My toilet.
Asklemmy
A loosely moderated place to ask open-ended questions
Search asklemmy π
If your post meets the following criteria, it's welcome here!
- Open-ended question
- Not offensive: at this point, we do not have the bandwidth to moderate overtly political discussions. Assume best intent and be excellent to each other.
- Not regarding using or support for Lemmy: context, see the list of support communities and tools for finding communities below
- Not ad nauseam inducing: please make sure it is a question that would be new to most members
- An actual topic of discussion
Looking for support?
Looking for a community?
- Lemmyverse: community search
- sub.rehab: maps old subreddits to fediverse options, marks official as such
- !lemmy411@lemmy.ca: a community for finding communities
~Icon~ ~by~ ~@Double_A@discuss.tchncs.de~
Easy: I have used my Norwegian teapot every day for as long as I can remember - easily 50 years, plus some 15+ years where my dad used it before me, plus another unknown number of years before him, because he picked it up doing his rounds as a garbage man in his student years (1960s). That thing is ancient, and still going strong. Never gonna let it go.
That teapot must be tied with the Danish dinner tableware inherited from my grandparents. That stuff has also been in use literally daily since the 1950s.
Talk about built to last, and buy it for life. Amazing.
I don't know why, but I really want to see the magical teapot. Can we see?
Here it is: https://i.imgur.com/oSyNbne.png (organic banana for scale)
Disappointing, yes? Well, not sure what you expected an indestructible thing to look like. This thing must be from the 1940s or so.
The pot itself is made of some non-magnetic metal, and it was probably all black when it was new, but years of gas stove-top use before I was even born must have burned away the color near the base β I have always known it to have this gradient. It holds 1,5L of steaming hot black tea (preferably Lady Grey or Darjeeling) and has an absolutely drip-free spout. It has a stein-like hinged lid with a glass insert that used to be removable until my dad epoxied it on, untold ages ago. The handle is made of bakelite so it never gets hot, not even when used on a gas stove-top.
The handle is marked with the logo "HΓYANG" which sounds Norwegian. If anyone can tell me any details aout that, I would be extremely interested.
(The mug is another contender for this post, by the way. I've had it from the late 80's.)
This meat suit I woke up in once, I've had it as long as I can remember
I bought my mechanical keyboard in 1997. It has the original large round plug on it and through the years I've had to buy adapters to go to a ps/2 port and now to usb, but the keyboard itself still works pretty well. Definitely time for a good cleaning though, I've been having a lot of stuck or missed keys lately. Since I write code this keyboard has seen a LOT of daily use over the years.
Bought some walking boots in 1991 that I only got rid off last year (they finally broke). Except Antarctica theyβve been on every continent. Felt quite sad saying goodbye.
We got three sets of bedsheets when we got married thirteen years ago, still using all of them.
Before we were married, my spouse got me a tea set; only two teacups left but I do use them daily.
But the winner is the engraved, personalized cereal spoon I got when I was five by saving cereal box tops and sending them in.
Wired Headphones ππ§
Basically can't live without them π΅β€οΈ
I'm pretty sure some of my T-shirts could win this if we don't take this whole "daily" I aspect too seriously. There are a few from my teenage years that are still in good shape and still fit, which I've had for literally more than half my life by now.
That "daily"-aspect makes it really hard though, since there are days when I don't even need my house keys. Lighbulbs die after some time, so they ain't it either. And would wardrobes count as "items"? I tried thinking about this question so hard for way longer than I probably should've now, and got to no unanimous conclusion so far. But in the end, it doesn't even matter, so I'll just go with: probably my glasses
I have plenty of things that are really old, but the longest in daily use would probably be a Galileo thermometer my dad gave me in my early teens. It looks like this, but the colours have long since faded:
I grew up decently poor, always getting cheap shit.
But now that Iβve got an education and a good paying job, Iβm starting to collect nice things that are nice to have and use.
The one Iβve had the longest w actual daily use would have to be my stealcase chair. I did the frugal thing and bought it used, but itβs been a couple of years and it shows no signs of giving up any time soon.
I have a Stanley Record no.5 plane given to me by my dad about thirty years ago. He inherited it from a relative when he was around the same age. It could be a hundred years old at this point. I've got a pre-war Wadkin bandsaw, must be close to a century.
I still have my first ever mountain bike from the early 90s, can't kill that thing either. It is a high quality machine but looks incredibly shabby now. Perfect for shopping, nobody wants to steal it.
Sennheiser headphones that I bought for about $20 about 10 years ago. The cable is indestructible. I once had to resolder it to the speakers because it my cat pulled it out, but the cable itself has endured all kinds of abuse without breaking. And the sound is fantastic.
Not sure it counts but I have an oak dining table my grandfather bought back in 1910 or there abouts... So 113 years-ish. Still used every day.
In 1990 I was running a very tiny Unix clone at home (Coherent on a 286 PC w/ 1 meg ram) and... I don't remember if I couldn't get a standard reader to compile on that or what the problem was, but anyways - I wrote an email/usenet reader for my own use.
33 years later, I'm still using it to read my email every day.
Also, I think I've had my pasta strainer since the 90s.
How are you dealing with everything being in HTML and full of attachments now?
An email of all html is an unwanted email 99% of the time. Occasionally, I save it, and open in lynx. (When a web site emails a security code.)
Attachments are more of a hassle, because I frequently need those. Save to a temp file, "munpack file", examine extracted files.
My Victorinox Swiss army knife. Got it close to 30 years ago, and I still carry it every day, using it for dozens of different things.
I've replaced the scales once, and the blade was ruined by a dodgy knife sharpener, but it still holds an edge.
I've got a rice cooker that old enough to rent a car. My MIL bought me a newer one a few years back and it's still in the box. I just like my old reliable one better.
Best way to do it. Not replacing something that isn't broke and a spare just in case.
The speakers from a Yamaha 5.1 theater. The receiver has long been replaced and the center channel has been replaced but the left and right front speakers Iβve kept. Damned good sound ,bought in 1996
Old 2.5W phone adapter. The best thing for overnight charging.
I bought my wallet in April 2000, a cheap faux leather foldy wallet. It's a bit weathered but still works.
I have a big wool sweater I got as a present from my then-girlfriend whish looks pristine and still smells a bit of lanolin. That is from 98 or 99.
I only have one belt. It's a leather belt I got in my teens, so about 30 years ago. I use it, not daily, but close. That is also a bit worn. I don't remember it as some high-quality item when we bought it. It came with two different buckles; a simple normal one and a big gaudy texas-flag rocker-style which I never used.
I also had a The North Face jacket that deserves an honorable mention. I got it in 99 and I used for almost 20 years. Ten years in the zipper gave up and I went to the store where it was bought and asked if it could be repaired and how much it would cost. They took the jacket and asked for my address. A week later it came back with a new zipper, no charge. I really miss that jacket. The layers started to separate and the goretex membrane started to fail.
The oldest thing I use almost daily must be my bread knife which I bought around 2006. It was pretty cheap, the coating of the handle is peeling off, itβs a bit too heavy and not balanced well, I would not buy it again. But it works.
Not daily but very regularly: zoom H1. Small handheld recorder that does 24bit 48khz wav. It can go about
8-10 hours on a single AA, has a USB mini port for running an external battery. Stereo out, xy condenser mics built in, line in for lavs and such.
I use it for recording speeches at rehearsal dinners for friends and family to surprise them with, collecting foley audio, plugging into boards to get a mixdown of a band playing, and more. I use it professionally as a backup audio recorder in my video work (it probably saves the day at least five or six times a year doing that). Hell, one time someone brought out a Red but no scratch mic not realizing the camera didnβt have one built-in. We plugged the H1 into the audio input and proceeded to shoot. Day saved.
itβs incredibly portable, surprisingly rugged, and it is an essential part of my tool kit and travels. I have had the same one since 2012 and a second one since 2016. It is probably the single most important piece of equipment I own, and is just so broadly useful that I canβt imagine not having it. Best $90 or so I ever spent.
I have a Parker Pen I bought with my first paycheck in 2011. I've replaced the ink cartridge several times, but the pen is still going strong. I use it everyday at work, and it got me through High school and College.
I have my first generation Kindle Paperwhite that I still use daily, that is from 12. I don't think that is the oldest item I have in my possession that I still uses, but it is one that I have right be side me at the moment.
I am currently wearing a pair of shorts that I bought sometime in the late '80s. The top blanket currently on my bed was made by my grandmother in the '70s. The clock right in front of me was made during WW2, but I've only had it for a couple of decades. I guess I just don't throw shit away
Edit: now that I think of it, my bed is probably from the '30s or '40s.
A plastic wide-toothed comb I've had since I was a kid. I never liked the design and it's slowly falling apart (one tine missing, outer layers peeling) but I want to use it until it's no longer functional as it'll end up in a landfill :/ after which I'm going to see about making or buying a wooden one
An ikea desk that I got shortly after graduating college. 13 years, over 3,000 miles, 5 apartments, and itβs definitely bowing a bit these days, but itβs still a desk, and it still works.
Been thinking of upgrading to a Secret Lab adjustable, but part of me just doesnβt want to say goodbye π₯²
The switch on the light by my bed has been in my family for over 30 years. It's been "mine" since my birth and still working perfectly.
My computer, Alienware Aurora R1 (Core I7 - 960) that I broke into my savings to get back in 2010. I use it everyday. Last year I upgraded RAM to 32GB, got a second hand GTX 1080 Ti, and just two months ago I swapped the HDD for SSD. I also use a 43' Samsung 3D TV that I got back when it was all the rage.
I think technically it's just my key ring. It's loop is just from a charm thing my grandmother gave to me like 20 years ago. The charm was lost a long time ago. Kind of boring though.
My favorite pair of jeans and my favorite jacket are both about 15 years old at this point, heavily worn and patched together many times. Not daily use though obviously. My most comfortable pair of boots are about 10 years old which are closer to daily use.
One of the hard drives in my computer is more than 10 years old but I rarely read/write anything to it anymore. For a long time a lot of bits from it were very old, but I think everything older has been ship of theseus'd now. My mother still uses my handy down 15+ year old MX518 mouse daily though.
A Maple Bed frame that was custom made for me by a relative woodworker. It's longer for my height.
Vizio TV I've had for about 17-15 years. 2005 car that I've owned for about 7 years. Thermos bottle for about 6/5 years. Chippewa Boots I've had for about 5\4 years. Hope I have a longer list in 5 and 10 years
There's this weird little SUV that's been in my family for years.
My dad and brother were given a bunch of Suzuki Samurai parts in 1998 or so. They assembled it into a running Samurai, and dad drove it to work for a couple of years, before my brother started driving to school. Eventually my brother took it over, and being a young guy he sunk some money into it - crawler gears in the transfer case, lockers, lift, 30" tires, crate engine, and a sweet camo paint job. Some time in 2017 the engine started knocking so he parked it until 2022, when I took it over, fixed the engine among other things, and started driving it myself. The engine is still in bad shape, and I'm trying to decide if I will buy another crate engine, or if I will do one of the many options for an engine swap.
I don't use it every day, but today I used the pizza cutter that I bought for myself when I was maybe in my early 20s and I thought about how long I've had it. I had been pretty fed up with the cheap ones that my parents had around and decided to spend some money on a good one. I was pretty poor so it's not like made of marble or anything, but it's still sturdy and cuts pizza well after 20 years, so it was probably worth whatever I spent on it.
I've had the Leatherman Skeletool in my pocket for 10 years. That's probably the longest. It goes with me pretty much everywhere.
A proper leather belt. I'm not sure when I bought it, but before that I only had belts that came with pairs of jeans, and a fake leather belt. They all felt uncomfortable, and the fake leather would split.
I bought a genuine leather belt and it's been fantastic ever since. The only signs of wear is the discolouration on the buckle, and the bend in the leather where I often buckle it.