Keep a set of swimwear in your car. If you go to a place and forgot your swimsuit? Got the backup. Go to a hotel and find out they had a pool you didn’t know about? Backup in the car. Accidentally shit yourself? Got at least something on you. Do I shit myself enough to worry about it? Not since I was a baby but now I know I got swim trunks in my car just in case.
This works for so many occasions too. At a watermelon eating contest? Backup in the car. Going to a funeral? Backup in the car. Need to bury a body? Backup clothing, right there.
Does this work for horse funerals as well?
Not recommended for lycra or spandex suits, or any suit that has elastic closures, particularly during the summer months. They will rapidly degrade in the heat of the car. My wife left hers in the car after a vacation (never used it). It was tucked in the trunk. Found it a month later and it disintegrated in the wash.
Learn to cook the base of meals in different cultures. Like a Sofrito.
Most of the best classic dishes in the world really start with three or four ingredients and are just variations. You shouldn’t overthink it or buy rare ingredients. You’re better off picking one and mastering the basic steps. Learning to cook isn’t about learning to recreate a chef-cooked meal. It’s about learning to cook simple, cheap ingredients.
Hey that’s a quality life changing hack right here. Food is the most important thing with sleep.
Would you have a list of those base meals maybe ?
@dephyre mentionned refried beans with rice in the thread. @DeltaTangoLima responded with bottled (canned) pasta sauce. I’d say learn how to make ratatouille and store (can) some when you can get the ingredient (green bell pepper, zucchinis, eggplan, tomatoes) at the right time of the year.
It’s usually just to take a small amount of delicious oil or fat — whatever you have on hand — and saute diced onions with diced bell pepper (or local equivalent) until the onions are slightly transparent. Keep going if you want the onions start being brown and have a sweet flavor. That brown is just the natural sugars coming out of the onion and is what “caramelizes” means. Caramel is sugar. And then add garlic and/or ginger and whatever spices you like.
If you want to, add meat. If you don’t, do not. (Often, that very oil step is done from browning meat and not wasting the fat.)
If you want soup, add a lot of liquid and whatever and cook it slowly. If you want paella, jambalaya, jollof, biryani, or equivalent — every culture has a rice dish — use the rice recipe on the bag as if it were water. (Use stock if you have any but water works fine.)
There are dishes that are different. Like fried rice and French Toast use old rice and toast respectively. Baking is a science. But anyone can make a pot of delicious with a few ingredients and it’s a 10 minute, one pot meal.
This is the way.
You start frying an onion and then figure out what you’re making for dinner.
There’s a book that you should pickup…
Salt Fat Acid Heat by Samin Nosrat
It really covers everything you’ll need to be able to cook anything. They even made a 4 part series about it on Netflix.
I just found a japanese comfort food staple: Ochazuke - green tea rice. It just needs a couple of ingredients and is super quick. I was blown away by how good and comforting it was. Its Comfort in a quick bowl. And it’s super adaptable. You can basically add anything as tipping.
This is the blogpost that inspired me https://rasamalaysia.com/green-tea-rice/
I really like this. Do you have any resources I can check out that cover this?
Not really a “hack” but I don’t know why most people get into phone contracts.
Since college, I have always just bought unlocked phones with cash and then used the carrier’s prepaid plans and set it to auto pay.
I pay so much less than most people I know, I get all the same service, and my phone isn’t tied to a contract or carrier, so I can cancel my plan whenever I want and switch to another carrier by just buying their SIM card for ~$20.
My current phone is an unlocked Pixel 6a that I got on sale new for $300. I have unlimited talk, text, and data for $45 a month. And if I get sick of my current carrier or they bump my cost, I can just switch to anybody else for just the cost of a $20 SIM card.
I have so many friends and family members that complain about their phone bills being super high and their service sucking, but they can’t cancel their contracts without paying off their huge balances plus the interest and usually cancelation fees. Plus, because their phone is tied to the contract/carrier, they can’t even keep transfer the phone to the new carrier and have to get sucked into a “phone trade-in” deal and the cycle continues.
And for the folks saying that most people can’t afford to save up and buy a phone outright, there are a lot of places that offer payment plans for the phone, or you can buy it on credit and pay it off that way, which would likely be less interest over time. Or you could buy unlocked used/refurbished phones for 25-50% off their normal price.
Maybe it makes sense if you get a stipend from your company, or you bundle it with a bunch of other packages like cable TV or internet, but for just a cell phone, I just don’t get locking yourself into a crazy contract.
Bonus points in that android phones won’t have their bootloader encrypted by a cellular service provider.
Absolutely right!
I agree except who is charging you $20 for a sim?
Verizon, might have been a little less, but reasonable to me, I keep my phones for a long time, and I got a really good deal on it.
Hell go to swappa.com and buy an unlocked used phone.160 and you can have a S20 which works perfectly.
If you can’t find something and you’ve looked everywhere, get a flashlight and look again while pointing the flashlight. It has worked for me every time.
Same, I found my flashlight that way
I use my hands to kind of do the same thing. It’s probably the behaviour they modeled Monk’s “hand thing” after. It still helps even if I’m searching using my memory and spatial awareness to recall and search through something I am not currently looking at. Somehow, narrowing the scope physically with my hands helps. It’s probably a muscle memory or proprioception thing.
For example, if I want to find something to eat in the fridge. I generally won’t be able to think of anything by just opening the fridge and looking through it. Unless there is something super obvious like a leftover pizza box or something else impossible to miss like that. Just trying to search by looking at each shelf only increases the odds of finding something by like 5%. But when I use my hand and slowly move it down the shelves, I can somehow think more clearly about what is on each shelf than I could without using my hand. And, as I mentioned, it also works even if I am no longer looking in the fridge. I can do it with the door closed and still more clearly recall what was on each shelf.
It also helps when scanning through my whole house looking for something, with and without currently having eyes on it. Like scanning through the whole house room by room while still sitting at my computer, I do a much better job if I am pointing my hand at the place I am thinking about as I scan.
I should probably mention I am Autistic, my spatial awareness and proprioception are two areas I have seemed to benefit. But it’s very easy to get confused or distracted if I have too much information at once. So that is mostly what is going on. I can’t just imagine that I am pointing at something in my imagination to gain the benefit, I have to be literally, physically pointing. Although I can translocate, like not be at my house or fridge and still scan my house or fridge by pointing relatively where each thing would be if they were there.
It’s not limited in scope as far as I can tell. Though it is kind of limited in resolution. The bigger the area I am scanning, the less detail I can recall about it when I am not there, or “looking through walls”. But when I am there, I can go as fine grained as the search demands, just takes longer.
Just how much cheaper and longer lasting keeping thing like rice, dried beans and flour can be. It’s amazing to me that no matter how empty my cupboards/fridge is I can always make fresh tortillas, refried beans, and rice in like an hour.
You can just pinch the end of a banana to start peeling it. The effort required is far less than trying to overcome the ripping force of the stem.
And then you have a handle to hold it by when you get to the end (beginning?)!
I just use my fingernail to make a small cut at the stem end and then it’s super easy to peel that back
Monkeys peel bananas also like this.
Bananas are the way they are through millenia of selective breeding, so there’s no reason to think that monkeys know anything we don’t. If pinching the bottom is easier than bending the stem, your banana isn’t ripe yet and doesn’t want to be eaten until later.
Have you ever tried opening a banana from the bottom like described in the comment?
Yes. Every time, it’s gone less well than opening a banana from the stem end, unless the banana was horrendously underripe. I’ve never had the problem the alternative approach is claiming to fix unless I’ve intentionally opened the banana badly on purpose to prove a point about the problem really being people opening from the stem end incompetently.
While I can concede your point that it’s feasible and possibly even more practical to open from the stem, I gotta say that since switching to the other end years ago(because I saw a similar thread on reddit), it’s been super easy and I’ve had zero issues. The stem just has a higher rate of fucking up, but it’s not like either end will fully decimate the banana. Peeling properly after it’s opened is an easy fix either way.
I love how it skillfully peels the banana and then eats the peel anyway. Amazing.
But not the stem!
Exactly. The professionals showed us the way.
I don’t get the banana trick. What do I do after pinching? I just end up ripping through the skin of one while trying it out.
It basically allows you to start peeling immediately.
People peel from the stem? What?!
Fuck you, I’ll keep peeling the banana stem-first!
When I was in the end of my PhD, everything except writing my thesis made me feel guilty. I ended up learning to find joy and peace in doing laundry and washing dishes. They became my guilt-free breaks — I had to do these things. FYI - I didn’t enjoy washing dishes before.
Washing dishes has become a really powerful part of my day, haha. Not only is it still a guilt-free break but it is a daily reminder to be mindful. I’ve noticed that whenever I drop and break a dish, my mind is not present. In fact, in those moments my mind might actually be drifting somewhere negative.
Maybe not so much a “hack” as a … lesson? Or something? But yeah, the whole cliche about having the right attitude and being present and mindful. I try to apply it in other parts of life, not just the dishes.
You have discovered the subtle art of procrasticleaning
I call that productive procrastination.
If you’re looking at a used car, enter the vin number into Google. It will often bring up photos from any auctions it went through and you might see that it had been in a wreck and fixed without being reported to Carfax.
Not exactly life hacks, but shortcuts that can help computer users:
- holding CTRL and pressing the arrow keys will move the text cursor whole words, instead of 1 character at a time. Also works with Delete and Backspace
- CTRL + Home will move the cursor to the start of the file, CTRL + End to the end of the file or textbox.
- Windows 10 users can use the Xbox bar to record their screens. By default, the shortcut is Windows button + Alt + R
For anyone that uses the sink to wash dishes, have a net/grid to cover the hole. Once it’s full, just pick it up and dump the contents in your food trash.
You can use any type of soap to create barriers that ants will avoid. If you plug a hole with some soap (try a piece of soap bar that’s wet/soft), the ants won’t reopen it.
Cinnamon works wonders against ants. Just put a little down where they are coming in. They won’t walk on it, and it messes up their ability to follow pheromone trails.
If you absolutely want to kill them for some reason, the liquid borax baits seem to work the best in my area. Just make sure they cannot be reached by pets or small children.
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People wonder why I’m an optimist. I’m not really. What I do is expect people to disappoint me. After all, none of us are perfect. When they don’t I’m surprised. When they do, I’m not mad, as just met my expectations.
I find people who don’t like other people expect them to not disappoint them and when they do they get angry and upset. It’s really just a mindset change.
Yours is a somewhat more cynical way of writing it down, but the underlying mindset is one I share.
I prefer to see it as not expecting anything from anyone, rather than expecting them to disappoint you. It’s basically the same, but doesn’t feel as cynical.
It truly changes your life though, no matter how you see it. I can’t remember myself having been, in real life, angry or disappointed in people in great many years. Life is just so much better without those feelings, which seems obvious, but you can’t really emphasis that enough still.
It took me years of self-reflecting and “finding myself” in the process of overcoming a years-long bout of clinical depression. It’s not easy, but I do believe everyone can find that mindset, given enough effort and perseverance. Sisu.
I’m the same way and my SO hates it and calls me a pessimist or a negative thinker. I expect the worst and hope for the best.
Well to be fair it probably is pessimism. That doesn’t make you a pessimist in the same way that me expecting to wake up every morning doesn’t make me an optimist.
A ton can change just based on your mindset. There’s a lot of that subject in stoic and (secular) Buddhist philosophy. It’s not sticking your head in the sand, but rather practicing being more in control of your mental state while processing the things you need to process.
For instance in Buddhism one of the three poisons is attachment, or sometimes called greed. Having high expectations of other people and relying on their actions to inform your mental state is just setting yourself up for failure.
If you have a goal to find something (eg. buy a car), write your goal down, including details like make and model. You’ll start to see adverts, special deals and cars of the model you want parked with for sale signs. There’s nothing mystical about this - you’re surrounded by things like that, but the specific act of writing it seems to tell your unconscious mind to bring it to your attention when you pass them.
Using “≈” and “≠” sign on internet text.
These are literally long press options on the “=” key.A physical keyboard has entered the chat
Tried long pressing the “=” key. My keyboard is now egalitarian.
Compose key gang
What about on desktop?
Gee, how did I ever live without knowing that? Are you a mathematician?
‽ is also important
Traditional chess literature has “!? = questionable move”. Is this the same thing?
It’s the interrobang. It literally means “?!” Like WTF?! But in one symbol. It mattered when “cost per letter” or typesetting spacing mattered. I still like it and use it often enough. As for chess, honestly, yeah, it could be used for that.
You can often get a Pre Purchase Inspection (PPI) for about $200 from a mechanic that will tell you everything in depth about the health of a car before you actually buy it.
Way too many people out here purchasing cars and then bringing it to a mechanic only to realize they’ve been ripped off or bought an expensive repair bill.
You should do it with any used car you have a strong intention to buy whether it is a private sale or from a lot.
Usually lots will want to negotiate the price first because any used car will have some wear and tear.
But the point is that you’ll know for sure it there’s any critical issues with the vehicle. If it’s a lemon, you can say no and walk away. Don’t think of it as losing $200, think of it as saving several thousand on a broken car.
If you use the same mechanic on a fairly regular basis, they will generally do this type inspection for free. They don’t want to deal with a lemon any more than you do.
T-shirts take up much less space if you roll them. So do most other clothes, but it’s a huge gain with the T-shirts.
Yes! The ranger roll… https://www.artofmanliness.com/skills/how-to/how-to-pack-a-bag-using-the-ranger-roll/
Plus then it’s easier to tell what’s been worn!
Wait, you’re putting worn shirts back with the unworn?
When I’m traveling and only have one bag? Yep!
Put $20-50 behind your phone in the phone case.
If you ever forget / lose your wallet, you’ll have a little cash.
With so many places now taking credit over cash, I’m not sure how relevant this is anymore.
I actually tried doing the opposite for a while. I’d leave my phone home and just leave the house with cash, keys, and a notebook. Lots of places gave me the stinkeye paying with cash and some places refused to accept it. I wish this weren’t the case. The percentage every business pays per credit card transaction hasn’t helped with inflated prices.
Not sure why someone would downvote your opinion and relevant story there…
It still seems relevant enough though for the time being. Getting the stink eye isn’t a no, and maybe you’ll have to be a little picky on where.
Still better than not having it at all though.
When a business is busy, they don’t like having to stop what they’re doing to figure out the change. I’ve seen people stumble trying to figure out what bills and coins add up to what the POS is telling them. I feel like I should be apologizing for paying with tangible currency.
So apologize if you feel you need to and use the cash you put behind your phone in case of emergency if need be.
That’s their problem not yours.
The more modern version of this is to use Apple or Google pay or whatever the fuck those are called.
note: I do not use those services
Right. Be it plastic or digital, it’s still credit. It still goes through a point of sale system. Visa or Mastercard still get a kickback.
I was in London last month and everything was Apple Pay / Google pay. You can of course use a card to tap but I rarely saw anyone use anything but their phone.
Will $2-$5 do given I’m not a millionaire yet?
Could throw a couple quarters in there just in case as well
