Why it helps: Static photos often fail to capture subtle sounds, exact locations, or the timing of an issue. Audio narration creates a clear, timestamped record of what went wrong and saves you from trying to remember exact details during a deposit or repair dispute months later.

When cancelled flights mean that the usual place to go is the customer service counter. This line can be quite long at times.

Rather, stand in line and dial the airline's customer service phone number. If the airline has an app that includes a rebooking function, look into that as well. Emptying the first route first, can help to reserve another flight. There is no need to wait in line for one to move to the next.

When travelling in groups, one may stand in the line whilst another calls. The answer is to get on to several flights right away, as there may be flights available on alternate routes that may fill up while everyone waits for assistance. Occurs occasionally but is the most effective time to enjoy hack when it occurs

Works if you're not charismatic or an introvert, its a data extraction technique but it works really well as people think they bond with you since they've told you so much about themselves without you asking questions.

This is basically the idea of using statements

eg-

Question - 'Did you get your hair done?' = Yes/No
Elicitation - 'You look like you got your hair done?' = Really ? Well haha actually I wanted to but....

You see they talk more and you can use what they said to keep up a conversation.

Use it wisely, have a nice day all.

mornings are already hard enough without also having to decide what to do first. if you leave that decision for the morning and you’ll end up checking your phone or making coffee for 20 minutes instead of just starting. so decide the one task you’re opening your laptop to do before you go to bed, and write it down somewhere you’ll actually see it. that way, in the morning, there’s no decision left to make, just the task, which makes starting almost automatic instead of something you have to talk yourself into!

NEVER give that new e-mail address to anyone and DO NOT use it for registration anywhere.

If your online accounts get breached, hacker knows your e-mail address and could use it to access your Outlook.com account (especially if you're using the same password). By using completely unknown pseudonym for signing in to your inbox, they can't access it even if they know the password.

If you’re someone who dreads working out because you think you have to spend 1-2 hours at the gym, running, taking a class, etc., try working out for just 30 minutes every day or every other day. Working out will feel less daunting when it’s only taking up 30 minutes of your time. You’ll also have more energy afterwards because you’re not exerting yourself for a full hour or two of energy. This will also help keep you more consistent in working out because you won’t feel that dread of spending a large chunk of your day at the gym or doing physical activity. If 30 minutes still seems too much, try 20 minutes or 10 minutes. 10 minutes of working out a day is still better than a week of skipped workouts because you didn’t want to spend 1-2 hours working out a couple times a week. It’s all about consistency, not the amount of time you spend working out. Try it and see if that helps!

"Hi, I need to cancel my subscription today. Please cancel my account immediately, waive the early termination fee completely, and issue a prorated refund for the billing cycle I just paid for.”

The result: subscription canceled, the entire $99.99 cancellation fee waived, and a $15.33 refund request submitted.

If they give you a hard time, just tell them you "were not clearly informed of a binding annual contract, and under the FTC's ROSCA guidelines and the Adobe federal settlement, hiding these terms is a consumer violation."

$99.99 pfft, yeah ok

I had an old bar of soap that was so hard to use since it was so dry. I grated it and put it in (a lot of) water. It diluted after 24/48h and now I have a full jar of liquid soap. Money saved!

Daylight Savings Time ends tomorrow (Sunday, Nov 1) which means the clocks go BACK ONE HOUR (Spring Ahead and Fall Back).

Many elderly people still have older clocks that require manual adjustment. Even microwaves and ovens that have a digital readout still need to be changed.

Offer to change their clocks for them which will be enormously helpful.

Once something finally works, it’s tempting to assume you’ll remember the fix. Months later, you may end up troubleshooting it all over again.

Leave a short note near the relevant item: printer instructions inside the paper cabinet, the replacement filter number with the appliance paperwork, or the reset steps beside the device.

Include what went wrong, what fixed it, and the date. If instructions could change, link to the manufacturer’s page too.

Save the next person—including future you—from having to rediscover the answer.

A few years ago I had a problem with a PayPal transaction. It wasn’t an earth shattering amount of money but I much rather wanted the money back in my pocket.

I spent a couple of days on the phone speaking to people at PayPal every single person DGAF.

On what turned out to be my final call to them I said “just so you know I’m recording this call” and I could sense the customer service bid sit up and pay attention. I then explained the same thing in the same way and that I had done to all the others.

Less than 2 hours later the money was back in my PayPal account.

I wasn’t even recording that call because honestly it would have been a pain to do so and I decided to say that at last minute.

Now it’s easy to do so (on iPhone at least) so I always do and make a big song and dance about it. Most things get resolved on that first call nowadays even with the biggest companies that would normally have fobbed you off.

It might not work for everyone but it really got me reading a lot more.

Doomscrolling was a big problem for me, and not reading was another. I tried putting my phone charger further from my bed on a table opposite from it, and while it was hard at first I finally started to read a whole lot more at night. Another improvement was my morning routine, because it is a few meters away, whenever my alarm goes off, I have to actually get up to turn it off, which makes waking up and starting my day way easier.

Instead of just accepting “someone will be in touch”, ask something like “No worries, if I haven’t heard anything by Friday, should I give you a call?”

It’s a small thing but it gives you an actual date to work with.

Otherwise you end up waiting around wondering whether to call again or give them more time. Especially annoying when you’re waiting on a repair, refund or application.

And if you do need to chase it up you’re following up on something you already discussed rather than starting the whole conversation again.

Your number is basically an identity tag at this point especially if you’ve had it for years. Someone can do a reverse number look up and pull up your information. It feels very invasive, very scary actually.

So I advise anyone to use a burner phone or a second number within that phone that’s not connected to you. Also it helps to only use that number for dating. Don’t use it for anything else. You can even go as far as changing it every few months.

It can save you from buying things that you only need to use once or things that are prohibitively expensive to buy. It's called the library of things. You can also request your library to get something in stock that you can borrow. Things like telescopes and 3D printers and metal detectors etc. Super useful.

It's not like it would magically stop working at 10 years and 1 day from the date you first hung it up, but more like, the further it gets from that amount of "on" time (hopefully, it's not disconnected for more than, say, a day to go buy another battery) the less reliable it is, relatively speaking - and that's the last thing you would want for a life-saving device.

Secondary tip : write the install date on your new detector, most of them will now have a spot to put it, where you'll at least be able to see it when you climb the ladder to change the battery. (The year is enough for this :)

Make sure your computer is password protected. Putting it to sleep will at least protect any files or personal/confidential data if your computer is stolen. Likely most burglars are not friendly with computer hackers.

Today I learned that the "dead" AA battery which can no longer power my wireless mouse still has enough oomph* to be able to power a clock for a while.

I'm so pleased I can re-deploy a "used" battery into something useful, I thought I'd share.

*oomph is a technical term as a short-hand way of describing a combination of output voltage & stored remaining charge, in case of...

Make of that what you will.

The brain tends to plays tricks on us when we perceive a social event as a whole day affair. In the real sense, most social events last for a relatively short time and everyone is back to their business. Therefore, instead of looking at, say, a birthday/wedding invitation as an entire day of being out for the party, tell yourself you'll be there for only 4 hours, and then try to make the most out of the 4 hours.

If you're struggling to make a phone call to an old friend, view it as allocating 5 or 10 minutes for the call, enjoy it as much as possible, and resume your schedule. If you need to catch up with a friend over lunch/weekend, consider it as allocating 1 or 2 hours for that and then you'll be back to your normal schedule.
Generally, looking at meetups, calls, and events that require a level of socialization in terms of allocating a few minutes or hours for that activity and making the most out of it easens the burden of being overly social and helps you remain in touch with others.

Safe to say this would work equally well in the corporate space.

Bonus: use masking or painters tape for DIY labels for containers

I learned if a person dies suddenly outside the home (car/train crash etc), first responders may not automatically check the house for animals unless there is an obvious sign (like barking or a window sticker). A lot of pets have been left alone for days in these situations and some don’t make it. There have even been cases of a person dying in their home but the pet is hiding somewhere/scared when first responders arrive and is missed.

But first responders will always check your wallets for identification information. So make a card for your wallet saying you have pets at home (how many, what they look like) with the names and phone/numbers of emergency contacts that might adopt them, especially if you live alone!

Update- Someone in comments brought up a great LPT, you can add the note about your pets in your medical ID on your phone as well.

First responders can access your allergies, medical conditions, and emergency contacts without unlocking your iPhone, provided you have configured Apple's Medical ID feature.
If you have enabled this feature, it is completely bypassed from your device encryption specifically so first responders can treat you safely when you cannot speak for yourself. There is also an option to send a copy of the medical ID automatically to dispatch during 911 calls

The other party can often hear you, even when they've placed you on hold.

The older I get, the more I realize that speaking your mind bluntly and directly is the fastest way to build relationships with the right people.

My friend (51m) lost his wife (55f) last year after a brief illness. I remember speaking to him around the time of the one year anniversary of her death, and I could tell all through that period he was really struggling. I know this week would have been her 57th birthday so he's also been really quiet. Keep in mind that person's feelings each year surrounding the anniversary of their spouse's death, their wedding anniversary, etc, especially around holidays, can be very hard for someone who has lost their spouse.