Last thing you bought

[Yvonne Smith]

Those "bare bulb" versions look like:

View attachment 717

I'd think you could take almost any single-bulb table or floor lamp apart and thread this into it without a ton of trouble. You might have to cut the cable close to the "bulb" end to thread it through, then splice it together again. But the splice could be dropped down into the metal tube of the lamp. As a tinkerer, I'd probably take a white foam picnic plate and lay it onto the "spider" of the lampshade, cutting a center hole to screw the finial on top of the harp. This would reflect more of the illumination downward as you'd normally want with a table lamp.

Or in simple cases take a white plastic funnel and cut away the nozzle end until it fits down onto the base of the bulb as a lampshade. Then hang it downward from its hook, maybe a dab or two of hot glue to secure the shade into place. These don't get hot like an incandescent bulb or even a 120 VAC LED bulb.

We have a similar one to this light. It charges when put into a light fixture, and then you can use it anywhere you want need a little light bulb, kind of like a flashlight.

 

[Cpvr]

Two bacon mcdoubles and a drink from Mcdonalds was the last thing that I bought.

 

[Jacob Petersheim]

I'd felt stupid buying 20 little lights for $7, but buying just 4 cost $5 so... stocking stuffers come Christmas?

They seem to be as advertised. Too bright to stare at and too dim except as night lights, but that's as expected.

The WiFi USB smart switch works fine with them, given a power source that doesn't turn itself off under very small loads (when "off" the switch sits at 0.066 watts, bumping up each second to 0.200 watts to poll for a command by WiFi). There is also a Zigbee model according to the tiny instruction leaflet, but I can only find the WiFi version for sale.

So now I bought a little 13 inch tall cheap ceramic lamp to convert. Green is sort of ugly I suppose, but white and other colors were priced at twice as much.

From what I see of lamps and lampshades, interior lighting with any sense of style at all is a very high markup business! I suppose that's why thrift stores exist.

 

[Jacob Petersheim]

These should be better in that lamp. They shine more omnidirectionally, and unscrewing the hook they might screw right into the lamp socket after I remove the original cord.

I'll still have to cut, thread, then splice but it should be neater jury-rigging. Restoring the factory lamp cord and screwing in a 120 V bulb later should be easy if desired.


Bonus, unlike the "dangle bulbs" above it is warm white, not the colder fluorescent-spectrum light.

 

[Kyng]

Mini poppadoms, crumpets, and a couple of other groceries.

 

[Nancy Hart]

Two caulking gun size tubes of adhesive.

 

[Jacob Petersheim]

Pack of 4 microfiber sweat towels. About $1.60 each.



I'm spending more time in the sun and heat, so anything to help stay cool (or mop sweat before it drips onto my glasses or into my eyes) is worth a shot.

 

[Yvonne Smith]

We have some of those cooling towels also, and they are great for the hot weather ! At one time , we had some of those “Koolbandanas” (or some such name) that has beads inside of the bandana, and you soaked them overnight in cold water and then tied them around your neck, and they stayed cool for a really long time.
Once they lost most of the chill, you just put them back in ice water and let them soak it up again, and you were good for another few hours. We had several, so we could always change them out when they needed refreshed.
These microfiber towels do a great job, too, and can cover a larger area than the little bandanas did.

 

[Jacob Petersheim]

Well I bit on another "deal."

I do a lot of monitoring of the market in "power stations" that can charge from AC or solar power, and then can be used for emergencies or shifting loads to off-peak electricity rate hours.

While both quality and features certainly matter, and reputation and reliability as well, I have wandered off from big name brands for the best deals on battery capacity.

So this time I bought a pretty ugly pug. Not a 1st tier or 2nd tier brand, but not bottom of the barrel either. However their sales sites, both in-house and Amazon, are a bit messed up. So I might be buying a bit of a pig in a poke here because I can't trust a lot of details besides those shown in photos.



This one has 960Wh of battery. It "lists at" $1199, on sale at $999. I got it for $299.

Quite a deal if it is what it is supposed to be. They seemed to say it weighs 18 pounds, which would fit with the capacity. From what they say I believe that it can charge from my 350 watt solar array, something most of my smaller ones (280Wh, 480 to 550Wh) can't do.

With my sunlight situation (derned trees!) I need to maximize my good hours. I'm hoping this unit will help with that.

 

[Axel Slingerland]

Pack of 4 microfiber sweat towels. About $1.60 each.

I have one of those. You get it wet, shake it out a few times, wrap it around your neck and it stays cool for quite awhile. When the cool fades, shake it out again. Even if you use warm water it gets cool. I wrap it around my arm when the sun is beating down on me through the window of my car. That way I don't get crispy...

 

[Kyng]

A bunch of groceries.

 

[Axel Slingerland]

Last night at 9:30p was Mocha Time.

 

[Jacob Petersheim]

Quite a deal if it is what it is supposed to be. They seemed to say it weighs 18 pounds, which would fit with the capacity. From what they say I believe that it can charge from my 350 watt solar array, something most of my smaller ones (280Wh, 480 to 550Wh) can't do.

Finally got it, for some reason they wanted a delivery signature. *sigh*

Also got correct and more complete specs with it. True nominal weight is 12.5 Kg (just under 30 pounds). Oof! But easier to move around than my 62 pound big guy.

Accepts solar panel input from 11.5 to 50 volts, so it should be just fine with my big 350 watt panel array (33 Voc, too high for most smaller solar controllers).

Arrived at 25% charge, a little low so maybe it was in storage a long time. Right now it's on two 100 watt 20 volt panels in parallel, and seems to be taking a charge just fine. But my solar day is coming to an end here with deep shade, so more frogging around will have to wait.

 

[Jacob Petersheim]

I made the run to a small town independent grocer and loaded up on food. Lots was on sale and there were clearance items like some nearing-end strawberries I can gobble and freeze/store. I also got sweet black cherries, red grapes, apples, and a couple of bags of frozen blueberries (not quite in season here yet anyway).

My splurge item was some refrigerated factory bagels. They were cheap and these are called "french toast" bagels. After I unpacked and put things away I washed the cherries and then I had cherries with one of those bagels with some swiss cheese as a sorta kinda Caveman Monte Cristo.

If I'd had some sliced deli ham or turkey on hand I'd have added that. But I had selected enough other meat, so I passed it up at the store.

 

[Yvonne Smith]

I will probably be ordering some groceries from Walmart this morning, too. We do not need a lot, but some basic things. The last thing that I bought online was some kefir grains, to use making my kefir.
I have been making it with the kefir starter packets, and reading more information about kefir, and it turns out that there is a huge difference in the variety of probiotics as well as the amount you get , depending on whether you use the packets or the grains.

 

[Marie Mallory]

Ordered Red Mill oatmeal, case of tuna fish, coffee from Amazon.

Time to go to grocery store for everything else.

 

[Kyng]

A phone top-up.

 

[Jacob Petersheim]

One of those "back pillow" or "bed chair" things. Sit up in bed or on the floor for reading, watching TV, etc.

 

[Yvonne Smith]

The Oster blender that I just got is one of the blenders that the blade assembly can fit on a small-mouth mason jar, and I tried that the other day when making my kefir ranch salad dressing, and it worked great. Then, I tried using it to blend up an Italian dressing with vinegar and oil, and it worked good for that, too, and the pint jar makes just the right amount at a time to have and use fresh.
So, I ordered another blade assembly that has the plastic case that the blade and jar attach to, and i will use that along with the mason jar when I want to blend something in a jar, like I did with the salad dressing. I won’t have to keep taking the blade assembly off of the blender jar each time and putting it back on again after using it for the mason jar.

 

[Jacob Petersheim]

A pair of lightweight, quick-dry workout shorts in a longer length and army green:



Being only 5'6" tall, they'll probably cover my knees!