Items That Make Life Better

[Mountaineer]

I'm sitting here on a beautiful day looking at the back yard replete with muted sounds of neighborhood kids playing, trees, shrubs, blue sky, puffy clouds, flowers, birds, squirrels, rabbits, and green grass, pondering the wonder of creation, and pondering some of the things we have that make life great without major expense. Off the top of my head, here are a random few of mine. What are yours?

• Comfortable clean bed,
  75 gallon hot water heater (we, or our guests, never run out of hot water),
  Forceful, plentiful water from a shower head that doesn't make me take a mist or take minutes instead of seconds to rinse,
  Soap,
  Toilets that flush completely on the first try,
  Costco toilet paper,
  Costco beef brisket sandwich,
  IPA,
  Single malt,
  iPhone,
  Lawn equipment that starts easily,
  Good friends,
  Competent doctors and dentists,
  Warm, caring, church family.

[Maddy]

75 gallon hot water heater (we, or our guests, never run out of hot water),
Forceful, plentiful water from a shower head that doesn't make me take a mist or take minutes instead of seconds to rinse,
Soap,
Toilets that flush completely on the first try,
Costco toilet paper,

Sounds like we could lock you in the bathroom and you'd be an insanely happy guy! (:

[Mountaineer]

75 gallon hot water heater (we, or our guests, never run out of hot water),
Forceful, plentiful water from a shower head that doesn't make me take a mist or take minutes instead of seconds to rinse,
Soap,
Toilets that flush completely on the first try,
Costco toilet paper,

Sounds like we could lock you in the bathroom and you'd be an insanely happy guy! (:

Thanks Maddy for the best laugh of my day!

[WiseOne]

Good one Maddy!

I'll add one to the list: Air flow.

People who live in houses might take this for granted, but I've spent way too much time in apartments carved out of buildings placed according to dictates of the street layout, with no air flow. My new place is a major score in this department, and it makes me thoroughly happy to be in here! The building was designed before the streets were laid out, so it takes full advantage of geography. Big windows that open, river breezes, and ceiling fans...delightful. It's worth wrestling with pre-war plumbing and electricity.

[Mountaineer]

I'll add a couple to my list, in honor of Maddy.

Clean water,
Soft fluffy towell and washcloth. I'm an insanely happy guy!

[ochotona]

Ambien

[farjean2]

Floating down Mobbly Bayou and out to the Gulf of Mexico in my new fishing boat I bought to celebrate my retirement.

Who knows, I might even catch a fish some day.

[dualstow]

I wish you had mentioned the brisket sandwich before the toilet paper.

[Mountaineer]

I wish you had mentioned the brisket sandwich before the toilet paper.

Hey, gotta be ready in case the brisket was loaded with E. coli.

[Maddy]

Neighbors with testosterone!

[dualstow]

Ha. Also, while I love beer, do you think people are getting a little carried away with hops these past several years?
I do.

IPA,

[Mountaineer]

Ha. Also, while I love beer, do you think people are getting a little carried away with hops these past several years?
I do.

IPA,

Better hops than beer flavored water. Have you ever tried Lagunitas Hop Stoopid? Or Southern Tier 2X IPA? Or my current favorite, Elysian Space Dust? I do like a regular old fashioned Coors or Budweiser now and then - better with food than an IPA - but I can't go the Coors Light or Bud Light unless it is free and nothing else is available, and it is over 95 degrees in the shade. But to address your question, I agree. My local big box liquor store has over half of its shelf space devoted to IPAs - seems a bit overkill. Overall, though, IPA is my preferred brew among lagers, Belgian tripple, pilsners and such. To each his own when it comes to defining a good brew.

[dualstow]

I've tried the Southern Tier one as I originally hail from the Ithaca area. I mean I like IPAs and hoppy beers. They do make life better.

I just wish the shelves had more non-hoppy choices. Love pils, love heavy Belgian trappist tripels.

While I'm not really a beer snob, Bud makes my bones ache the next day for some reason. I will never go back to cheap, watery beer.

[Kbg]

Good health. Not fully appreciated unless lost for a time.

[Jack Jones]

The internet. It's been the most impactful innovation in my lifetime. Truly wiring us all together into a collective consciousness.

[dualstow]

The internet. It's been the most impactful innovation in my lifetime. Truly wiring us all together into a collective consciousness.

So true. I always say I would have had a happier childhood had it existed when I was growing up in a little hick town and was still too young to travel much.

[Cortopassi]

Good health. Not fully appreciated unless lost for a time.

Top of the list for sure.

[stuper1]

A nearby branch library with access to a well-stocked library system.

[dualstow]

I always hated being at the beck and call of a ringing landline growing up, preferring an answering machine. ("Are you screening your calls, D?" / "Well, yes, but since it's you I picked up. Are you complaining?")

Email has really taken the pressure off the idea that you can always be reached in the evening after work. You answer when you feel like it. More internet goodness.

The cellphone has taken some of that away, but ... there's always voice mail.

At the same time, I think fountain pens and handwritten notes make life better.

[Maddy]

At the same time, I think fountain pens and handwritten notes make life better.

Ha! A kindred spirit! Written in cursive, of course.

[dualstow]

I like both cursive & print

[Kriegsspiel]

Distortion pedals.

[dualstow]

Distortion pedals.

Don't you have everything down to a backpack? How do you fit all that in there?

[Kriegsspiel]

I haven't had my own in a good while now. I certainly appreciate other people owning stuff that makes my life better also.

[dualstow]

Lots of good non-IPA brews out there in the brewniverse. Unfortunately the shelves are full of this fad.

Ha. Also, while I love beer, do you think people are getting a little carried away with hops these past several years?
I do.

IPA,

No. Once you have had a good IPA, the rest of the stuff they call beer is just plain inferior.