everything i use is old style
I think this is either due to either my upbringing, being middle aged, being set in my ways, having a general annoyance with useless modern "features", or a combination of all of that.
I drive a car that's over 15 years old that has a manual transmission. My main computer is over a decade old and runs Linux. I wear basic LCD panel digital watches (I'm favoring the WS1600H as of late). I use a Garmin for navigation and not my phone. I shave with a safety razor.
Is there anything I use that's current?
I thought about that.
My web browsers on my computer are current. Yes, plural, because I keep a few installed because some load certain sites better than others...
...and that's it.
I struggle to think of anything else I use that would be considered modern, never mind cutting edge.
This isn't to say I never use anything new, because of course I do. But when I do, given the choice between modern and old style, it's a safe bet I'll gravitate towards the old style first.
For example, a microwave. I have one like everybody else does. It's just a cheap thing. When that thing finally gives up the ghost, I would seriously consider getting a two knob microwave. It has no buttons and no digital display. For the two and only two knobs it has, one is for power and the other for cooking time. No other "features" whatsoever. It doesn't even have a button to open the door. All you have to do is pull the handle. I love everything about that. Brilliant.
Want to know what's great about a microwave like that? No clock to set. On the microwave I have now, every time the power flickers even a little bit, the microwave's clock needs to be reset. At least for the stove, I can turn the clock display off, which I do. Can't do that on the microwave, so it must be set, else it drives me nuts seeing the wrong time on it every time I go in the kitchen.
Another example is the drip coffee maker I have, bought for the princely sum of just 9 bucks. Yes, it was in fact that cheap, but it's perfect. No digital anything, no auto-timer junk. Just one light-up rocker switch that turns it on or off and that's it. I like it so much that I have a spare since it was so cheap to buy.
I think the only slightly-modern-but-just-barely thing I use is that I do use my smartphone as my alarm clock instead of a clock radio. It is convenient I can set alarms by date. That I like. But then again, my phone is a model over 7 years old, so... not exactly hot-off-the-presses stuff.
When I look up what's modern these days for just doing life stuff, everything revolves around phones (don't care), streaming (don't care), gaming (really don't care), and "smart home" stuff (absolutely don't care).
And if it's not about that stuff, it's about pushing crap that nobody needs, like 85" televisions. Who the hell actually needs a seven-foot TV? If I needed to buy a TV, I'd just get a 43" 4K since several are well south of 200 bucks now.
Maybe it's not my upbringing, age, or being set in my ways that's the problem. Maybe the problem is that a ridiculous amount of modern stuff just plain sucks.
traffic reporting is busted
For a good long time, I used GPS navigation with no traffic reporting whatsoever. Something like 13 or 14 years. It was in the late 2010s that I started using it due to a goof.
At that time, that older Garmins started getting cheap. What was hundreds of dollars when new could now be had for under $30, so I started collecting them. One of the used Garmin nuvis that I bought came with a GTM60 cable, which is a highfalutin charge cord with traffic antenna built-in. I got a chuckle when I saw it, because the cord was (and still is) actually worth significantly more than the screen itself. The seller simply didn't know how valuable that cord was.
After updating the nuvi, I got it all set up, plugged in the GTM60 in the car and took it out on the road.
It was lovely. Now I had traffic reporting, and it worked well.
However, when I really think about it, for the total amount of times traffic reporting with auto-recalculation of routes has saved my ass, it's been damned few.
I use a DriveSmart 76 that has more or less the same over-the-air FM traffic reporting the GTM60 had, along with the same auto-recalculation route feature. And what I can say now is this:
Traffic reporting isn't what it used to be. Not just for Garmins but also for nav apps on the phone too.
As automated as things are these days, traffic reporting is still very largely human-powered. Reports come in either from the government (as in from state or county employee reports, not federal), or from crowdsourcing.
From my understanding, automation of reporting only happens on the phone side of things, and only partially. If the network system for a particular app like Waze or Google Maps sees a bunch of active drivers all slowing in the same general area, the system guesses there must be slow traffic there and spit out an alert if you're headed that way. Or at least it's supposed to do that.
On the over-the-air FM side of things with a Garmin, that only works for an area with active coverage (mostly large metros), and is mainly limited to interstate roads. The biggest problem I've encountered is when the system reports phantom traffic, as in traffic that did exist a half-hour ago but has cleared. The problem there is that if the Garmin thinks traffic exists and auto-recalculation of route (which it calls "Optimize" in Traffic menu settings) is enabled, it will auto-recalculate around that phantom traffic and add time to the trip.
There are two saving graces to using a Garmin if the traffic reporting gets flaky. You can set it to ask first if you want to take a different route instead of auto-recalculate, or you can outright turn off traffic reporting altogether.
On the phone, and I'm talking about Waze in particular here, if that app decides to reroute you while driving, even if you were happy with the route given before and haven't missed any turns, well.. more often than not you just have to deal with it. And that's something you absolutely should not have to deal with while driving.
On a Garmin, you can set a prompt for rerouting, or outright disable the traffic reporting entirely and customize your route easily. And what that means is that at no point will the route be changed whatsoever while driving. The only time the route would change is if you missed a turn, in which the Garmin would have to recalculate the route to get you back on track.
If the traffic reporting is flaky (and it is) no matter which device you use, at least with the Garmin you can set it so the route won't change.
Is that a big deal? Yeah, it is.
sticky finger repellent navigation
I had to go get some service done to my car, and a standard thing I do before I go to the shop is take out my newer Garmin navigator and purposely use an older one before going there.
There are three reasons I do this.
First is the whole "not responsible for what happens to items in car" thing that every garage states in their documentation. That's a not-so subtle way of saying, "We can and we will steal stuff out of your car if we think we can get away with it."
Second, none of my favorites are saved on the older one I use. If anybody that gets in my car goes snooping around my Garmin, there's nothing there to find.
The third reason is great both as a theft deterrent and keeping people out of the device:
It's old.
The mechanic or car tech or whoever sees this old, small matte screen thing, and they want absolutely nothing to do with it. It's not worth stealing because they have nobody to sell it to, nor do they have any use for it themselves, nor is it even worth their time to snoop around in the device.
What I took with me for the drive was the nuvi 44LM, an ultra-basic 4.3" model. It worked just fine as usual.
If I really wanted some sticky finger repellent, I could have used the 1100LM, a 3.5" model. Anybody who sees that thing goes "Eww!" immediately just because it's a square. On top of that, it's a model that has Garmin Lock where I can set a 4-digit PIN.
The earlier models had the ability to set a PIN, then Garmin removed the feature for over a decade, then finally brought it back for newer models like the 66 and 76 (just this year, actually).
It's all well and good that the newer models have the PIN again, but believe me, the combination of old + small for a navigator makes anybody that sees it give it a miss instantly.
You're probably wondering why I don't just use my phone instead. It's because all phone nav apps suck, and the GPS signal on a phone drops whenever it feels like it. Even if I had a brand new phone, it would legitimately have a problem keeping a GPS signal lock. Very common problem.
The only real knock against the 3.5" is the ABCDE on-screen keyboard instead of QWERTY that you get with 4.3"-and-up models, hence why I used a 44LM. Small, old, works, nobody wants it, works for me.
older garmin gps navigators that go vertical
While the DriveSmart 66 and 76 are nice (I own both), neither of them can be set to a vertical display or portrait view. To get that new, the DriveSmart 86 is what you want...
...if it fits in your car, which it may not, because it's huge. The physical dimensions of the 86 are 7.6" (19.2cm) wide by 4.7" (11.9cm) tall.
Fortunately, there are a few older models of the 5" and 6" screen variety.
I own a bunch of Garmins, and if it were required for me to use one vertically in my car, my choice would either be the 5-inch Garmin nuvi 2589 or the 6-inch Garmin nuvi 2689. Both have bright capacitive screens and voice control. The 2589's physical dimensions are 5.5" (13.8cm) wide by 3.3" (8.4cm) tall, and the 2689 is 6.6" (16.8cm) wide by 3.7" (9.4cm) tall.
The only thing needed to add would be a 32GB microSD memory card to store maps. After that, all it takes is a download of the free Garmin Express software to update it.
Yes, it's true there is also the DriveSmart 50 and 60. Those are slightly newer, but I don't like either of those for a very specific reason, and that's the highway exit number font. Tiny. Everything else is fine except that. On the 2589 and 2689, a highway exit number when displayed is larger and in a bold font, which I very much appreciate.
If you decide to get one of these older models, make sure it comes with the mounting clip (the circle thing that clicks in the back), power cord and suction mount.
I should also note that if you find the stock suction mount to be terrible, just about any Arkon replacement will be much better. Arkon model GN079WD in particular is quite good (I have two of those).
5 blade razors are still awful
Sometimes I wish I was okay having a beard or even a goatee, but I just can't do it. Every time I've grown one out, I'm relieved to shave it off. Having hair on my face just doesn't feel right and probably never will, even though I'm blessed with having facial hair that grows very evenly.
Given I like a hairless face, I shave. But I don't shave like I used to.
Years ago, all I would ever use is whatever cheap-but-not-bargain-bin twin blade cartridge razor was available (I probably used Bic Twin Select?) and shaving gel (usually Edge).
What I use now is significantly different.
In early '24, I started using safety razors. I have several now, and the one I'm favoring these days is a simple 3-piece Parker 78R. I also have two "butterfly" types, the 60R and 92R, but I really like the extra-textured handle of the 78R. Very easy grip on that one, which I appreciate.
As for what shaving cream I go with, it's just plain ol' Barbasol Original. I tried Gillette Foamy and some other gels, but my face seems to agree with Barbasol best.
For blades, I have Shark Super Chrome, Lord Platinum, Gillette Perma-Sharp, and some Parker blades. I go back and forth between them since I use a new blade for every shave. There are minor differences with each.
However, no matter what safety razor or blade I use, there are still parts of my face I can't shave that well because of the way a safety razor is shaped. For me, it's a few small areas under the nose and near where the jawline ends under the ear.
You would think that under the chin would be the spot where the safety razor wouldn't shave well, but no, I can shave that area just fine. Just-under-nose and near-under-ear are the places where the safety razor can't quite get to.
Solution? Use a cartridge razor to get to just those spots...
...as long as it's not a 5-blade.
I had an old (but still good) Gillette Fusion 5 kicking around, so I tried using that for those areas of my face I just mentioned. Did it work? Technically, yes, but trying to maneuver that 5-blade head didn't exactly make it easy.
What I needed was a smaller shave head, so I acquired a pack of Gillette Sensor 3's. To be clear, NOT the Mach 3. I know a lot of guys like the Mach, but all I needed was a disposable for very specific parts of my face, so the Sensor is what I went with.
It worked. Sensor 3 has a smaller head that pivots and is super-lightweight, so I could maneuver it very easily.
Just for grins, I tried the Sensor 3 on the rest of my face. Just once. It works, but it wasn't pleasant to use because that's when the light weight works against it. I found myself pressing too hard because I'm very used to the weight of a safety razor.
At this point, instead of being all-in with safety razors, now I use one for most of my face, and a cartridge razor takes care of the rest.
I'm debating right now whether to go even smaller with the Sensor 2, since that also has a pivoting head and would make getting to tight areas even easier, in theory. The 3 works, but the 2 could be even better.
What I might do in the future is get a Parker SoloEdge to get a safety razor with smaller head for the tight spots. It is doable (and normal) to fold and break a safety razor in half while still in the wrapper to get a blade that fits in a razor like that. Alternatively, single edge blades can be bought.
Until then, a combo of safety razor + Sensor 3 works for now.