The Cellar » Products I Wholeheartedly Endorse

Clodfobble · 5/06/2021 9:25 pm

Another important thread worth resurrecting...

I hadn't really thought this was a thing to bother recommending to anyone, because it's so specialized, but I mentioned it in passing to my mom and she's already shared it with a friend who needed it and was delighted to learn about it, so I'll tell you guys, too.

There's an automated medication dispenser called Hero (herohealth.com) that is the pinnacle of devices for folks who can't remember their pills consistently. It takes up a lot of counter space and is not cheap ($500 for the machine, plus a $30/month subscription for the online service,) but for people with stupidly high medical bills it's kind of a drop in the bucket.

It stores up to a 90-day supply of up to 10 medications inside, and is fully programmable on an hour-by-hour and day-by-day basis. You tell it what meds, what dose, what times, dump them all in, and when you (or the dementia patient, or whoever) pushes the button on, say, Tuesday morning, it spits out the exact combination of meds you're supposed to take then. If you're late for a dose, it alarms until you hit the button, and it notifies the smartphone of whoever you've designated as a caretaker with ongoing compliance data. It also notifies caretakers and/or patients when a particular med is running low, and it can even reorder the damn things for you over the internet from a select number of pharmacies.

Like I said, it ain't cheap, but it works like a fucking dream.

griff · 5/07/2021 6:33 am

When Lil Pete was in design school they had to do a final project complete with mock-up and one of her classmates built something like this. It is so smart, my Dad may need something similar.

xoxoxoBruce · 5/10/2021 9:14 pm

I just checked on that Hero dispenser, it's $50 plus $30 a month, so not a big nut up front.
Oh, that $50 is half off the normal $100 initiation fee with the SPRING50 magic word.

Limey · 5/11/2021 4:45 am

It's a great idea but needs to be built like a strong box.
My mother, whose meds were in a locked box to be dispensed by her visiting caregivers at the right times, used to ferociously and sometimes successfully attack the box with a screwdriver to get the meds out between times because she knew it was important to take them but didn't trust/remember that the caregivers knew all about it.
It's a good job that by then she had sent me her electric drill

Last edited by Limey (5/11/2021 4:45 am)

griff · 5/11/2021 5:54 am

That doesn't sound like any old guy I know. /s

xoxoxoBruce · 5/17/2021 11:32 pm

I saw an ad for that Hero on TV tonight.

5/25/2021 12:59 pm

Best Choice (Piggly Wiggly & IGA, I think) Zero Calorie Soda

Not delicious but no diet cola aftertaste.

But it goes flatter than tap water before the ice cube can stop moving. Still better than any brown diet cola I've tried.

TheNeverWas · 9/30/2021 9:39 am

Nature Valley Protein Chewy Bars, I get 'em in the Peanut Butter & Dark Chocolate variety.

As a diebetick, ya need all the protein & fiber ya can get, and these help. And they're damn near a candy bar. Quite good.

10g protein, 6g fiber, and just 15 carbs

xoxoxoBruce · 10/13/2021 4:14 pm

Coppertop batteries. I discovered a flashlight in the cellar I'd completely forgotten about, with two copper top D cells in it. They were dead, but much to my surprise had not leaked. They were marked best if inserted by Jan 2000, likely been dead for 20 years.

griff · 10/13/2021 5:23 pm

I saw several boxes of exploded Rayovacs on the shelf at Lowes a couple weeks ago...

Diaphone Jim · 10/13/2021 5:56 pm

Rayovac "Leak Proofs" seriously marred a nice table I had a flashlight on.
Killed the flashlight, too.
Safeway (where I got 'em) and Rayovac, now Energizer Brands, fought like heck to deny responsibility.

TheNeverWas · 10/23/2021 4:01 pm

Big fan of Duracells.

xoxoxoBruce · 11/23/2021 1:16 am

Last year I bought this result of the leaps and bounds in batteries.
It's about the size of a video cassette and they claim you can jump start up to 30 cars. Oh, do I have to buy a bridge first?

But I figured if necessary it would save my butt. One time we couldn't get it on the rollback because the battery was dead so I couldn't get it out of park.
Back in September I decided to start my old pickup that hadn't run for 8 months. It took a half hour to get it started and keep it running. The battery was dead and the jump box was doing the work. I knew the box was 100% when I started because I was getting ready to go to Cincinnati for a week. After that intense workout the box was 87%
I bought it on Amazon for $61 I think, but was skeptical when the case, instructions and the unit are clearly labeled with a website for warranty claims.. I looked on Amazon to see if the price changed but not available and they don't know when more may come. But there is dozens of different brands on the market.
This is an unboxing video...

griff · 11/23/2021 7:07 am

That's pretty cool!

glatt · 11/23/2021 7:57 am

THAT would keep you phone charged on a week long backpacking trip. Wonder how much it weighs?

Happy Monkey · 11/23/2021 11:28 am

I've got a car jump starter similar to that, and have used it successfully once. It weighs very little, and I just checked that it has most of its charge remaining after more than a year in my trunk.

xoxoxoBruce · 11/24/2021 2:21 am

The Amazon ad says 1.32 lbs but that probably includes the case and jumper & charging cables. In one write up they were saying long distance truckers could run their laptop on trips when they shut down at night.

BigV · 11/24/2021 8:35 pm

going on my gift list to be distributed to my kids

griff · 11/24/2021 10:15 pm

Oh shit! Good idea.

Clodfobble · 11/25/2021 11:50 am

This is, indeed, an excellent looking device.

TheNeverWas · 2/04/2022 9:41 am

monster · 2/12/2022 1:25 pm

Due North ice cleats for those of us who have to deal with such shit. I researched all year and bought mine a couple months ago -$18 Amazon. These last two Saturdays my parkrun has been cancelled due to dangerous ice on all courses, so I've gone up the road to the other one in Michigan which has a winter course on plowed paths. But it's still icy. After last week, one person admired these and bought some too, this week they were extolling their virtue, three more people were converted, one ordering from their phone on the spot at coffee afterwards.

What I particularly like are the thin flexible straps which do not crush your feet -you can easily forget you are wearing them- and the tiny titanium spikes that easily grip the ice but aren't annoying or painful when you are on regular asphalt, which is the main complaint people have about big brands like Yak Trax with coiled grips

monster · 2/12/2022 1:27 pm

I keep them in my car and were great one day when I pulled up at work and the path to the office door was an ice rink.

Clodfobble · 2/12/2022 1:37 pm

What if you forget you're wearing them and go inside a building--will they damage regular flooring?

tw · 2/12/2022 3:51 pm

monster wrote:
Due North ice cleats for those of us who have to deal with such shit. I researched all year and bought mine a couple months ago -$18 Amazon.

Apparently there are only two sizes - small and large. Without any number that defines shoe sizes. Are that readily applicable to all shoes? Or is it best to keep it only on one pair (and carry indoor shoes)?