Your most useful/essential stuff in life

Name one (or more) tool/gadget/object you use in your daily life or for work that has improved either your home and/or work life so much that you couldn't imagine functioning at the same level of productivity/sanity/happiness without it.

If you possess such an item or items, how has it made your life better?

What inspired you to obtain it, and how was it procured?

Now that you have it, how do feel you had been able to manage without it?

My own example: the Wacom Intuos 3 graphics tablet. Having received it as a Christmas present a few years back, there are probably fancier, more expensive, more up-to-date versions on the market now—I'm just glad to have the one I have. I find myself using it with increasing frequency at work. It's a lifesaver for doing detailed graphic editing (as opposed to using a mouse) and comes in extremely handy to ward off carpal tunnel symptoms associated with excessive mouse use, especially since I mouse with my right hand and use the tablet's stylus with my left hand. Admittedly I can manage fine without it—it just makes so many things that I do at work easier and more efficient, even at times more fun.

What about you?

 

My cameras. Especially the film cameras, with the 45 year old model there is a distinct pleasure with the action of manually advancing the roll to the next frame and knowing the entire process is manual. The digital options will come and go in the active use roster as they are upgraded but my film cameras (roughly 44+ and 25 years old) will very likely still be used then or replaced if needed.

 

My duster

 

Another to add: my reusable menstrual cup, or perhaps more aptly named, the Silicone Cup of Wonder (thanks, @GeneticShift).

I purchased my first cup about eighteen years ago. Made of gum rubber, it lasted a good eight years before the rubber starter to become brittle and dry. I replaced it with a silicone cup and haven't looked back.

Mastering its use came with a bit of a learning curve, but that—plus whatever squeamishness I might have felt in the beginning as I became accustomed to using it, especially in public restrooms—had been far outweighed by the overall convenience and cost savings over time. I can't even imagine how much money I've saved, much less environmental waste from disposable products, in the time since I started using a cup.

Plus it's pretty cool to dump out a cup of blood every few hours. Just saying.

 

Someone should make one of those that looks like some kind of rune covered sacrificial chalice on the outside. Call it the Metalstrual cup.

 

I second this, I carry mine almost every day.

 

This tool keeps me sane. After work i go for a blast to get the insanity of my days work out of my head. A friend once said, "You can think of nothing but the trees, rocks and dirt in front of you as you hurl yourself with reckless abandon down the mountain."

 

We need to get you some superwide wallpapers now.

 

Name one (or more) tool/gadget/object you use in your daily life or for work that has improved either your home and/or work life so much that you couldn't imagine functioning at the same level of productivity/sanity/happiness without it.
My glasses. If I didn't wear them, I wouldn't see as well and watching TV and Movies would be next to impossible.

If you possess such an item or items, how has it made your life better?
I use my eyes for work. I suppose I could sit closer to the TV, but it wouldn't be the same.

 

I have a new Intreped dial indicator with a positional post and a 2 inch needle. That tool has made work less frustrating and I use it daily.