What do you refuse to get generic versions of?
Tires. Never cheap out on tires.
This I agree with.
I once heard someone say: «never skimp out on what seperates you from the ground».
For bed and tires I really agree, but with shoes I’m not as strict.I had this exact stance until I won a pair of $200 running shoes in a raffle. My occasional backpains and joint problems disappeared almost immediately. I started buying the best footwear I could afford and my quality of life went measurable up after that decision.
The BIGGEST changes were going to a reputable podiatrist and getting shoe recommendations based off of my arch shape, weight and gait. They put me on a treadmill with highspead cameras at the sides and rear to record how my stride landed both walking and running. That and custom molded insoles.
Now Shoes are a part of our yearly budget to make sure we have good condition, supportive shoes at all times. Also re-soleing if applicable.
Side note: Dress shoes can die in a fire.
Ok fine, my running shoes I got the same way you did.
I still skimp on the everyday shoes though, and like you avoid flat soles like fire.
Cheers for sharing though. I know what you’re doing would benefit me in the long run.
I agree from the opposite direction:
20 years ago I switched to zero drop minimalist footwear for running, hiking, and almost all everyday activities (everything except weddings and funerals). I only wear footwear that has no relation at all to my foot’s arch, my weight, or my gait.
Best decision for my knees, ankles, and hips I think I ever made.
That’s actually pretty interesting. I started with minimalist footwear once I was old enough to start making shoe decisions myself and apparently that was partially causing some of the problems I was experiencing.
Five Fingers were my go to’s (once they came out) for most days and Vivobarefoot’s / Nike Free’s for when the social side of five fingers was in questionable taste.
It’s always fascinating to me how wildly different solutions are the exact remedy needed for different individuals. It’s why I always get a little irritated when you read someone saying “Use this thing AND THIS THING ONLY! everything else is junk and dumb and you will be a worse person for using it.” such a close minded approach to the world.
I’ve been out of the minimal shoe worlds for a bit minute, anything cool to come about recently?
Same can be said about the power supply unit of your homemade PC. Cheaping out on that is a good way to fry your PC or burn your house down.
Like Bronzie said, never skimp on what separates you from the ground. Or on this case, what separates your computer from the ground.
Changed my tires for the first time last year. Bought the cheapest tires acailable to me and now my car feel a bit wobbly. I’m definitely buying better tires next time.
Toilet paper. My asshole deserves Angel Soft.
Same but cottonelle
Oh yeah, how is your husband?
Angel Soft is garbage tier IMO. Charmin or bust for me.
I find Charmin tends to shred too easily, even the ‘strong’ kind. Angel Soft is at the right level between firm and soft for me. Might be less of a problem if I had less ass hair.
Women with much less ass hair here. I too, choose angels often as the superior brand.
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8bitdo aren’t really for any particular device, but the quality is fantastic.
Have they changed the joystick material yet? The joysticks off my ol’ 8bitdo pro (the original) kept shedding with use, so I stopped using it in lieu of the switch and steamdeck controllers. Gods, the controller was way more comfortable and sized just right than any other 3rd party controller for me. My google fu is weak, so I never found fitting thumbpad covers for it.
Not sure tbh, I have a couple of SF30 Pros for about 3 years and they’ve been solid, never had any shedding.
They’re amazing, especially with the backbuttons and such
Computer hardware
which brands do you trust for GPU heatsink+board (not chip) manufacturers? there’s so many to choose from and I don’t know who to trust.
I personally trust Asus, EVGA (Rip), Gigabyte, Palit, PNY, Sapphire and XFX when buying graphics cards.
My current card is a Geforce GTX 1060 6GB from Asus that I bought in 2017, and it hasn’t skipped a beat.3A
Mac&cheese
It’s Kraft Dinner or nothing.
I didn’t have to open your username to know what instance your account is on…
because I agree.
Annie’s?
Gotta be KD
Honestly PC white cheddar is very good
Kraft isn’t even remotely better that every other shitty brand of that “stuff”.
Go buy real pastas, real cheese and seasoning and learn to make real fucking food.
Garbage food is genuinely enjoyable for people.
I sometimes make my mac and cheese with real pasta and Kraft singles. Tastes almost as good as the real thing.
Toothpaste. Generics are awful.
How come? I’m asking because my dentist said the opposite.
You have the tenth dentist!
I asked my dentist about that, too. The physical act of brushing is the most important part and the toothpaste is just to apply some fluoride, essentially.
Liqueurs, because usually generics don’t exist
And Ziploc bags. The quality is worth the extra dollar over the store brand. I might start doing the same for trash bags as well
The dollar stores here sell offbrand Ziploc bags but, like, reusable. They are amazing.
Are ziplocs not reusable?
They are, and we still have some in circulation, but these ones are designed for it. They have rounded corners that won’t wear or hide dirt, and they’re made out of pretty thick, rubbery plastic sheets.
There are dozens of vodkas and gins, fake and slightly different whiskeys, rum and so on but I totally agree on buying the brands (not just the top 1 or 2)
Liqueurs, not liquors. I don’t buy big name brand liquor (unless you count Plantation rum, or stuff that happens to be owned by Campari).
Q-Tips (cotton swabs.) Generics seem universally worse.
Dawn dish soap is simply unbeatable
We ran trials in my middle school home economics class on various popular dish soap brands, and at the time (23 years ago) Palmolive absolutely blasted the shit out of every other brand, Dawn included. So my wife and kid now ride or die with that brand. It’s green, too…
It smells and feels awful, though.
That’s what Consumer Reports concluded as well, when they independently bought and tested all the brands.
Dawn doesn’t seem to dry out my hands like Palmolive or every other dish soap. I think they all work good enough but I hate the way they make my hands feel.
Interesting. I have a huge jug of Palmolive at home because it was the cheapest dish soap. Didn’t expect it to also be the best. I’m curious, what did you measure to determine that it was the best one?
I don’t remember precisely what properties we scored it on, but we had cooked a very messy/crusty/greasy meal of some sort, and afterward we washed the pans with two or three leading dish soaps. I think Joy was the third. Anyway, Palmolive seemed to perform the best overall at cutting through grease and grime in fewer passes. I know there were other aspects to it, but it was just too long ago to recall. I never forgot how impressed I was with Palmolive, though. And it’s green!
This was my answer dawn is the shizz
… Siracha.
At least before the debacle with Underwood Ranch. I unknowingly bought extra before it happened and am close to running out. I’m not sure what to do afterwards but I’m not inclined to support Huy Fong.
Tabasco Sriracha is not quite the same but decent.
During the huy Fong drought I learned that I actually prefer Tabasco brand Sriracha!
I hear Underwood ranch sells siracha made from the same peppers Huy Fong used to buy from them. Might be worth checking out
I want to support them, but I hear it’s just not the same. Maybe that could be a good thing, though!
Fix Sriracha is pretty damn good, less sweet, more heat, a touch more fermented funkiness. Downside is it is thinner and more expensive.
Running shoes. Antipronation shoes are fucking expensive, but having bad support will eventually hurt my feet, ankles or knees. I would get hurt very fast if I started running in cheap sneakers or something.
My rule has always been “don’t skimp on the things that separate you from the ground.” Shoes, tires, chairs, beds, etc, get the best you can afford to and don’t pinch pennies.
get the best you can afford
Ah, so the cheapest option available. Got it.
Yeah, same for motorcycle tires.
Fisherman’s friend cough drops. They’re not the tastiest cough drops out there, but they fucking work.
These and “Sucrets” - for when you throat hurts and you want novacaine in tablet form.
Source: professional singer. These two have saved me many times.
“The name Fisherman’s Friend” makes me think the cough drops are going to taste like fish oil or Powerbait.
Nothing quite so disgusting, they’re the usual sorts of flavors you would expect to find in a cough drop. I taste mostly menthol and a bit of licorice, but they are definitely something that was made to be an effective cough drop first and foremost and tasting good was not a major consideration
They are kind of ugly brown tablets that don’t look too dissimilar from maybe a pellet fish food for a koi pond or something. I have a hunch that I haven’t tested that you could probably get carp to bite on them if you tried to use them as bait, carp will go for some weird stuff
Mooncakes for mid-autumn festival. Như Lan bakery or skip. The other brands (even the ‘fancy’ ones) have too much sugar. In HK there are other good brands too, but in VN Như Lan is the best.
I guess also expensive tools like oscilloscopes (Siglent, Uni-T). It’s a big enough investment that I need it to work well, but I’m not rich enough for the fancy brands.
Oh, and motorcycles – Honda please (yes, we have unbranded motorcycles here, we call them ‘ghost bikes’). There’s always a repairshop that can fix a Honda within walking distance, but I’ve never actually needed to go to one. When I had a Yamaha it broke once in a while, and that meant a long walk in tropical heat.
Game console controllers. Miss me with that flimsy shit.
Except the Xbox Series X controller. That thing’s a nightmare. I use my old One controller for that.
Interesting. I still use the 360 controller on my PC because that thing is a tank. Basically indestructible. But my One controllers are garbage. The plastic was so badly formed I got aftermarket grips because it was constantly pinching my hands. It also feels like I could twist it in to pieces with by hand. The Series X controller fails to live up to the 360 but it feels significantly more solid and the pieces at least fit together.
I do feel I could break my xbox controller easily if I twisted it. It’s got some heft but not much. The 360 controller did feel a bit more solid.
The series x controller is also nice. Disturbingly light but I appreciate that it’s good for long sessions to have a light controller. It’s just the damn button sound. It makes a nasally little twing-click sound each time the button is pressed. Drives me nuts.
What’s wrong with the series x controller? I bought one for my pc when my xbox one controller died. I haven’t really used it loads yet to be fair, but it seems fine to me. I preferred the +style dpad on xbox one but other than that it feels basically the same to me.
It’s extremely loud. Once someone tells you about the loud click that every button press makes, you can’t unhear it.
Sorry.
Haha well then fuck you in advance I guess
😘
Ballpoint pens. Bic, Papermate, and Zebra are pretty much all I would consider buying.
Edit: there are lots of other brands that I forgot to consider. I’m mainly talking about inexpensive plastic tubes, but included Zebra (a metal tube) which I’m a fan of.
It’s Pilot G2 05 for me.
Pilot is king
You should try some Uniball Jetstreams
Had a generic refill in one of my zebras and holy crap was that crap. I could not reliably get it to write off a cold start. And it was fresh, just constantly getting stuck.
The Pilot 30000 unchanged for millenia because it’s the perfect writing utensil. Well, unchanged other than them adding blue and red ink versions.
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