Better Eye Mask/Cheap Hotel Chains Rated/European Work Hours

Nomadico Issue #116

A weekly newsletter with four quick bites, edited by Tim Leffel, author of A Better Life for Half the Price and The World’s Cheapest Destinations. See past editions here, where your like-minded friends can subscribe and join you.

Wraparound Eye Mask for Sleeping

I sleep like a rock but my wife doesn’t. She ordered this soft wraparound eye mask a few weeks ago and has been thrilled with it. It stays on at night no matter how much she tosses and turns and it completely blocks out any light from the windows or items in the room. It attaches in the back with Velcro so it can pack down flat when you travel.

The Best Cheap Hotel Brands in the USA

While many of the cheaper hotel rooms around the world are independent ones, in the USA the corporate chains dominate. So each year I do a post on which brands fare the best in the J.D. Power and Associates annual survey. (It’s also a good barometer for the public mood about price vs. value.) The short answers for the bottom three categories are Woodspring Suites, Microtel by Wyndham, and Tru by Hilton. But here’s the full rundown, just updated: best cheap hotel chains in the USA.

European Work Hours

It’s not your imagination: those Dutch office workers you keep getting an out-of-office reply from do get far more vacation time and they work fewer hours when they’re not on vacation. The poorer countries of Europe work more hours, while the richer ones work less, making the U.S. workaholic culture look even more puzzling. The only countries averaging more than 40 hours are Bosnia, Serbia, and Turkey. This map shows the average hours worked in a week, with the Netherlands winning the gold medal at 32 hours per week. But hey, they brought us Heineken and Booking.com.

Finding a Good Travel Companion

If your spouse is not your ideal travel companion, too bad. But if you have a choice in the matter of who you’re going to take that big trip with, you might want to check out this evergreen article on finding the ideal travel companion, which may not be the same as your ideal best friend. The four attributes include one that may rule out a portion of the people you know: “They’re flexible and willing to compromise.”

Free Audiobooks, Take 2

A quick bonus item this week because the free audiobook link for public domain books I sent last week had some sneaky charges for many books. Turns out they’re just a skin using data from Gutenberg.org, which is where you should go instead. Click here and scroll down to find audiobooks. (They will, of course, welcome donations.)

08/8/24

Gar’s Tips & Tools – Issue #181

Access to tools, techniques, and shop tales from the diverse worlds of DIY

Gar’s Tips, Tools, and Shop Tales is published by Cool Tools Lab. To receive the newsletter a week early, sign up here.

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The Grand Tradition of Fishing Tools from the Trash

Some of the first tools I fondly remember were garbage. Literally. In my grandfather’s basement workshop, he had 8 O’Clock Coffee and repurposed paint cans everywhere, filled with rags, tools, hardware, materials, and supplies. All along his workbench, he had rows of baby food and peanut butter jars hung from their lids along wooden racks, each jar neatly labeled with its contents (nuts, bolts, screws, nails, etc.). When I think back on that space, most everything was made from garbage and junk. The workbenches were old doors. One other “tool” type I remember was storage bins made from laundry detergent boxes. He had cut them on a bias (kind of like magazine back issue boxes) and used them to store repair manuals, warranties, and other paperwork and small wood and metal scrap. I remember thinking Gramps must be some sort of genius for coming up with all this. Now, as an adult, I not only use similar garbage for storage and organizing, I participate in a hobby (tabletop wargaming) that uses trash extensively as modeling material. I’m in the process of making an entire sci-fi town for a game called Stargrave out of a single plastic crudités tray I fished from the trash. I call this junk-material-finding skill “terrain eye.” What “tools” have you fished from the trash? I’d love to see some pics.

IDing and Testing Counterfeit Tool Batteries

In this Project Farm video, Todd conducts a series of tests to highlight the differences between authentic and counterfeit batteries from brands like DeWalt, Milwaukee, and Makita. He shows how visually similar counterfeit batteries are to the real ones, making it easy for consumers to be fooled. He then tests the batteries for safety, performance, and durability. The results are striking—authentic batteries consistently outperform counterfeits in terms of performance torque, longevity, and safety during short circuits. One key finding is the significant weight difference, with genuine batts weighing more, indicating higher-quality materials. Performance tests reveal that genuine batteries deliver better torque and last longer under load. For instance, a genuine DeWalt battery delivered 152 INB of torque compared to 115 INB from the counterfeit. Despite the tempting lower prices, Todd shows that counterfeits are a poor investment, providing neither the performance nor the safety of authentic ones.

New Homeowner Tools

If someone asked me what kind of tools should a new homeowner have, my first and immediate response would not be a Japanese pull-saw. But I’m not Adam Savage. In this “Ask Adam” segment, he answers that question with some of his go-to home tools. As you might imagine, he recommends hammers (all-purpose, mallet, ball peen ), drivers, pliers, etc. But he also recommends things like a Spackle knife and a decent picture-hanging kit. In the video, he’s asked by another viewer about his favorite area of making (woodworking, machining, model-making, costume making, etc.). His fave? Shop infrastructure. He argues it offers the best reward for the effort.

More Tool Love for the Stanley Workmaster

More from Adam Savage. Adam has waxed uber-nerdy before over his nostalgic attachment to the 1970s-era Stanley Workmaster screwdrivers. In this video, a viewer sends him two unopened drivers from that era. There has likely been a new demand for these vintage tool since Adam began braying on about them. I can’t find many offerings online that aren’t overpriced. But this will only make them sweeter “Holy Grail finds” when I scare some up at a yard sale.

Let’s Talk More About Vintage Tools

I’m sure many of you reading this are like me: 1) tool fanatic, 2) with a special place in the heart for vintage tools. Some of my most cherished tools over the years have been estate sale/yard sale finds. Thirty or so years ago, I acquired a boatload of measuring, marking, and lettering tools at an estate sale. The deceased had been an aerospace engineer for Grumman. I am still using some of these today and don’t think I ever use them without thinking of that guy — what work products he created with these tools. Old tools tend to be better made, with more material, and they come enchanted with a history of their use. Besides Adam’s Stanley Workmasters above, look for old Snap-On, Craftsman, and S-K tools (among others). Mechanics toolboxes. Any and all clamps. Stanley planes and folding rulers. Starrett anything. What are some of the vintage tools you’ve acquired and why do you cherish them?

Soooo Many Terrible Tips!

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A post shared by Tool_Tips (@tool_tips.official)

As someone who trades in tips, I have a love/hate (heavy on the hate) relationship with tip roundups as found on YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, etc. Even ones that are thoughtfully curated usually contain a stinker or two. Since eyeballs and clicks drive the economics of these roundups, the tips just have to look good; appear to be useful and clever. For me (besides periodically finding a truly useful hack in one of these vids) they mainly serve as worthy fodder for one’s B.S. Detector. Watch and ask yourself: Does this really solve the given problem? How long would it last? Is it worth the time/money/effort? Would a commercial product actually be cheaper and work better? Is the Emperor really wearing any pants? If nothing else, some of these are good for a laugh. The comments are usually funny, too. Tool Tips Official is one of the worst… er… I mean best.

Shop Talk

In response to a Shop Talk entry on using a folding ruler to make right angles, MassMatt writes:

…the ancients used a rope with knots to make the 3-4-5 triangle. If you want a low-tech solution, this would be even more portable than a folding ruler, and would not have the issue of the bump sticking out of the right angle forcing you to “guesstimate” around it. You do need to anchor the three angles though.

08/7/24

Lost in Translation / The Complete Little Nemo

Books That Belong On Paper Issue No. 26

Books That Belong On Paper first appeared on the web as Wink Books and was edited by Carla Sinclair. Sign up here to get the issues a week early in your inbox.

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AN ILLUSTRATED NOTE CARD COLLECTION OF UNTRANSLATABLE WORDS FROM AROUND THE WORLD

Lost in Translation Note Cards: Untranslatable Words from Around the World
by Ella Frances Sanders
Clarkson Potter
2016, 12 cards, 6.1 x 1.7 x 4.9 inches, Note cards

Buy on Amazon

Like many, I’ve found myself at a loss for words lately. Luckily, Ella Frances Sanders has swooped in, like lexical brooming shooing away the cat that caught my tongue. She’s actually done one better, because she replaced the words of disbelief and disgust that I had been clawing for with words of comfort and joy. The Lost in Translation Note Cards set is based on her 2014 book by the same name. Both book and cards are an illustrated collection of “untranslatable words from around the world,” and feature both written and drawn translations of each sentiment on the front and, on the back, the country of origin, part of speech, and a sweet, brief elaboration of the word by Sanders.

The 12 words chosen for the note card set are best for sending to “friends and lovers.” There is something in here for the full spectrum of those relationships. For the romantics, there’s the Brazilian Portuguese noun, cafuné, “the act of tenderly running your fingers through the hair of someone you love.” For a deeply appreciated friend, the Korean noun, nunchi, “the subtle, often unnoticed art of listening and gauging another’s mood.” The set includes standard mailing sized envelopes and each card is blank inside, so with just a stamp and whatever words the sender might find, they are ready to be sent. Now seems the perfect time to share a small gesture of love and a piece of art that celebrates the beauty of language around the world.

– Mk Smith Despres

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THE SURREAL DREAMSCAPES OF WINSOR MCCAY

Winsor McCay: The Complete Little Nemo 1905-1909
by Alexander Braun
Taschen
2017, 368 pages, 13.5 x 1.5 x 17.2 inches, Hardcover

Buy on Amazon

“Little Nemo in Slumberland” was a newspaper comic by Winsor McCay; it debuted in 1905. Those unadorned facts probably make the strip and its author sound like creaky footnotes from graphic-art history, but according to Alexander Braun — whose Winsor McCay: The Complete Little Nemo 1905-1909 was just reprinted in a more affordable hardback version than the $200, two-volume package from 2014 — the influence of both can be found in numerous forms of 20th-century storytelling.

When “Little Nemo” first appeared in the funny pages of The New York Herald, McCay had two other strips going at the same time. “Little Sammy Sneeze” revolved around a running gag told in six panels, in which a boy who cannot control the ferocity or timing of his sneezes blew out candles, caused elephants to stampede, and sank ships. More complex was “Dream of the Rarebit Fiend,” whose device was to subject a changing cast of characters to uneasy nightmares before waking them in the final panel, in which they invariably promised to swear off melted cheese on toast before bedtime.

“Little Nemo” riffed on the “Rarebit Fiend” formula except that it followed the same little boy — possibly modeled on McCay’s institutionalized brother — every night as he slept his way through gloriously surreal adventures on the way to, and eventually in, Slumberland. In addition to admiring McCay’s boundless imagination and skills as an illustrator, Braun is fascinated by how “Little Nemo” and its creator appeared to be in thick of so many contemporaneous issues and impulses. For example, there is the format of setting the strip in a dream state — coincidentally, Sigmund Freud’s “The Interpretation of Dreams” had just been published. In addition, McCay was surreal almost before the term was coined, and certainly before the genre became popular among art collectors. Then there was McCay’s impact on the culture: His animated films, including “Gertie the Dinosaur” from 1914, were inspirations to Walt Disney, while his comics were favorites of cartoonists as varied as R. Crumb, Moebius, Matt Groening, and Bill Watterson.

All that history makes for fascinating reading, and the newspaper-like layout on unbleached, newsprint-colored paper, will keep you turning the book’s enormous pages — although you will want to turn those pages at a sturdy table. Mostly, though, Little Nemo is a celebration of its namesake comic strip, all 220 of which from 1905 to 1909 are reprinted in rich color at almost full size. And as Nemo moves through McCay’s dreamscapes with Flip, Impie, Doctor Pill, and the Slumberland princess who holds the key to his heart at his side, we see McCay’s own influences on every page — from the sideshows he worked as a young man in Cincinnati to architectural references that recall world’s fair pavilions and Coney Island’s Dreamland. Like Nemo, you won’t want to wake up.

– Ben Marks

08/6/24

Demolition

Tools for Possibilities: issue no. 98

Once a week we’ll send out a page from Cool Tools: A Catalog of Possibilities. The tools might be outdated or obsolete, and the links to them may or may not work. We present these vintage recommendations as is because the possibilities they inspire are new. Sign up here to get Tools for Possibilities a week early in your inbox.

Cheap and Nearly Indestructible Carbon Steel Wrecker

Multipurpose Pry Bar

I got one of these pry bars at a Harbor Freight about 10 years ago and have since gotten many more as gifts and spares. Their natural versatility is furthered by expendability (often on sale for $2.50).

I’ve used mine to pry off moulding, pry flooring slats tightly together, widen gaps too tight for a full crowbar, chisel old mortar off bricks, open paint cans, scrape paint, caulk, act as a spacer when decking, bang on various things, and pull nails in tight locations with its cat’s paw.

It’s a great general purpose abuse tool that fits in a small toolbox and won’t worry you if chipped, bent, painted, greased, bespeckled with construction adhesive, or lost. — Evanda

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Superior nail puller

Nail Puller

Pry bar nail pullers will gouge a quite horrible crater in your material unless the nail is at the surface, or just the right size. With this one, on the other hand, I can extract a headless nail from more than a centimeter inside a beam. The wood was not unscratched of course, but since it was compressed rather than splintered, a bit of water can make it swell back up somewhat. — Gaute Amundsen

This design is not new. You can find antique nail pullers like this hundreds of years old. The sharp teeth of this tool are perfect for slicing into the wood, yanking out deep air-hammered nails, or finishing nails from a surface you care about. There are several different makes; none are cheap, but these last a lifetime. — KK

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Best Nail Puller

SharkGrip

I recently needed to remove several panels of particle board subflooring while preparing to install a hardwood floor. These panels were fastened with a gazillion ring-shanked nails, driven in by an overly enthusiastic pneumatic nail-gun operator. After much sweat and frustration with a conventional assortment of hammer claws, cat paws, and pry bars, I finally came across the magic tool. It’s the Japanese manufactured SharkGrip Nail Puller. The tool very efficiently gets underneath the offending nail head and will even latch onto the nail’s shank should the head shear off. It’s available in various sizes and configurations. — Mike Pel

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Tile remover

Spyder Scraper

Last year I removed some old vinyl tile from our dining room. Even with the help of a friend and a a heavy duty floor scraper, it took all afternoon. Some tiles popped up fine, but most stuck tenaciously and had to be pried up with a thin blade. Miserable.

The kitchen had the same tiles, and yesterday I cleared them all out by myself in about 30 minutes without breaking a sweat. The difference? A Spyder Scraper, which fits into any brand reciprocating saw.

It’s not a complete solution alone, because it’s hard to get the saw itself underneath the tiles as they peel up. Use the Spyder to loosen the edges, and then a long handled manual scraper to scoop up the tiles. When the manual scraper hits another tough edge, hit it with the Spyder again. Two people working together in this fashion should be able to clear 300 sq-ft in well under an hour.

I used the 4″ blade; they also come in 2″ and 6″ for different purposes including removing tiles adhered with thinset. I wish I’d had one a couple of years ago whenI redid the bathroom!— Scott Noyes

Whatever tool you use, do what we used to do: buy a block of dry ice and put it briefly on each tile before removal (put it on the next tile while you work on the current one). The tiles shatter easily, the glue is rendered brittle, and removal is fast. — John Jorsett

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Demo specialist

Duckbill Deck Wrecker

I set out to replace the boards on our backyard deck this summer, and initially tried removing the old boards with a three-foot crowbar. The main problem was getting it between the deck board and the joist, so I could start prying. This required a hammer to drive it under the board. Then with a lot of effort, time and hammering I eventually removed one board. Clearly not the way to do the entire deck.

After some searching I discovered the Duckbill Deck Wrecker. This thing is a monster. It sits on the joist and has two legs that straddle the joist and slip under the board you’re removing. With almost 4 1/2 feet of leverage it’s easy to pry up the board, progressing along its length every one or two joists. You stand on the old section of deck and push the handle of the Duckbill up, thus prying up the old board in front of you. As far as other tools go, Mayhew’s Cats Paw functions with a similar design, though without the rotating head. The Cats Paw has a little less leverage and costs a little more.

The first, outermost, board(s) must be removed some other way to expose enough joist so that the Duckbill can fit under a board. As you make your way closer to the house — putting down new boards as you take old ones up — eventually there isn’t room to stand behind the Duckbill. At this point you remove the Duckbill head (it’s pinned to the shaft and can be rotated 180°), turn it around and now you are standing on the new decking and pulling the handle of the Duckbill to remove the last few old boards.

I’m sure I will find some other uses for this thing, but even if it’s only good for decks, it was well worth the money. — Jeff Scott

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Shovel with leverage

Kodiak Roofer’s Blade

This is designed for and sold as a roofing shingle removal shovel, but what it actually is is a shovel with teeth and a fulcrum. I bought it twelve years ago to strip my roof. It did the job then, and ever since I’ve used it for everything but stripping shingles. The teeth are good for cutting through and breaking up a variety of materials. The fulcrum maximizes prying leverage (and also reinforces the blade tip so as to not fold while prying).

What this is really great for is removing thick layers of ice or hard packed snow from pavement. The teeth do a great job of digging under and breaking up the layers, and the fulcrum often lets me pop large sections of a layer up in one piece. — Gary Puckett

08/5/24

Blue Angels/Pocket charger/Compliment Me

Recomendo - issue #421

Sign up here to get Recomendo a week early in your inbox.

Ultimate training documentary

I really enjoyed this doc about the Blue Angels – an elite jet squadron showing off Navy flying skills. But since pilots are rotated out after two years, it is really a training program that constantly absorbs newbies. Their training process is worth emulating. At the end of the touring season their planes are flying with only 12 inches between wing tips!  I had no idea. Produced by JJ Abrams, with incredible cinematography inside and out. Free on Amazon Prime. — KK

Pocket-sized laptop charger

This Anker 67W USB-C charger is about half the size of my MacBook’s original charger, but it powers up my laptop just as quickly. The foldable plug makes it travel-friendly and pocketable. It’s not just for laptops either; it fast-charges my iPhone and iPad too. At around $25, it’s significantly cheaper than Apple’s offering. The only downside is that it only has one port, but the small size makes up for it. — MF

Compliment Me 

If you’re feeling low or need a pep talk, you can share your feelings and rant to this AI bot. It’s designed to sweetly reflect back what you’re feeling and offer encouraging “compliments.” It never fails to make me smile. (Discovered through the most recent issue of WIMN.) — CD

Can do vs. should do

Unlike typical 2×2 decision grids, this 3×3 matrix by John Cutler has nuanced categories that reflect the real-world complexities of decision-making. The X-axis is labeled “Can” and the Y-axis is labeled “Should” and it contains 8 “boxes” of potential opportunities. The idea is to think about things you should be doing and plot them on this grid. It’s especially helpful for figuring out tasks that are important but tricky and avoiding things that are easy but don’t really get you closer to your goals. — MF

At the Ready Travel Dress 

I bought this Beyond Yoga dress based on the reviews to be my go-to travel dress because it’s packable and doesn’t wrinkle easily. I’ve worn it many times, both while traveling and at home, and I love it so much that I had to buy another one in a different color. It’s the perfect length and so soft that I’ve even slept in it. It’s a bit pricey, but I wear it so often that it feels justified. I’ve washed it many times now, and it’s still buttery soft and wrinkle-free. — CD

Immovable dish for babies

Silicone suction dishes won’t move unless you want them to. They stick to a table with surprising instant force but are super easily released. This makes them perfect for minimizing spills by toddlers. Their flexible sides also won’t hurt. Lots of brands make silicone suction bowls, but the Mushies are the simplest and most elegant, and will stack with other bowls. — KK

08/4/24

Free Audiobooks/Adios Selina/Remote Work Saves the Day

Nomadico issue #115

A weekly newsletter with four quick bites, edited by Tim Leffel, author of A Better Life for Half the Price and The World’s Cheapest Destinations. See past editions here, where your like-minded friends can subscribe and join you.

Selina Going Under

First it was WeWork that imploded, now it’s Selina’s turn. Despite the massive move to remote work that happened the past few years, global co-living chain Selina is in insolvency now after failing to make debt payments. As often happens when a quest for growth pushes aside everything else, setbacks snowballed into a collapse when interest rates went up. “The company has lost almost all of its value since going public in December 2021 with a $1.2 billion valuation.” Although their subscription model was compelling for globetrotting nomads, apparently not enough to keep them afloat.  

Free Public Domain Audiobooks

In cheerier news, public domain books that you could already read for free are available in free audiobook versions as well. More than 70,000 titles are up now through the Listenly platform. Get schooled on your next road trip with titles from the likes of Jane Austen and Joseph Conrad, but also newer voluntary public domain titles from the likes of Paul Graham. The even have a “banned books” category for classics that some school board or another has deemed too dangerous for young minds.

Germany Regains the “King of Hops” Title

Here’s something for the Europeans to cheer about. After nine years of trailing the USA in hops production for beer, Germany has regained its crown as the world’s #1 producer, with 20,300 hectares of land devoted to the crop. According to the German Tourism Board, there are more than 1,500 breweries in Germany and the average person living there drinks 95 liters of the beverage per year. Here’s more from them on their own craft beer scene.

Did Remote Work Save the U.S. Economy?

Economists have been scratching their heads at how the U.S. defied all predictions and managed to rev up the economy post-COVID while also keeping unemployment low and pushing inflation down. This defies all the models for what should have happened (and what mostly did happen in other countries). A new academic working paper proposes that the answer is…remote work. The USA has the highest percentage of remote workers as a portion of the total labor force and the author points to this as a big factor in why the U.S. economy has trounced most others. The cheers come with a downside though: the reason this worked is that the remote workers were willing to accept smaller pay increases as they got rid of costs for commuting and child care.

08/1/24

What’s in my NOW? — Luisa de Lachica