this post was submitted on 17 Jan 2025
73 points (100.0% liked)

Casual Conversation

1912 readers
714 users here now

Share a story, ask a question, or start a conversation about (almost) anything you desire. Maybe you'll make some friends in the process.


RULES

Casual conversation communities:

Related discussion-focused communities

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
top 50 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] Bytemeister@lemmy.world 2 points 5 hours ago* (last edited 5 hours ago)

Pet jumping spider.

Honestly 10 star pet. They eat a small bug every other day or so. They look adorable. They will recognize and react to you, and you can even train them to accept handling. They come in a wide variety of colors.

Downsides are that you'll probably end up getting more than one (do NOT co-hab them!), or that they only live for 1-3 years. If you enjoy having the spider though, you can look into other arthropods like tarantulas, or vinegaroons (which look scary, but are harmless and have very sweet dispositions).

[–] ZDL@ttrpg.network 2 points 7 hours ago

Converting $20 to local currency, I'd probably go with this:

This is so-called "Liubao Tea", a kissing cousin to pu'er tea. I did a review of my first batch(es) and it has rapidly (literally with one round of brews) reached the top of my circulation in teas.

The depicted tea is one aged from 1991 (the one I reviewed was tea stems from 2003) and is of one of the higher grades. A 100g package will set you back about $15 or so at today's exchange rate. 100g is about 15-20 servings, and each serving can be brewed multiple times (even my tea stems can be brewed four times without loss of flavour), so it's quite the bargain.

Save it for a time when you really need something warm, rich, and comforting. It will last forever as long as you store it in a cool, dry, dark space. And personally I think it's a bargain at 15 bucks.

[–] ef9357@lemmy.sdf.org 4 points 9 hours ago

Silk pillow case. Good for skin and hair.

[–] h3mlocke@lemm.ee 4 points 10 hours ago (1 children)
[–] CidVicious@sh.itjust.works 1 points 7 hours ago (1 children)

That really depends on the gin.

[–] ZDL@ttrpg.network 1 points 3 hours ago

Park Alpine Dry Gin

[–] Ashtear@lemm.ee 29 points 16 hours ago (1 children)

A 10-foot USB cable. Most people use whatever's packed in with their electronics, and it's pretty rare to get anything longer than 6 feet. Having the extra length is really nice in many situations.

It's also one of my go-to inexpensive gifts or part of a care package for someone in the hospital. The extra length there is often the difference between being able to use a device while it's charging or not.

[–] TheOctonaut@mander.xyz 9 points 14 hours ago (1 children)

They're rare because 10 feet is too long for a reliable USB data transmission. But yes good for charging.

[–] folkrav@lemmy.ca 3 points 8 hours ago (1 children)

Eh, I have audio interfaces and MIDI controllers on 10ft cables cause shorter just don’t reach my PC, works perfectly fine. Longer than that is a gamble but as far as I know 10ft is the upper bound of the USB 3.0 spec, so should be totally fine unless you have especially shitty cables.

[–] TheOctonaut@mander.xyz 1 points 4 hours ago

I have long ones too that run my old Oculus Rift sensors. Those can ocassionally be flaky but I think it's the controller rather than the device. I'm not saying they don't work, I'm saying they are less reliable and/or more expensive to make reliable. Hence companies not bundling them.

[–] pixeltree@lemmy.blahaj.zone 12 points 16 hours ago

Fluffy stuffed animal. If I didn't have a couple stuffed kitties to hug I probably would have killed myself already. Nice to have something to pretend loves you

[–] themeatbridge@lemmy.world 35 points 19 hours ago (1 children)
[–] Jimbabwe@lemmy.world 18 points 19 hours ago (1 children)
[–] themeatbridge@lemmy.world 51 points 18 hours ago (1 children)

Money can be exchanged for goods and services

[–] ocean@lemmy.selfhostcat.com 13 points 18 hours ago (2 children)
[–] YarHarSuperstar@lemmy.world 11 points 14 hours ago

Money is a thing that people agree has value and therefore can be traded for other things of value

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] ptz@dubvee.org 42 points 20 hours ago (2 children)

Wool socks if it's winter and/or you live in a cold climate.

load more comments (2 replies)
[–] NineMileTower@lemmy.world 26 points 19 hours ago (4 children)
load more comments (4 replies)
[–] 5714@lemmy.dbzer0.com 22 points 20 hours ago (1 children)
[–] FooBarrington@lemmy.world 2 points 11 hours ago

I like the way you think

[–] rabber@lemmy.ca 15 points 18 hours ago (4 children)

Mini Swiss army knife. I don't know how to live life without this on my keychain

load more comments (4 replies)
[–] IDKWhatUsernametoPutHereLolol@lemmy.dbzer0.com 19 points 19 hours ago (1 children)

If you use your phone a lot (or if your battery is old and you haven't replaced it), a power bank is very useful.

A reputable powerbank (such as those from Anker) cost just under $20 USD for 10,000 MAH

[–] PhobosAnomaly 21 points 19 hours ago (2 children)

It's worth it for other people too, the fun putting a "W" sticker in front of the logo is endlessly entertaining.

load more comments (2 replies)
[–] eezeebee@lemmy.ca 16 points 19 hours ago (7 children)

A beard trimmer. Shaving sucks and irritates my skin, plus I look like a baby without facial hair. But that's only one benefit.

I have been using a beard trimmer to cut my own hair for the last 10 years which has saved me probably $2000 worth of haircuts (estimating a $25 haircut + tip every 2 months). Not to mention saving about 1 hour waiting at the barber every time. I only messed up once and had to do a buzz cut.

load more comments (7 replies)
[–] r0ertel@lemmy.world 6 points 16 hours ago (2 children)

The Lady we got ours from isn't showing up at the farmer's marker anymore, but for well under $20, you can make your own corn pillow

This winter's been bad for deep freezes and 4 minutes in the microwave will keep my corn pillow hot for an hour or more.

[–] Frog@lemmy.ca 1 points 5 hours ago

when I was younger, my family used dry rice. I wonder which works better.

[–] friend_of_satan@lemmy.world 2 points 9 hours ago* (last edited 6 hours ago)

Some Warmies are under $20 too. My son freaked out when I started to put his cute new kitty in the microwave haha

[–] GissaMittJobb@lemmy.ml 7 points 16 hours ago (1 children)

Freshly roasted coffee beans. A bag sets me back maybe $13 or so and gets me approximately 10 cups. Not what I would call outrageously expensive but I enjoy it a whole lot

[–] Krudler@lemmy.world 2 points 12 hours ago (1 children)

May I share with you that I roast a lot of things and it's mind-blowingly easy, it saves a lot of money, and it's a lot better than buying roasted from the store!

I used to use my oven, but it's literally as simple as raw almonds 325 in the air cooker for 15 minutes sometimes. Depends on the ingredients, I've never done coffee but I think I'm going to do that this afternoon!!!

[–] GissaMittJobb@lemmy.ml 2 points 10 hours ago

Unfortunately, I believe coffee might be a different beast. I'm not sure you will be able to achieve desirable results with that type of equipment.

In fact, James Hoffmann recently made a video on whether it's possible to roast coffee beans in an airfryer recently: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AyLXmbTnJIY (tl;dw: not if you want good coffee)

[–] Frog@lemmy.ca 10 points 18 hours ago (5 children)

Not luxury, but I keep a small AAA flashlight with me nearly all the time.

Easier to handle and faster to use than a phone light. Also doesn't use phone battery. I clip it on my hat if I need both hands like taking out the trash.

I have an Olight i3T but I would try out the i3T 2. More lumens and better battery efficency.

load more comments (5 replies)
load more comments
view more: next ›