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Author Topic: Gadgetry for the home  (Read 18170 times)

PerditaPickle

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Gadgetry for the home
« on: November 10, 2019, 09:50:03 am »
Does anyone have any gadgets (&/or tech?) that have proved helpful with managing chronic health conditions &/or disabilities?

I know of a few instances where these have been mentioned in other threads here and there but thought we could have a thread with them all in one place.

Feel free to even post a review of the item if the mood takes you.

I'll list my items in a reply, in due course.
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PerditaPickle

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Re: Gadgetry for the home
« Reply #1 on: November 10, 2019, 05:11:47 pm »
I'll list my items in a reply

At the moment I just have a litter picker/long-handled grabber (pretty standard I should imagine, and helps for reaching things on the tops of high cabinets, top shelves of cupboards, and stuff off the floor too - obviously) and a battery operated can-opener.

I suppose you could include my tablet, which is useful for when I can't muster the energy to set up &/or use my laptop but need something larger and less fiddly than my smart phone (and at present, now that my laptop has developed serious issues and is probably beyond repair).

I've currently borrowed a mini bluetooth keyboard to pair with & use with the tablet and it's proving so useful I'll probably go ahead and get myself one like it (much cheaper than a replacement laptop, for the moment!  But also most definitely useful in it's own right.).

I'd also like to get myself a 'food preparation station'.  There's various ones available but the one I want is wooden as opposed to plastic (I don't want more plastic in my life) and consequently it's pricier, at £65 (about $80, I think).  It's basically a chopping board with a recess for all sorts of different sized graters, with a collection bowl underneath, and a set of spikes for holding still things like loaves and veggies for slicing.

(There's actually a couple of other kitchen gadgets I've got in the back of the cupboard now that I think about it, but they never proved that useful so I haven't bothered to include them.)
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Morag

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Re: Gadgetry for the home
« Reply #2 on: November 10, 2019, 05:47:12 pm »
Does anyone have any gadgets (&/or tech?) that have proved helpful with managing chronic health conditions &/or disabilities?

A few that I've found really useful: 

Food processor means the difference between my eating veggies or not, most days. It's not as great as I thought it would be for grating cheese (have to freeze the cheese first), but it's great for chopping onions without losing use of my eyes for hours, grating zucchini for baking, etc.... It also has a dough blade which I intend to try whenever I try to bake bread without the bread machine.

Instant pot has been immensely helpful on nights when I get home, realize I didn't prep dinner, and have limited time to cook it. It halves the time cooking for chicken breast from the freezer, for example, and has really saved me time and spoons.

Slow cooker and using liners with it. The liners mean the difference between my being able to consistently make actual food or just...eating chips for dinner. I don't use them 100% of the time but do when it's going to be something that's really hard to clean up afterwards (like steel cut oatmeal) or when I'm incredibly low on spoons.

Swiffer duster with refills. It's got an elongated handle to reach spots far away and the fact that I can clean up the worst of the dust and not have to then try to clean the duster (making myself sick in the process), but just replace it...life changer.

Broom and dust pan with a long handle. Seems simple, but I was using a dust pan and brush before (which I still have; it's still useful in some situations) which meant bending over to get dust piles up from the floor. The long handled dust pan with matching broom means I can actually sweep the kitchen now.

Electric kettle. Safer than the stove with my forgetfulness, and I'm less likely to burn myself when I want to make tea.

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PerditaPickle

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Re: Gadgetry for the home
« Reply #3 on: November 10, 2019, 06:05:39 pm »
Broom and dust pan with a long handle. Seems simple, but I was using a dust pan and brush before (which I still have; it's still useful in some situations) which meant bending over to get dust piles up from the floor. The long handled dust pan with matching broom means I can actually sweep the kitchen now.

Electric kettle. Safer than the stove with my forgetfulness, and I'm less likely to burn myself when I want to make tea.

Oh I forgot about my long handled broom - it came with a dustpan, originally, but it was warped and consequently wouldn't collect the dust and dirt reliably (unfortunately didn't get very far when I tried complaining to the retailer, which was kind of irritating, as I used to contort myself trying to hold down the lip of the dustpan with one toe, thus risking falling over!  So in the end I got rid of the dustpan part, but kept the broom as it was better to have the one half of the set than none).  I also still have the regular dustpan and brush, too.

I think probably, electric kettles are pretty standard equipment in most homes in Britain (as you might imagine! lol) but I do also own a teasmade and a Breville Quick Cup, which are both useful in certain situations, too.  Gotta be able to have a cuppa, no matter the circumstances!

Edit for typo
« Last Edit: November 10, 2019, 06:08:08 pm by PerditaPickle »
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Jenett

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Re: Gadgetry for the home
« Reply #4 on: November 11, 2019, 11:30:17 am »
Does anyone have any gadgets (&/or tech?) that have proved helpful with managing chronic health conditions &/or disabilities?

Stuff I find really useful (note that at this point I am regularly hosting students and coven members, which means I need to do a certain amount of routine house cleaning whether or not I'm entirely up for it.)

App on my phone for medication: I use Round (for iOS) which I like because it will give you multiple reminders over a window you determine.

(My actual pills live in a weekly pill case that I fill every Sunday night for the ones I take at home, a smaller portable case for the ones I take at breakfast (which I eat at my desk at work) and a tiny pill case I got from Etsy that has an old fashioned patent medicine style label saying "Zombie Cure" for my thyroid meds, which I will always find hilarious.)

Robot vacuum I got mine when I moved to my current apartment which has all laminate or tile floors (and no stairs). I still sweep once or twice a week, but it's really nice just to put the cat food out of the way, double check there are no loose cords dangling, and let it do its thing (which I do once or twice a week.) I often run it the night before I intend to mop, which I do every week or two, just to clear things.

Mine is an Eufy 11s, and the devices themselves often go on sale around the holidays. (My version is cheap, and you can't wall it off.)

Tools that really work well for me as an individual In the move to the current apartment, I invested in a really nice handmade broom, and it's such a pleasure to use. I've got a small array of brushes to scrub things, that fit certain situations, and I found a mop that I like.

(If I'm not sure what the options are for a thing, I usually browse Wirecutter and look at not only their recs, but why they recommended that. Even if I don't choose that thing, I usually have a much better sense of what to look for in the thing I actually get.) 

Cooking stuff I have an Instant Pot which I like for specific things, a sous vide setup (which is really great when I hit a stint of 'I need to not think about my food for a bit' or want ot make a large batch of chicken or other meat for the week) and I use my slow cooker most frequently (though usually on the weekend, rather than setting it up in the morning and coming home to it.)

Things I don't buy Some of my medical stuff comes with bonus clumsy, so I have given up on buying things made of glass. I do still use ceramic, but I expect to lose about a thing a year to a drop. (However, when ceramic breaks, you get larger pieces, usually, and they're not transparent, so it's a win over glass.) This means I buy handmade ceramic mugs periodically, with good sturdy handles, but I mostly consider that a feature because they're pretty and it's fun to look for new ones.

(I do use glass mason jars for some things, but only stuff where if I'm less likely to drop it, and I keep plastic storage stuff around in case.)
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Re: Gadgetry for the home
« Reply #5 on: November 12, 2019, 07:59:59 pm »
Does anyone have any gadgets (&/or tech?) that have proved helpful with managing chronic health conditions &/or disabilities?

Instant Pot. Add me to the list of fans.  I love being able to throw in the ingredients and not have to do anything more than wait.

Freezer.  It's not exactly a gadget, but it's a lifesaver for me.  When I'm feeling good, I do batch cooking and portion out meals to freeze. Most fast food isn't an option for me, so it makes weekdays a lot easier if I can just grab something that's already made. 

Mini Blender.  Smoothies for breakfast are my easy option for getting a good dose of protein, fiber, and nutrients.  This is another thing that on good days, I'll make in batches in my full-size blender and freeze.  For other times, the mini blender is perfect.

Duster with a six-foot extension handle.  For some reason, my current abode constantly breeds cobwebs along the edges of the ceiling. It's much easier to hit them with the extension duster than trying to climb a step ladder.

Noise-canceling headphones. I tend to be very sensitive to sounds when I'm experiencing high levels of stress or anxiety and using these makes a huge difference in my ability to focus and function. I sleep with a fan running for the same reason. It filters most of the small sounds that would keep me awake.

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PerditaPickle

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Re: Gadgetry for the home
« Reply #6 on: July 04, 2020, 07:54:33 am »
Does anyone have any gadgets (&/or tech?) that have proved helpful with managing chronic health conditions &/or disabilities?

Just invested in a powerful new dust-buster (handheld vacuum, to complement our main cordless vacuum which is a G-Tech AirRam) - it's so handy!
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