# 176 - Random Li'l Reviews 📹🥘🛏️
Hey there, !
Firstly, thank you all for your very kind words, emails, messages or otherwise from my last post. I think it’s been one of my highest engagement posts ever, and I loved writing it even though I felt trepidation at sending it out to you all.
I’m extremely grateful to have such good friends and readers of this newsletter, and I appreciate all the stories you shared back to me as well. Please know that my door / email is always open to chatting about these things - that’s why I write this newsletter! - and I only hope that I can pass on my experience to help you feel like you can share yours too.
On to the post :)
I moved into a new place (have I told you?), and as part of that, I’ve been furnishing and putting things in and testing them to see whether I like ‘em or not. I thought I might do some quickfire thoughts on them in case anyone else wants to know, and if you want any other information on the research, please feel free to ask!
Eufy security cameras: specifically, the eufyCam 2 Pro 4-Camera set, recommended by my friend Dru. This was purchased on sale during Black Friday, and has been a pretty good investment in security while I had contractors coming in and out of the house. It has a great app that is linked to the Internet, which means that I can check in on my house while I’m away from it. I can speak through the cameras, and hear people through them, and you can configure them to only track movement in certain areas, or with certain triggers (i.e. human motion vs. any motion). Mounting it on brick was kinda hard, but it’s been worth it. Also, the battery life says 365 days, but I’m skeptical, so we’ll see how long it goes for!
Sleeping Duck mattress: I ummed and ahhed about this for a while, because the price for this is quite dear (it’s one of the more expensive ones on the market). As such, I don’t really have a point of comparison with any of the other mattress-in-a-box brands. However, I know that it’s one of those things that you gotta invest in, and I’ve definitely had some great sleeps on it since I’ve moved in. You can zone your mattress so half of it is ‘Firm’ and the other half is ‘Medium’ (which I’ve done) and the firmness is pretty good. Even as a side-sleeper (because otherwise I’ll snore), it’s still been alright - I was worried it would be stressful on my shoulder, and it wasn’t bad. I don’t know if it’s the mattress, the lack of anxiety or just the freedom of living in a new house, but I definitely have a higher percentage of waking up refreshed in the morning! I will say that the pillows that Sleeping Duck sells aren’t as…soft? pillowy? as like…a hotel pillow would be, but they’re nice enough.
Temtop P1000 Air quality monitor: I read something on reddit (which I can’t find right now) which was this long treatise about why air quality was such an important thing, and how a lot of people were underrating it as a risk to long term health. Which, obviously, scared me and so I went out to get a monitor to see if would be a big deal in my house. At the moment, I’m tracking PM2.5 and PM10 (which relate to particle size) as well as CO2 and humidity. More expensive ones can track TVOC (Total Volatile Organic Compounds), AQI (Air Quality Index) and HCHO (formaldehyde), which are other major air pollutants, but I didn’t think it was as necessary for the price - a few hundred dollars more. If you want something just for Air Quality (but not CO2 or humidity), the M10 is a good budget alternative to the P1000 (and is more popular). Next stop now is to buy a good air purifier - and make sure they’ve got good, reliable HEPA filters.
Mitsubishi Heavy air conditioner: on that note, I had Mitsubishi Heavy Air Conditioners installed as they were apparently best in the market according to Canstar, and some other reviewer sites. The units are a little cheaper, and don’t have all the bells and whistles like smart home integration or wifi enabled control, but they do the job well enough for my needs. I like the sleep timer, and the allergen cycles which are just good quality of life upgrades for A/C. In addition, the guy who sold them to me gave me a quote that was about $3k cheaper than other quotes (hit me up if you want his deets!), whereas the others who were selling me Daikins or Mitsubishi Electrics (different brand!) were pretty pricey!
Ken Hom carbon steel wok: technically, I didn’t buy this for myself - have been holding on to it for a while from a birthday present, but I think you can get this from David Jones; it’s actually quite a nice capacity flat bottomed wok that works well for a family home. It doesn’t come with a lid (so you’ll have to get one somewhere else), but it seasoned up quite well, and is very robust. I love that it also has a helper handle on the other side to help with heavier loads of food too!
Scrub Daddy / Scrub Mommy: These are sponges that were first introduced on Shark Tank with an amazing pitch. The texture of the material is harder when used in cold water, soft when in hot water, it looks cute and SMILES. The smiling mouth can clean utensils, and is actually really good at doing so, and I’ve found that the sponge is awesome for bigger pots and pans because they’re quite big, and they scrub super well (I use it on my seasoned wok all the time). I do find that they’re not great for a quick wash (because I ain’t waiting around for the hot water to soften it up), and they don’t compress enough easily to get into cups and mugs super easily, but they are otherwise highly recommended!
Fisher & Paykel Dish Drawers: My parents bought one of these in my family home for years, and it was really the only thing I knew. It has split compartments so that you can save on water and not have to wait to fill the whole thing out before doing a run. It’s extremely useful for me living at home by myself, because I’m never really going to fill out an entire dishwasher in one sitting, and I handwash for quick things anyway. Also, I had never used RinseAid before, but the way you put it into this dishwasher is pretty awkward, but it’s had good results in keeping things dry and clean on the other side. No complaints so far :)
I have more stuff to review in coming months, but I need to use ‘em a bit more before I feel confident in giving feedback.
Chat soon :)
Let me know if you have any feedback for the newsletter!
✔️Real Life Recommendations
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The Psychology of Money - by Morgan Housel, who I think I’ve linked on this newsletter a few times. It’s a really simple, digestible book about how to think about money. It’s not about how to invest, or how to get rich quick - it’s about uncovering your own psycholoigcal biases and flaws, and why they might lead you down the path of bad decision making regarding money. I really enjoyed this one - recommended if you want to learn about money and decisions!
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Dreamfarm - a sneak peek into some of the stuff I’m trying - I found this brand at Kitchen Warehouse; fun-looking kitchen utensils that have been designed with multiple functions in one. Spoons that don’t touch the table, garlic presses that clean themselves for you, cutting boards with flip-up edges, whisks that can fold flat - just really fun ideas. I don’t know how practical they’ll be, but I’m looking forward to finding out :D
🚌 Adventures on the Information Super-Highway
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So, you’ve been challenged to a duel. What are the rules? - if the Ten Duel Commandments from Hamilton weren’t comprehensive enough for you, here’s an article about the Thirty-Nine Articles - Code of Honor for Duels, with Amusing Anecdotes, including such articles as “No gentleman may notice the insulting language of an inferior”, and “A gentleman cannot be degraded by a blow from an inferior, but redress will be permissible to him either by means of the horsewhip, or at common law”. Fascinating stuff.
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How I Broke Into a Bank Account With an AI-Generated Voice - new tech means new ways to break security means new tech required to circumvent that which means new ways to break security which means…
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Spy Balloon Simulator - want to know where your spy balloon might go if you release it from a particular country? Well, look no further!