Gareth’s Tips, Tools, and Shop Tales is published by Cool Tools Lab. To receive the newsletter a week early, sign up here.
Don’t forget about my Holiday Giveaway Challenge. I’m giving away a bundle of both my tips books (Vol. 1, Vol. 2) and three of my favorite everyday tools: The Williams ratcheting screwdriver, the Canary cardboard cutter, and a plastic razor blade. To be eligible, all you need to do is convince three people to sign up for my newsletter (and then send me their email addresses). If you sign up 5 (or more), you get two entries in the drawing. Contest ends Midnight, Dec. 9. Sorry, but this contest is US-only!
One of the things I love about holiday gift exchanging is getting to ask your loved ones for things you might not normally think about buying for yourself. That’s the premise behind this video on A Glimpse Inside. Honestly, I was expecting less common, everyday tools, but the stuff on here is definitely things you might not think about or know about that would make great practical gifts. A couple of things he mentions that I think fall into that special “I wouldn’t likely buy this for myself” category are the Viewtainer storage system, the GRABBO electric vacuum cup lifter, and a benchtop tape dispenser.
If you’re looking for great gift ideas for any maker on your shopping list, consider my two Amazon best-selling tips books (Volume 1, Volume 2). They are filled with tips on things like cutting, gluing, fastening, painting, finishing, electronics, soldering, 3D printing, hobby tips, and much more. The books are designed to appeal to DIYers of all skill levels and interest areas.
Isn’t it time you gave yourself (or someone else) a little Artistic License? Years ago, I created these cards and they’ve been a hit for the holidays. Perfect stocking stuffer! They are $5 each or 5 for $20 (post paid). They come in a wax-sealed white envelope. The cards are credit card sized on thick, laminated card. If interested, email me and we can arrange payment and shipment. Foreign orders will require full postage.
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A cool tool can be any book, gadget, software, video, map, hardware, material, or website that is tried and true. All reviews on this site are written by readers who have actually used the tool and others like it. Items can be either old or new as long as they are wonderful. We post things we like and ignore the rest. Suggestions for tools much better than what is recommended here are always wanted.
A lot of travelers and remote workers dream of owning their own B&B or boutique hotel. Just finding the listings can be daunting though, so it’s nice to see this site for Portugal simply called Buythathotel.com. It finds, curates and summarizes listings, in English, with prices listed from 625,000 euros to a few million.
Higher Costs for Airline Reward Travel
If you feel like you need a lot more points these days to book that flight on Delta or United, it’s not your imagination. This Travel Weekly article highlights a new study showing that costs in points have gone up 28% since 2019. I just booked a one-way ticket from the USA to Mexico on American Airlines for 8,000 points though and it turns out their points are the most valuable. Southwest’s are next and the value is higher if you are checking a bag. Get a huge bank of points with the credit cards from Southwest (50K) or American (70K).
New Jersey Gets a Boost From NYC Airbnb Ban
New York City banned most short-term apartment rentals six months ago, hoping it would lead to more housing and lower rents. Neither of those results has happened yet. Instead, the city just handed lots of business to New Jersey towns across the river. “Jersey City has seen demand rise 77 percent year-over-year as of mid-February, according to AirDNA, while in Weehawken and Hoboken demand has increased 45 and 32 percent, respectively.”
Winning and Losing Cities in the War for Talent
Now that so many remote workers can live anywhere they want—and pick up and leave if a place disappoints them—how well are international big cities competing? This fascinating Fast Company article breaks down stats to reveal which cities are luring knowledge workers, which are losing them, and which are stagnant. (Good retention in Toronto and Melbourne, quick goodbyes in Dublin and Dubai.) It also looks at factors these residents value the most. Cleanliness, safety, and housing beat out medical care and quality of government services.