PSA - Do not use a power washer on your parts.

Like this?

The only people who would fight you about how great bidets are are people who have never actually used one

Are people with dirty bums

It must’ve feel like being blessed by the rains down in Africa

U R Living the dream 💭

How does that work? I don’t have hot water or an outlet in my toilet room. Did you have to renovate, or was there service already?

Have you ever tried Linux?

I’m probably missing the joke, but - if you’re standing up, then your ass-cheeks are together.

Saves trees and refreshing. I get disappointed when I travel and I don’t have a bidet.

I feel like this is the new version of “bum fights”

Luxe bidet on Amazon- $38.99

You can get an attachment for your toilet for under $70.

Have you used one? What do you have against them?

[…] but that’s more of a commercial benefit I think

For me, this is the primary benefit of a rice cooker. Having warm, cheap, filling food on demand at any time is fantastic. I am so lazy and my little rice buddies are always ready to go when I can’t be bothered.

I eat a lot of ice and I still just make it in a pot.

A rice cooker can serve as a cheaper instapot tho. I can steam rice and veggies without having to babysit a pot.

I also have kitchen anxiety, and in a roommate situation can keep a rice cooker in my room.

When I did a homestay in Japan, my host dad was shocked my family didn’t have one. I do now though!

I used to do that for years, but rice cookers really do some magic to get perfectly fluffy rice. I thought my technique was good, until I tried rice from a rice cooker.

Yeah just add however many cups of rice and then add water to the specified line. Don’t need to do any of that finger bullshit to check water levels

And by cup I mean the cup that comes with the rice cooker not sure how it corresponds to the actual unit of measurement

I recently got an instant pot and gave my rice cooker back to my parents, the tough part was figuring out how to make it not stick of you don’t have a nonstick liner. Letting it naturally release pressure with the keep warm off seems to do the trick for mine, I’m guessing quick release releases too much moisture, and the keep warm doesn’t help either. With that I get good rice every time with no sticking.

I have the same pot and it defaults to low but every recipe I find says use high so that’s what I’ve beeping doing. Now I kinda Wana try low.

Hmm, okay, I’ll bite. What’s the secret with low pressure for long grain rice like basmati? I’ve been using 1:1 ratio rice:water for 6 minutes on high with a 10 minute natural release.

Lol TIL people are buying used rice cookers on eBay

I’ve always wanted to try one of those, nice.

You can do a lot more with a rice cooker. Soup, pasta, sauces, even steam vegetables if you put a tray on it.

The relatively good larger instant pot that I bought a couple of years ago was around $79, so I reckon you can still get one for under $100. Although I also have a rice cooker, I find this thing indispensable. I often have 5-8 people at my house, so a go to is throwing a bunch of chicken breast, soy, ginger, garlic, brown sugar, etc, in the instant pot for around 30-40 minutes total time while the rice is cooking. Shred chicken, turn to sauté, add a little corn starch slurry. Boom teriyaki chicken.

We do a similar thing for chicken tacos, but spicing with chicken bouillon, cumin, cayenne, chili powder, garlic, onion, tomato. Shred, enjoy meat for tacos, enchiladas, etc. I make a passable birria in about around 2 hours.

Country ribs/pork shoulder, bbq sauce, apple juice, onion, garlic. While it’s cooking in the instant pot, simmer down an onion. Not quite caramelize until it’s jelly, but sweat until onions are soft. Turn oven to broil, cut the entire pack of kings hawaiian rolls or similar in half, butter and brown under the broil. Shred the pork, spread on the rolls, add a little bbq sauce, the onions, and cover with provolone slices. Broil again until cheese melts.

Chili is another good one. Although I haven’t done it, you can use unsoaked dry beans in some recipes. I usually just throw a few cans of my faves (I prefer it bitier, so more kidney) with spices and browned meat of some sort (feel free to omit) and we’re good to go.

Most of the things I make in the instant pot are things that I would normally have to wait all day for, or at least 3-4 hours. Not great after a work day. Low and slow recipes work really well in instant pot with a minor adjustment here and there, and often you turn a 4 hour recipe into a 1 hour recipe. And as a poor, this type of cooking can be a game changer because low and slow is often for foods that are cheap. if you head to the store and buy a ny strip, you can come home and be eating great in 15 minutes. Not so much with a much, much cheaper piece of chuck.

Rice cookers are not sealed for high pressure (they are in fact not sealed at all, just like regular pots and lids, because they need to lose excess moisture) and they are configured for this one particular thing: every rice cooker is calibrated for a fixed serving of rice (or couple different settings) with fixed amount of water. All it really does is turn off at the perfect moment, which is determines by weight. which is determined by a thermostat (magnet-based in this case)

Speaking of, be careful about consuming too much rice because of arsenic. There are plenty of other grains that don’t soak up arsenic so readily and have a better nutritional profile. It’s fine to eat rice, just switch it out throughout the week.

More importantly, it clutters the kitchen.

Right ear went to working in a call centre. Left ear seems to be trying to decide if it’s going to recover or not from some unaware idiot in Tesco suddenly walking up and slamming his stock cart shut right next to me. I really hope I don’t end up with stereo EEEEEEEEEEEEE but it feels like an inevitable matter of time at this point. There goes the left one again…

I didnt even go to any concerts or anything and i still have it 😭

Comfy enough to use for sleeping?

Airpods (and noise cancelling in general) are not substitutes for hearing protection!

Yeah, I can’t stand losing the high frequencies and overall feel of the music with “musician’s” earplugs. How anyone other than a drummer plays with them and is satisfied is beyond me. I have some Etymotics just sitting here.

Do you have any more info on how you measured the db reduction? I love my AirPods Pro for reducing noisy environments but avoid them any time I actually need hearing protection because I’m not sure how effective they are.

I’m no earplug connoisseur, but I’ve been using Westone’s WM16 for smaller venues, and Etymotic Research’s ER20XS dual-flange for louder situations. I haven’t tried much else, but these work well for me. I’ve also heard great things about Earasers, Eargasm, and Hearos.

Earasers are a bit more expensive and appear to have a unique ergonomic eartip. iirc you can get them for $40 elsewhere, maybe Amazon. I’ve read that Earasers’ “-19dB Peak” model has a very slight sound reduction, so I’d probably opt for their middle “European Standard” model. On the other end of the price spectrum, Hearos is particularly inexpensive at a glance. Idk anything about specific models.

Some brands have multiple types of earplugs (e.g. for music, shooting, construction work), so make sure you’re getting one designed for music or “high-fidelity” or something like that. Any of the “good” brands are probably going to work just fine. (Read the reviews if you’re unsure.) Most brands seem to include multiple eartip sizes in the package so you can choose the right fit.

Beyond that, there is some element of personal preference. For example, I first tried Etymotic’s classic triple-flange version and didn’t like how deep they stuck into my ears. It felt invasive. But the dual-flange model feels great for me.

And finally, there are different options for how much attenuation (noise reduction) you want. Like I mentioned, my “-16dB average attenuation” earplugs feel good for small/medium venues (a backroom venue of a bar, maybe a theater). For a larger venue (arena or stadium, or even just a really loud loud theater) you’d definitely want more significant average attenuation, probably in the low-to-mid twenties.

Most earplugs will be confusingly marketed with multiple attenuation values. One will be an official NRR value, which is apparently required but controversial, and the other(s) will be the average and/or peak decibel reduction “when the product is used correctly” as reported by the manufacturer. It seems people don’t talk about the NRR as often. But it’s fun that they’ve made it more complicated for us to compare products.

I should also mention that if you’re a performing musician or hardcore concert-goer, you may consider springing for custom-molded earplugs, which are way pricier. I haven’t made that upgrade yet, but everyone who does seems to think it’s life-changing.

This got long, sorry!

+1 for Eargasm. The real MVP is the keychain carrying case which ensures I never leave home without em. As a drummer, DJ, and loud music enthusiast they’re one of my best purchases ever. I genuinely forget they’re in sometimes, but then I’ll take em out and it makes a big difference. Awesome quality of sound, just less damage.

There’s a reason for that, Linus Tech Tips did a great video on it. You’re better off buying an old go pro and using that.

We’ve been happy with the VIOFO A129 Pro. Not very expensive and good quality video on both cameras day and night. There are lots of day/night comparison videos and the VIOFO beat a lot of cameras that were much more expensive.

People lie. Even a shittiest, cheapest dashcam will be better than nothing, when you have to prove to your insurance company who was really at fault after a collision.

I’ve bought the N2 Pro from Vantrue a couple of years ago and I’ve been super happy with it. The quality is pretty good and it has actually capable night vision and parking surveillance. I’ve also bought one for my brother in law (who got into an accident just a month after) and one for my grandma. Not to sound like an ad, but these are definitely worth checking out even if it’s an older model.

I got one for $40 that’s 1080p, and the “high endurance” sd card I got for $15 is still going 4 years later.

Don’t overthink it. You don’t need something fancy.

Look for a BlackVue or Thinkware.

I’ve driven “good” bikes all my life. Aluminium frame, disc brakes, fancy suspension, 3x9 gears. That sort of thing.

Wanna know what my best biking experience was? Riding a steel frame, 3-speed dutch-style rental omafiets with no suspension and regular-ass brakes on a vacation. That thing was hella comfortable, sturdy as a brick and convenient.

If I lived in a not fully car-brained city where you can safely bike and was tight on money, I’d absolutely buy an old cheap used regular-ass steel frame bike with no frills and use the hell out of it until it’s irreparably broken. You can leave that thing standing in the rain, locked with just a frame lock (or perhaps even no lock at all) all without worrying that it might get damaged or stolen because there isn’t much to damage or steal in the first place.

I also don’t see how buying a “good” bike in any way helps the environment when the alternative is re-using something that’s already been built and successfully used before.

I love my 2000€ Brompton that I daily-drive but I’d be nearly as happy with a 100€ bike like I described above. You don’t get more bike when you go above that price point, you only get a more fancy bike.

Yeah I was going to say this too. I got a cheap Walmart bike and it was still $300.

I’m a student in the Netherlands. I’ve bought my current bike for €50 second hand around 4 years ago. Aside from some flat tires and the occasional loose chain it’s never failed me, and I use it at least 4 times a day.

My previous bike originally belonged to my dad and it only gave out after 30 years of constant use.

The key is to not buy an expensive sports bike with tons of features. My bike has a bell, lights, a reverse pedal brake, a kickstand and a frame lock. That’s it. No gears, no wires, no carbon fiber. Just a solid steel bike. Cheap to construct and it’ll last for years.

In some cities it’s faster to walk than to drive, lol.

Can’t leave footprints if your feet aren’t touching the ground.

It would increase your travel distance though. Mechanical advantage for the win.

Nah, that’s their problem. Now they need to upgrade seats.

You can still get wool blend from Costco.

See, I do that with my shirts because shirts, and it makes sense. The main reason I don’t do that with socks is because they’re paired items.

I went to visit a friend in the US (los angeles). She asked me what I want for breakfast and I said just some tea please and nothing else. I saw her going from confusion to terror in 5 seconds. And I was like whats wrong? Is everything ok?

Eventually she boiled water in a mug in the microwave, put in some pieces of apples and called it tea.

A few weeks later I went for work in the bay area. I just cannot start a day without tea. I saw the hotel I stayed in had a bit of difficulty in the tea department. Decided to buy my own kettle so I can have my tea in the room. Naively went to an electric store to buy a kettle. There was none. I was like WTF. Went to target, there were none. Only stove ones. But my room didnt have a stove. Then it hit me americans just dont boil water like the rest of the world.

I think it’s a default item everywhere except north America.

As part of reviewing a stay, Airbnb always asks if the place had a coffee maker. I’ve only ever ticked yes in the US, Canada, and Indonesia.

(edit: I should clarify, it asks if there was a coffee machine, but it DOESN’T ask if there was a kettle, showing the US-centric app design.)

Voltage isn’t an issue iirc, just that it isn’t in our “culture” to use kettles. Of my extended family (20+) there’s only 2 who have kettles.

Continental Europe too. The first kitchen device I bought was a kettle.

You can make tea, coffee, cheap ramen, clean the drain… It’s universal!

In Australia, I only drink tea IF I’m feeling like it in winter which is it that often. Don’t drink coffee. And yet I’m still surprised it’s not something that’s in every house…

At least for me, it’s pretty pointless since I already have a kitchen appliance that spits out hot water relatively fast: the coffee machine

Our kettle died and I guess we didn’t replace it quick enough for my mother in law, because she showed up with a new one a few days later. Only cost a couple of dollars, but it’s been going strong for the last 6 years.

There’s a great video about why it isn’t widespread in the US on YouTube by Technology Connections.

There’s just not as many tea lovers here in the U.S. I think. I got one a couple of months ago though (I am a tea lover). Game changer.

Same, I was so surprised it’s even mentioned, I thought it’s one of the things everyone has.

I would say 20 years ago almost no one had an electric kettle in the US. Now they are much more common, but still only in a minority of homes. Americans just don’t drink nearly as much tea as the English. The UK consumes 1.94kg of tea per person annually. The US is 0.23kg. (per wikipedia). You will find a coffee maker in most homes and hotel rooms though.

In Canada, but we’re basically the same as the states. Of my extended family, which is 20+ people, I only know 2 who have kettles… So it’s a luxury to most people who come to my house lol.

We had a stove top kettle growing up but I never heard of an electric kettle until I was an adult. First time I saw one was a pretentious dude doing pour over coffee at work.

I’m the only person I know with an electric kettle, and I don’t use it much since I sopped doing pourover coffee.

I’m living in the US, I don’t drink tea and I have a coffee maker. Maybe getting one for cooking would be more energy efficient, I just never bothered to do it.