The "I just bought..." thread.

[MrSquished]

I finally caved & bought a slow juicer with the last bit of my stimulus. First of all, watch the most amazing Engrish video you've ever seen: (7th thumbnail, underneath the main pic)

https://www.amazon.com/Machines-Masticating-Extractor-Function-Vegetables/dp/B07DCKYJ5D/

Second, juicers have come a looooooong way! My original masticating juicer (Champion model) was more than double the cost of this one (which has been relegated to chocolate-making duty these days), plus there's always a $40 off coupon floating around. For $120, it's an absolutely incredible device - easy to setup, easy to clean, does a great job juicing! I kind of have a love/hate relationship with juicing, because it can get expensive unless you can find a CSA or other bulk resource (i.e. local farm), but drinking fresh mixed veggie/fruit juices is also like drinking NOS from the Fast & the Furious and makes you feel ridiculously good within like 5 minutes of drinking it lol. I've been going through the recipes on this website, which are surprisingly good for not having any refined sugar added:

20+ Healthy Juice Recipes

Our top 20 healthy juice recipes after 6 years of voting by our massive juicing community.

juicerecipes.com

I've done Can't Beet It, Sweet Satin, and The Wingman so far. I don't think I've ever juiced a sweet potato before & it was actually pretty good haha! My procedure is:

1. Wash all produce with a Japanese veggie scrub brush (Kamenoko Tawashi, brilliant tool!)
2. Chop all produce into chunks (I recommend a 10" Chef's knife; I use a Dalstrong model off Amazon)
3. Run everything through the juicer
4. Pour the juice through a metal sieve into a big cup (if you have a small one, you'll need to rinse it a few times because the particles will clog it)
5. Chug that puppy & proceed to see the colors of the universe with your brain lol

For some reason, it is extremely satisfying chopping stuff up & turning it into juice. Reminds me of doing arts & crafts in elementary school - just a pure, simple joy lol.



View attachment 38536

You have all the cool kitchen gear and cooking skills and great recipes and suggestions, but drop that Chinese Dalstrong steel and get a Japanese steel chef's knife

 

[Kaido]

You have all the cool kitchen gear and cooking skills and great recipes and suggestions, but drop that Chinese Dalstrong steel and get a Japanese steel chef's knife

I actually really like my Dalstrong! I've used a number of different low-end & high-end knives over the years and have actually been really happy with it! I'm actually a bit of a minimalist when it comes to my knife collection. I didn't grow up with good knives, so I slowly built a collection over time after buying my first Wusthof, which was a really great starter blade. I currently use my Dalstrong, which is a 9.5" Chef's knife, for 90% of my kitchen work. These are my key knives:

• 9.5" Dalstrong Chef's knife
• 9" Victorinox offset bread knife (great for bread & bagels)
• Zyliss spreader knife (I have several of these, great for butter, PB, jelly, Nutella, etc.)
• 9" KastKing flexible fillet knife (I typically use this on chicken)

I have a nice electric knife sharpener from Amazon, plus a few other odds & ends (ex. plastic cheese knife, small paring knife, etc.), but the ones above are my go-to. If stimulus number three ever shows up, I would like to devote a bit of it to a 10" French Chef's knife, which is a bit different from American & Japanese knives. Over the years of working in kitchens (both cooking & as IT support, haha!), I noticed that most chefs primarily used their 10" knives for pretty much everything, and over time ended up switching to one (well, 9.5") as my go-to knife. I remember growing up with a cheap knife set in a block; they never cut very well & there were way too many to choose from. Downsizing to just a handful of blades to fit the way I cook as an adult in my own kitchen has served me really well over the years!

 

[JulesMaximus]

is there a solid door that we cannot see or is there always a screen door there?

There is a solid door you cannot see, it is being held open by a door stop. Like I said, we prop it open on warm days to enjoy a breeze through the house. It is the standard solid fire door you would find in most homes. I added the screen door for the purpose of keeping our cats inside the house but letting air move freely through.

 

[MrSquished]

I actually really like my Dalstrong! I've used a number of different low-end & high-end knives over the years and have actually been really happy with it! I'm actually a bit of a minimalist when it comes to my knife collection. I didn't grow up with good knives, so I slowly built a collection over time after buying my first Wusthof, which was a really great starter blade. I currently use my Dalstrong, which is a 9.5" Chef's knife, for 90% of my kitchen work. These are my key knives:

• 9.5" Dalstrong Chef's knife
• 9" Victorinox offset bread knife (great for bread & bagels)
• Zyliss spreader knife (I have several of these, great for butter, PB, jelly, Nutella, etc.)
• 9" KastKing flexible fillet knife (I typically use this on chicken)

I have a nice electric knife sharpener from Amazon, plus a few other odds & ends (ex. plastic cheese knife, small paring knife, etc.), but the ones above are my go-to. If stimulus number three ever shows up, I would like to devote a bit of it to a 10" French Chef's knife, which is a bit different from American & Japanese knives. Over the years of working in kitchens (both cooking & as IT support, haha!), I noticed that most chefs primarily used their 10" knives for pretty much everything, and over time ended up switching to one (well, 9.5") as my go-to knife. I remember growing up with a cheap knife set in a block; they never cut very well & there were way too many to choose from. Downsizing to just a handful of blades to fit the way I cook as an adult in my own kitchen has served me really well over the years!

Yeah knife sets are usually a waste. Best to get a few good knives that you use the most and I pretty much just use a 9.4" Gyuto or my Santoku. But definitely consider Japanese. The Dalstrong stuff is just so-so. French/European chef's knives are nice, a Wusthof and Messermeister were my first experience with a nicer knife and they were good, but after reading a lot, Japanese was the way to go. Quite simply the Europeans use a much softer steel, like 54-56 on the Rockwell Scale, they get dull fast. Knives like Glestain are 59, but then most more artisinal Japanese knives are like 61-63. Basically the harder steel holds an edge much longer. Of course the downside is they can chip easier. But as long as you aren't cutting frozen foods or through bones and practice reasonable knife care like not throwing them in a drawer to knock around with each other and only using wood or plastic cutting boards, you'll be fine. For home sharpening with any good knife you need to use water stones, whether a Wusthof or a Japanese knife. When I got my first good Japanese blade and used it, it was an awakening compared to the first time I used the Messermeister.

 

[lxskllr]

 

[Kaido]

Yeah knife sets are usually a waste. Best to get a few good knives that you use the most and I pretty much just use a 9.4" Gyuto or my Santoku. But definitely consider Japanese. The Dalstrong stuff is just so-so. French/European chef's knives are nice, a Wusthof and Messermeister were my first experience with a nicer knife and they were good, but after reading a lot, Japanese was the way to go. Quite simply the Europeans use a much softer steel, like 54-56 on the Rockwell Scale, they get dull fast. Knives like Glestain are 59, but then most more artisinal Japanese knives are like 61-63. Basically the harder steel holds an edge much longer. Of course the downside is they can chip easier. But as long as you aren't cutting frozen foods or through bones and practice reasonable knife care like not throwing them in a drawer to knock around with each other and only using wood or plastic cutting boards, you'll be fine. For home sharpening with any good knife you need to use water stones, whether a Wusthof or a Japanese knife. When I got my first good Japanese blade and used it, it was an awakening compared to the first time I used the Messermeister.

Yeah, they make some super-crazy nice knives in Japan! I have a buddy who is a sushi chef with knives in the $1200 range, super fun to use! One of the reasons I like my Dalstrong is that I don't have to be as sensitive with it, I can beat on it & use it for nearly all cutting jobs with no worries, then sharpen as needed. That, plus I definitely don't have surgeon-level knife skills, especially for doing stuff like sashimi & whatnot haha!

As far as storage goes, I have this bad boy mounted on the side of my kitchen cabinets:

Amazon.com: San Jamar STK1008 Saf-T-Knife Assembled Station, 15" Width x 15" Height x 4-1/4" Depth : Home & Kitchen

Buy San Jamar STK1008 Saf-T-Knife Assembled Station, 15" Width x 15" Height x 4-1/4" Depth: Knife Cases, Holders & Protectors - Amazon.com ✓ FREE DELIVERY possible on eligible purchases

www.amazon.com

Ugly, but functional!

 

[skyking]

another magnetic mount for the excavators. I thought I could get the project done with one, but I need to attach a 3' + surface to the excavator dipper to hang the laser target on.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07KPY6ZC3/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

[skyking]

Looking at used Tiguan R-Line for my wife today.
The new RV storage is getting delivered and set up on the lower yard Monday.
It is Cover A in the link, 22' wide by 41' long with 11' legs.
RV and truck roof.

 

[IronWing]

I bought a rock.

 

[lxskllr]

A set of kids walkietalkies for work...



They have two channels :^D I like cheap radios better than pro radios. They're lighter, and don't use proprietary batteries. Problem is a lot of them aren't loud enough. These seem alright inside, but a noisy site will be the real test. I have a cheap set of unidens I really like, but one of them's missing, and I don't have a decent radio to use with it. Hoping these work out. They were marked $20 at biglots, and I had a 20% off order coupon, so $15. Not a big gamble.

 

[IronWing]

Put yellow tape on them so you can find them in the mud.

I used to use Garmin Rhinos until I figured out how bad the quality control was on that line. The low end units were bright yellow. As they went up in price, the camouflage got better. I think that was intentional.

 

[lxskllr]

They had pink camo radios I almost got. I really don't like pink, and I'd have to listen to the boss whine every time they came out. He's more a form over function guy. It's better to look good than be good :rollseyes:

 

[sdifox]

They had pink camo radios I almost got. I really don't like pink, and I'd have to listen to the boss whine every time they came out. He's more a form over function guy. It's better to look good than be good :rollseyes:

but pink will be easier to find when you drop it in the wilderness. I have a couple of motorola FRS radio.

 

[lxskllr]

Yup, as much as I dislike pink, I'd have likely gotten that set due to practicality. Boss would be a PITA though, and might refuse to use them. This all started cause his Iturd is getting weak, and won't hold a charge. We usually just use the phones. It worked ok, but there's problems with that, particularly with him. He loses stuff easily, and can't rig a decent system to keep his phone from falling. If he worked on my jobs(where I'm typically solo), I might consider some bluetooth senas. Those are hundreds of $, but I could fit it into the helmets/hearing protection, so it's works almost as well as just talking to the person.

 

[Brainonska511]

With some help of the stimulus check that I didn't really need, I got myself a small 4.5" dobsonian telescope.
View attachment 38544

Would have liked to get something larger, but that will have to wait for some future living situation. Right now, we live on the 2nd floor of a triple decker, so the logistics involved would be much more complicated (eg, navigating narrow stairs; having to drive to a local park instead of just walking over). The smaller size at least makes it easier to move and set up, as well as makes it easy to take when we go camping.

Originally, I was going to have to wait almost 2 months because of extensive backorders on telescopes (thanks to COVID and everyone finding hobbies), but then Orion had the one I wanted as a 2nd/Clearance item. Got it on Friday and assembled it (below); unfortunately, it's been the coldest fucking days of the winter this weekend, so venturing outside to test it hasn't been a priority.

Can't figure out why it was a 2nd - though, I've heard from some astro forums that a lot of the clearance items are just unopened items people immediately returned them when they saw the box sizes.

 

[Muse]

Just put in an online order at Harbor Freight... 14 items, prices after auto-applied coupons, most through HF, some by Honey:

KRAUSE & BECKER
3 In. Chip Brushes, 12 Pk. $5.49

Vanguard 12' x 16 gauge indoor extension cord $3.43

Vanguard Electrical kit, 4 pc $7.99
6 outlet plug-in , 6 outlet power strip 6' extension cord, light

6 pairs Hardy Mechanics gloves X-Large $4.99ea

3x - Vanguard 3 to 2 prong grounding adapter 2 Pk $1.99ea

6 outlet power strip $3.99

4 outlet power strip $3.19

 

[sdifox]

Just put in an online order at Harbor Freight... 14 items, prices after auto-applied coupons, most through HF, some by Honey:

KRAUSE & BECKER
3 In. Chip Brushes, 12 Pk. $5.49

Vanguard 12' x 16 gauge indoor extension cord $3.43

Vanguard Electrical kit, 4 pc $7.99
6 outlet plug-in , 6 outlet power strip 6' extension cord, light

6 pairs Hardy Mechanics gloves X-Large $4.99ea

3x - Vanguard 3 to 2 prong grounding adapter 2 Pk $1.99ea

6 outlet power strip $3.99

4 outlet power strip $3.19

They will blow up before they reach you

 

[GodisanAtheist]

Bought a 2021 Subaru Crosstrek Sport to replace a rusting relic of a car. A bit of a surprise as I haven't been a huge fan of our other 2015 Subaru (works fine, but developed some QOL issues shortly after purchase and the first gen CVT flat out sucks) but the 2021 handles great, gets solid gas milage, and the AWD system is solid and great for not just snow but also driving on wet roads which is a reasonably common occurrence around here thanks to the overnight mist that dampens everything and makes the morning commute a tad bit slipperier.

Also picked up a Norelco 7000 series hair/beard trimmer since the wife started handling family haircuts and my son's thick mane of hair finally killed my 5 year old $20 Norelco 3000 series trimmer.

 

[Muse]

They will blow up before they reach you

Well, I don't think they're coming by Space Shuttle.

 

[rasczak]

I just bought a 2020 Gibson LP Standard. First brand new guitar in over 30 years.

 

[Ajay]

Geez, spending too much money lately. Oh well, saved a bunch of money cutting cable.



Bought it since we have a bunch of IOS devices. Was supposed to practically set itself up by pairing with my phone. Had it running just fine...2 hours later. Good old Apple 'Everything just works™' - LOL!
Otherwise, I'm liking it so far. Picture quality is much better streaming than my old TiVo Roamio was.

 

[SKORPI0]

$79.99+tax - Best Buy Geek Squad refurb. Perfect match to my Note 20 Ultra 5G Mystic Bronze (128GB).



Got it delivered via UPS today, Feb 3.

 

[skyking]

ended up with a2019 SEL Premium Tiguan with 12000 miles in white.

 

[pcgeek11]

$79.99+tax - Best Buy Geek Squad refurb. Perfect match to my Note 20 Ultra 5G Mystic Bronze (128GB).

View attachment 39012

Dude,

Your avatar is creeping me out. Seriously.

 

[highland145]

Dude,

Your avatar is creeping me out. Seriously.

Hawt.