliance from her (like the salad shooter!) When we moved here 17 years ago and I unpacked it, still in its original box, I told my husband I was going to take it to a thrift store, but he suggested I try it out.
OK, fine, I’ll try it…
OMG!! Turns out I love it! Rotisserie chicken, and pork roast, and beef roast… So easy to use, and not quite as awful to clean up as I’d feared. And to think of all those wasted years that it sat in a box.
Soft-close anything. I paid the extra for soft-close drawers on all my new furniture, and that was more than a dollar. As you say, it’s not so much the functional aspect, it’s just that it’s so pleasing. I’ll happily spend 5 minutes open and closing a drawer, practising pushing it with just enough force that it catches the mechanism.
Yeah, I’m wondering about how they measured Phoenix rainfall. If its just the city of Phoenix, yeah, I would probably agree. If its Phoenix like everyone thinks of Phoenix, I disagree.
Our last home had a swamp cooler and an AC. The AC got used about 4 months out of the year, the other 5 or 6 months we used the swamp.
Our last home had a trash compactor. When we moved in, we discussed having it taken out so we could use that under the counter area differently. We didn’t have it taken out in a timely manner and had it for over 10 years. I really miss that thing.
I picked up a cheapo letter opener back in the day, probably at the office store checkout line. Basic plastic handle and thin serrated blade. It has had so many unexpected and helpful uses beyond opening mail; I wish I could find more like it but can’t. I’ll be very sad over the loss of a letter opener if/when it ever bites the dust.
Hah - we did not opt for one with a heated seat, and I don’t regret that at all. When I use a public toilet and the seat is still warm from the previous user, it grosses me out for some reason. A heated seat at home might be a different thing entirely, but because of the public toilet squickiness, I wasn’t even tempted.
I think you are interpreting “every month of the year” to mean average across all the months in a year, which wouldn’t actually convey any more information than average annual rainfall.
However, if Phoenix averages two inches of rain each January and 0.1 inches every other calendar month, it has both a month in which it averages more than an inch of rain and an annual average of less than 10 inches of rain. Las Vegas has no calendar months in which its average rainfall is more than an inch.
I am a complete moron with gas-operated yard tools. I prime, pull the cord, tool goes flying out of my grip. I get it back, stand on it, fall over as I try to pull the cord. Position myself better, pull the cord, get a slight roar, try it 15 more times, it doesn’t start. Remember I had to keep a button pressed down or something, try it again, get a few engine coughs, pull the trigger, tool dies. Try priming it again, realize I flooded it. I leave it in disgust, browse the internet for clues, try emptying out the gas and refilling it, etc.
Battery-operated tools start right away, and actually have enough power to get the job done and then some. I don’t have to make filling station runs for more electricity. I don’t pollute the neighborhood with gas fumes. Most importantly, I look like I know what I’m doing.
A couple of years back, someone in my apartment building in NYC was moving out. He had a sale to get rid of stuff he didn’t want to ship to wherever he was going.
I bought a folding bike for $100. It folds up small enough to fit in a closet at home, and unfolds into a bicycle that is quite comfortable for my 6’2" self.
I had no real expectations that I’d use it a lot, just seemed like fun to have around. My oldest daughter was getting just old enough to ride a bike and I thought maybe I’d go for rides with her once in a while.
And then the pandemic hit. And I really, really didn’t want to get on the subway.
Since then I’ve used it nearly every day. I commute to work on it (Brooklyn to midtown Manhattan, and I’m on the IT team keeping everything working for everyone else to work at home), I put a basket on it and go shopping with it, I travel in the city every week to visit my father in a nursing home, and so on.
And I’m in better shape because of it. And it’s actually fun to ride it around the city. I’m not sure I’ll ever go back to regular commuting on the subway, except for days with torrential rain. Cold is a non-issue – I used the bike all winter.
I got Wraptastic (plastic wrap dispenser) on sale at Target using a gift card. It works great!
Yes, I did look for a plastic wrap brand with the sliding cutter- none to be found. Don’t suggest Costco or Sam’s as people have done in a similar thread before- the nearest Sam’s is a hundred mile round trip and a round trip to Costco would be hundreds of miles.
I bought a 34-year old little import (low miles/low price) for a cheap little all-wheel ski car. Thing makes saltine crackers seem exotic. Most High-Tech feature is intermittent wipers.
I love this car! Tiny on the outside (you can slip it in to tiny parking spots), but huge on the inside. Simple, easy, no bullshit, All-Wheel works like a Mountain Goat.
Some of the best money I’ve spent in a long, long time. I drive it all the time.