Stop Paying to Get Rid of Handing Over Parts
The last time we collected our staff’s weekly updates , our editors were planning vacations, returning to exercise, and spending their free time on professional development.
This week we’re cleaning up our social media, dabbling in clothing rental subscriptions, investing in new hard drives, and sorting out our own damn coins.
What updates have you made this week? Let us know in the comments.
Kill the Facebook news feed
I finally destroyed my Facebook feed with the Kill News Feed Chrome extension and I am not missing it. Now I can search for exactly what I want to see and when, instead of mindlessly scrolling through random vacation photos and messages about how someone broke their phone, so please write to them (no, I’m fine, Thank you). I’m not ready to fully use #DeleteFacebook yet, but this is a good way to get rid of any unnecessary thoughts.
Michelle Wu, parenting editor
Immerse yourself in your love of head massage
I bought new head massagers . These weird ones have long metal spider legs that wrap around your scalp. Some people hate them, but I love them.
Patrick Allan, staff writer
Consider renting a wardrobe
I do something that I never thought I would do: I rent clothes . I’m bored with my wardrobe, but I don’t like commitment, so here we are. So far, I liked the process: the service picks the items for you, but you can swap out as many as you like for other offers in their inventory. (I changed them all.) You can store the clothes as long as you want, and once you send them back, the process repeats. The clothes have been good so far – not particularly exciting, but not a bad break from my regular rotation. It’s like borrowing clothes from a friend who is a little more fashionable than you. And she will not be annoyed if you return it rumpled and in need of washing: they do all the washing and dry cleaning.
Alice Bradley, Associate Editor
Upgrade your hard drive and pet supplies
I bought a brand new 4TB hard drive to replace the potentially dying / definitely outdated 3TB hard drive that I use for most of my systems: “I don’t need to access it very often, but I don’t want to put it in a NAS box. “storage space. I also have a new litter box for my cat Colbert and I will ask him what he thinks about the next week’s update. Although I saw it as a trendy upgrade this week, I didn’t buy the What the Pug T-shirt.” I saw last week at Silicon Valley Comic Con I’m still tempted.
David Murphy, Senior Technical Editor
Share your favorite albums in detail
This week I listened to an in-depth analysis of track after track “My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy” by Kanye West on the Dissect podcast. Life hacking video by Adam Powers convinced me of this. I already liked the album, but I knew almost nothing about the autobiographical and referential meaning layers of each line. I also appreciate the analysis of samples, song structures, and chord progressions. This is similar to the better known Song Exploder podcast, but focuses entirely on MBDTF. (The previous season featured a play by Kendrick Lamar, Pumping the Butterfly.)
Nick Douglas, staff writer
Stop Paying Coinstar For Things You Can Do On Your Own
I got the coin wrappers and deposited all the changes I have accumulated over the last 3 years or so. It totaled $ 81, and by packing everything myself and putting it right in the bank, I avoided those pesky Coinstar fees.
Joel Kahn, Senior Video Producer
Stop reading books you don’t like
Last month I fell behind my reading goal, but this week I managed to finish the book and make decent progress in a second, so I’m still optimistic about reaching my year-end goal. (Turns out the key to reading more is choosing the books you really want to read, rather than the books offered by other people you really don’t know. Who knew!)
alisia adamchik, staff writer
Get your finances in order
My husband and I are working on a general cleanup of our finances , as suggested by Alicia. We do a little bit every night, but what we do in the meantime is interesting. We agreed to text each other every time we spend money, even if it’s just food or little things like a cup of coffee. In the meantime, we refrain from most non-essential expenses. I hate to continue like this, but it was great to pay more attention to money and communication with each other.
Beth Squarecki, health editor
(Caution) don’t let the cat destroy your furniture
My kitten-angel developed the annoying habit of turning into a monster at night: scratching the door, knocking over lamps and generally arranging pogroms. I didn’t want to punish him because he is so cute; he didn’t mean it, and so on. So my husband took on the role of bad cop and started using a water bottle to drive him away. A classic trick, but I still felt bad. It turns out the bottle works just as well when it’s empty. Just the sound of a spritzer makes him fidget.
Adam Powers, video producer
Eat less food at your desk
As part of my ongoing effort, I eat less at my desk and start cooking and eating breakfast at home. It takes me a little longer in the morning, but it’s a much nicer and more relaxed way to start the day, and it also doesn’t leave me hungry and woozy if I get stuck underground forever on my way to the office, which seems to be happening here almost every day.
Virginia K. Smith, Editor-in-Chief