Glad I Got This report, April 2026
Decided to start a monthly log of stuff I was happy to obtain. It's pretty consumeristic of me, I guess, but I like it when you get something that solves a problem. Especially when it's cheap, or at least a good bargain. Who knows, maybe it'll help you solve some issue in your life, dear reader.
I think you can learn a lot about a person through the stuff they value. Hopefully this doesn't get hoovered up by a NSA killbot AI or whatever though.
No affiliate links here.
(This would be a good place for a table of contents, if I can get that code working)
Olympus PEN Lite E-PL3 mirrorless camera
I got bitten by the camera bug recently, but as a responsible human adult, I can't just go around buying exxy cameras, especially since it's not a family expense - it's very much a personal one (and I don't get that much play money). While I'm saving up for a more modern piece, I found this in storage; apparently my wife had bought it years before she had met me but never really learned how to use it. I had actually messed around with it before but only as a point-and-shoot; knowing a little more now, I can see that it's actually fairly capable.
I'm mostly just using it as a practice camera, but it's relatively slim (lens aside) and lets me learn the basic of basics: composition and controlling aperture/shutter speed/ISO. I found a USB card reader somewhere in my warren of gadgets, so at least I can get the images off now.
Carpio 2.0 ergonomic palm rests
I've been having pretty severe near-RSI issues recently and been trying, among other things, a variety of palm rests, hard, soft, home-made, whatever (note that you should never really use anything in this category as wrist rests - you're likely to cause damage that way). These gliding rests work by supporting the base of the palms but with a space for the median nerve cluster, so they're not having a hard edge pressed against them. I think.
They also skate about nicely if you use a mouse, but I personally just like the feeling of moving my hands about while resting my palms on them. These are a bit expensive, to be honest, but I think they're pretty cool. We'll see how I feel about them in a few months. They're definitely not perfect, but it's a lot better than everything else I was using up until now.
Able Carry 20L daily backpack
As part of my ongoing ergonomic journey I've also been obsessing over backpacks - the fact the current cheapo backpack I've been using for many years now start ripping apart internally didn't help. Able Carry has what they call 'A-frame' technology that supposedly distributes the weight of the bag and its contents across the back in such a way that it feels weightless. Excited to try it out with a proper load at some point.
I had actually been eyeing the Able Carry EDC Max, which is a 26L backpack which you could more reasonably pack for an international trip (as opposed to this one which is more of a work backpack), but there was a 50% off bargain on an outlet version of this which was very difficult to pass up. I'll probably write more about this after I use it more.
Dreamcat TPE Zero Gravity pillow
Sleeping is still difficult, but this is the first pillow I've owned that I don't end up swapping out with something else during the night. Pillowfeel is very subjective, but the gel and honeycomb structure of this seems to better support my head than anything bar latex, and as it's much lower profile than the latex pillow I already have, it seems to work better for me. Plus it actually supports both back and side sleeping - a definite plus for a wriggly worm like me. (I think this is the same as the various 'sheep-free' pillows I see advertised on Note or Amazon JPN, but I can't be bothered figuring it out).
Pragmata (video game)
Hey this rules
Anti-awards
These sucked.
Click mini adjustable work light
I've been looking for a portable, adjustable light source for a while and this was a proper bargain for the $9.50 price (considering the shithouse Daiso one I got was $8 and took 3 AAA batteries to operate). This has USB-C charging, a clip to hang from stuff, a standard-size screw mount hole, charge indicator, four lighting styles and four intensity levels, the brightest of which is crazy bright. Best of all, unless most camping-clip lights, it doesn't have the obligatory emergency 'rave' pulse mode. I use it when I need to light an area consistently but don't want to wear a head torch, like my sink under the drying rack when laden, or around the back of the PC. The only downside is that it can't really angle down (unless you mount it above you somehow, hence the clip); I might end up getting a more expensive light at some point if I need to for that.
I found this one at Bunnings, but I can't seem to find it on the website. Just look in the workplace lighting section and find the cheapest, tiniest box you can find - that's probably this.
One of the side screws holding the angling mechanism broke and cannot be repaired. It sucks because the light is still as good but it's just some shoddy workmanship fucking the whole thing up. I guess I should have expected as much from the cheapo no-frills brand thing. I'm still using it as a temporary light but I get depressed when I look at it now.