The BIFL pen they gifted me is... useless for me. I appreciate the concept, but it's a ballpoint and I write exclusively in gel / water resistant ink. So a pen is a good thing to gift, but you might need to first know what people use to write with.

Also, the pen they gifted me is a Parker, but it writes worse than most BICs I ever used (from the day they gifted it to me). IDK how they managed this.

A hiking shoe with a good cushioning insert should last more

The air quality thingie also depends on how often you fully ventilate the house and how good are your burners. Even with good burners though, you get toxic molecules as a combustion byproduct. The quantity of those is higher if the burner is dirty, if food gets on the burner, or if you smother the flame in any way (like with flame roasting). Keeping the flame low can also cause more combustion buildups

I wpuld go for induction instead. Gas ranges are inefficient and lower the indoor air quality by a lot. If I wasn't renting I would change the gas range I have with induction immediately.

Having said that, almost all gas ranges are BIFL. If you are still convinced for a gas stove, look for one with a very sturdy inox plane and normal, standard and replaceable, parts. You want one with the security check (checks if the flame is active, if it's not it turns off the gas supply) as those are considerably safer.

What can help is to wake up at the same time of the "important day" for a day or two beforehand. This way you can confirm to yourself that you'll be able to be awake, AND you will be less tired the day of.

Not really, otherwise how would you cook pasta sauce even? Good stainless steel is ok

The Ikea 365+ ones. The lids are the same through the whole line (and they sell them separately), they are watertight and they don't scratch. I think they have both squared and rectangular ones in steel.

What is the alternative? Phones are needed, unfortunately

I don't really have a brand, but before switching to wool I liked cotton sponge socks, they last a long time (I still have them) and are decently warm

Isn't the borealis classic from the north face a 30/35L? I have mine since 2011/2015, still in good conditions

I like the upper tier of the ikea down pillow. It has a double (or triple?) structure, with a different percentage of down / feathers in the chambers to make it soft but filled. As a side effect the filling doesn't move that much during the night :)

Edit: it's the Bergven that another commenter linked (thanks DoctorJuveTurkey!!): https://www.ikea.com/us/en/p/bergven-pillow-high-00460228/

Indeed I would prefer spending 600 euros (the cost of an efficient heat pump dryer) than to know that my dryer uses fossil fuel only to run.

Now, if I didn't have the money I would try to not use the dryer until I have enough money to buy a new one, but that is me.

I have the heattech "jeans" from uniqlo. They are a blend of cotton and synthetic and pretty elastic, while keeping the jeans look. I don't expect them to last decades but they are decently cheap - and will last some years even with daily use.

Do you already have a soft shell with this problem that you otherwise like? You could ask a seamstress to add the lining for you.

Two years are quite a short time for socks. BIFL socks have to last at least 5 years

To me it's more of a "entrance barrier" than anything else. If I don't know the fit, wear pattern, wearability, then it's easier to buy cheap "proven" stuff than expensive unproven stuff.

Corollary to the LPT: behave always as you want to behave when on autopilot, as you will copy your "most used" way of doing stuff when on autopilot. The most notable example is with traffic. Don't run semaphores when red, don't cut street turns, use blinkers every time, watch carefully before turning.

Hi, I don't have suggestions for sweaters, but have you tried putting a comfortable long sleeved shirt underneath? In general layers help me a lot with not feeling the outside one too much

My combination for cold weather is flip top mittens, the ones that are fingerless gloves underneath, with an underlayer underneath. I really needed my fingers so the "touch" gloves didn't help, so I cut just the tips of the underlayer. You can try both ways and see with one is best. I would search for thinsulate material if you can.

For "low variety of items" (or better, extreme compatibility between everything) I suggest Uniqlo, the base collections.

My (and my partner's) uniqlo wool sweaters are fantastic. We have merino, cachemire and lambswool and are all pretty robust. We had them for only a single year though, so I don't know how they last in the long run.

I want to add that the slight felting actually counteracts pilling really well, it even surpasses it sometimes. In the end you lose some cm of garment instead of durability. It's also warmer at this point ;)

I always buy my wool a tiny bit bigger for this reason, so I can wear it for longer.

thanks for the news, I didn't know.

That would be true even if there was only one plane in the ocean.