I'm a believer in headlight restoration kits now
After doing some research, I found a kit that works.
When I say "headlight restoration", I actually mean "headlight lens restoration", because it's the lens you want to restore since the bulb can be replaced (assuming you're allowed to do that on your car).
The kit I bought and used, which comes in a rather small and unassuming box, is the Sylvania Headlight Restoration Kit.
The reason the box is on the smaller side is because it comes with no drill attachments. Almost everything you need is in the box. The only two things you need to provide are water (in a spray bottle, bucket or from a garden hose) and paper towels. Since there are no attachments, all sanding must be done by hand...
...which is exactly what I did.
While true there are many kits out there, I went with this one primarily because the sandpaper provided isn't garbage, and the cleaning solutions provided are better compared to other kits.
Yes, there are other kits that come with the drill attachment with sanding discs. However, as convenient as that sounds, where a lot of those cheap out is with the sanding paper. If that paper isn't the good stuff, all the convenience by using a drill attachment is lost right out of the gate.
With hand sanding you don't splatter solutions all over the place, but I will readily admit that it does take longer to get the job done.
How much time does it take to use this kit? About 30 minutes per lens if you've never done it before. All the prep, sanding, polishing and the final UV coat takes about that long. If you have done it before, then it's 20 minutes per lens.
With the Sylvania kit, all you have to remember is this: If you follow the instructions EXACTLY as given, it will work. The best way to go about it is to follow steps 1 and 2 for both lenses first, then step 3 for both lenses after that. If you get this kit, you'll see what I mean when you read the instructions.
Other things I know work but really don't when it comes to lens restorations
A lot of people say toothpaste and/or baking soda works for headlight lens restoration.
Does this work? Yes, but only for light clouding, and it's guaranteed the lenses will cloud up again quickly. Why? Because the lenses weren't coated/sealed afterward. Headlight lens sealer is cheap, and yes, this stuff is required. It's better if you get headlight clear coat. In the Sylvania kit, the sealer/clear coat is the UV block clear coat for the final step.
Both toothpaste (as in the whitening type that has silica in it) and baking soda when rubbed over a lens acts as a very light abrasive, so yes, it does work. But wow, do you have to rub-rub-rub for a long time just to get either to do anything. You might get moderately okay results, but again, the lens will cloud right up again quickly.
Can this be done cheaper?
Sort of, but it's not really worth it.
If you were to part out everything in the Sylvania kit (400/1000/2000 sandpaper, microfiber towels, cleaning solution, rubbing compound and clear coat), it would be all too easy to spend more than double what the kit costs.
Many guys already have the sandpaper and drill attachment. It's the solutions where you rack up the cost. Just the rubbing compound and clear coat can easily cost more than double the price of the kit.
The absolute most dirt cheap way to do it for really clouded up lenses is to use water and 400-grit sandpaper for 5 minutes, repeat with 1000-grit for 5 minutes, repeat again with 2000-grit for 5 minutes, then use UV clear coat wipes from a 3M Quick Headlight Clear Coat kit. The kit alone isn't enough because it only comes with one sanding disc, hence why you need to provide the 400/1000/2000 yourself in addition to that kit.
With the sandpaper and the kit, you can get the cost down to under 20 bucks. Worth it to save a few bucks over the Sylvania kit? Not really, because you barely save any cash.
Prior to using the Sylvania kit, I never restored headlight lenses before and the results I got were decent.
How long do I expect my clear lenses to last?
The best way I can answer that is that I don't expect miracles here. If I get a year or two out of this before having to do it again, so be it. There's just no way a small kit can match the OEM baked-on coating the auto manufacturer used originally, nor am I expecting it to.
I want more lights in my life
How many of these lights do I want?
All of them.
In my teens, what I wanted as far as stuff was concerned were video games and computers. I was absolutely and totally addicted to staring at a glowing screen that had things on it I could control with my hands. In my twenties, it was car stuff. Bought a few cars, bought a few trucks, then sold or traded them all out. On into my thirties and forties, I got into buying watches and Garmin GPSes.
Now what I'm starting to get the bug for is something a lot of middle aged men develop an interest in. Home improvement.
I like lights now. A lot. Above is a lighting display from a Home Depot near me, and it just looks magical. Nice lights just make everything look more pleasant.
My favorite type of light type is indirect lighting. I'm specifically talking about a light source that points up or down where you do not see the bulb. A simple example of this is a standing lamp with a bowl on top. You don't see the bulb, the light goes straight up, hits the walls and fills the room. A smaller version of this is the bedside lamp with a fabric shade surrounding it. Again, you don't see the bulb and it's much easier on the eyes compared to an exposed bulb.
Does this mean I don't like track lights? Yes. I can't stand those things.
I am also not a fan of shop lights either. Those things are best used in work environments and garages and not in the house. Yeah, they throw a ton of light and do a very good job at it, but the light isn't easy on the eyes at all. This is understandable since they're designed for visibility before comfort.
Better lighting is a very easy quality-of-life improvement, and I'm honestly very happy there are so many lighting options to choose from. I'm also very happy that the bulbs themselves have vastly improved.
Remember CFL lamps? Awful. Remember LED lamps when they first came out? Also awful. However, LED has improved to the point where the harshness of the earlier stuff is gone. When you buy "soft white" LED bulbs, it's actually a soft white now.
The right lighting fixture with the right bulb type makes all the difference. I like this stuff. I like figuring out what works and what doesn't. This speaks to my middle aged self in a positive way.
The "I don't care" watch, Casio W735H
I seriously cannot believe how much I wear this thing.
When it comes to watches, I prefer something digital that has weekday, full date and time all at a glance without having to press a button. For when I do want to press a button, the buttons have to be large. For extra features, I want an alarm, countdown timer and a stopwatch. Last, but not least, it has to be something that can take a knock.
The Casio W735H is all of these things for cheap.
I bought a W735H back in March 2021. That same month, I bought a second one because I was convinced at the time that it would be my daily wearer, so I wanted a backup since it was cheap enough to get a second. But then shortly after that, they went in a box and I forgot about them.
Over a year later, frustrated with the metal bracelet on the watch I was wearing, I remembered hey, I've got that W735H. Let's try that again.
It's been on my wrist ever since.
This watch will never win any beauty awards, and some may even consider it ugly - and that's where my "I don't care" reasoning for wearing this begins.
I have other watches that look far better than the W735H, such as the Casio MTP4500D. But even though the 4500D looks better, it's nowhere near as useful as the W735H.
Right now I'm at a point in my watch wearing life where function matters more than form does. The "Super Illuminator" nightlight on the W735H is amazing with its bright white light. I can actually make this watch SHUT UP while still giving me notification of an alarm, hourly signal or timer by switching from beep to vibration at any time. The buttons are big and easy to press. Surrounding the crystal are four raised areas, meaning if I hit the edge of a door with my wrist (which I have), the display doesn't get scratched. I've used this thing while cooking and got oils spotted all over it, but it cleans off easy every time.
I don't shower with this watch on, and that's generally a good practice because hot water can cause condensation under the crystal. Would I go swimming with the watch on? Yes. But I'd never wear it in the shower.
The best compliment I can give the W735H is that I don't think about it. It's tough enough to handle life where I can wear it anywhere and not worry about what happens.
Also, I finally stopped obsessing over my watch having exact to-the-second time accuracy. When I started wearing the W735H all the time, again, I just don't think about it. There was a point when I was synchronizing my watch to time.gov daily. That turned into weekly, then monthly, and now I only adjust every 3 months or so. At worst, this watch is only off by about 6 to 8 seconds. Totally acceptable. I could honestly get away with only adjusting the W735H twice a year, and only because of Daylight Savings Time.
Casio W735H. I wear it and don't care. It does what I want it to do and works.
5 crazy things you can buy direct from Amazon
It's crazy you can direct order this stuff.
Most people think of smaller items when it comes to buying things from Amazon. This is some of the bigger stuff, but with a twist. All of these are Amazon brands.
Starting with...
A couch
Amazon has a brand called Stone & Beam along with many other couches available for purchase.
If Amazon ever gets to the point of opening local storefronts everywhere, I'm certain every one of them will have Stone & Beam offerings along with others. And I'm also certain local furniture stores would get real scared, because S&B is genuinely good stuff.
Why would anybody bother ordering this from Amazon? The two main advantages are free shipping and a generous return policy.
Welded Outdoor Wire Crate Kennel
I initially thought Amazon was charging way too much for this... until I checked the prices for the same thing at Home Depot. Amazon's price is actually competitive because of one word, welded. When you go welded with cover, the price jumps up for one of these quite a bit.
I did like that the "returnable until" date is listed right up front without even needing to add to cart. This is a big thing, so yeah it's important to know that info.
Height-Adjustable Gaming Desk with Raised Monitor Shelf
This is another furniture item. What got me about this one is how low the price is.
If you use a PC, you need a desk for it, and this is what a decent modern computer desk is. I do like the monitor shelf a lot because that does promote a better seated ergonomic position. You're supposed to look directly at your monitor with your eyes at about the top third position.
I'll explain that one a little more.
Imagine your computer screen as 3 equal horizontal pieces. Top third, middle third, bottom third. When sitting in your chair at the desk, your eyes are supposed to be aligned between the top third and middle third. Why? Because this is the position where at no point you're craning your neck up or down to see anything, and that means less stress on your neck and eyes while using the computer.
Having a height-adjustable desk for computer use is just a really nice thing to have. I intend on getting one at some point.
I can actually see a legitimate need for people to buy 30 mice, and not just for business.
Some people have children that absolutely destroy computer mice routinely where they're lucky to get one month of use out of it, and that is the type of non-business-owner buyer who would get every penny's worth out of buying a 30-pack.
For the business owner, getting a 30-pack is smart for any computer used in an industrial environment, such as a warehouse or mill. Dirt, oil and so on destroys these things, so it's not a bad idea just to have a whole box of them whenever a replacement is needed. And it is always good to replace something with the exact same part whenever possible.
An entire pallet of printer copy paper
I know the first question you have. How much paper do you get?
Answer: 40 cartons totaling 200,000 sheets.
This is one of the rare and few Amazon listings that has a solid 5-star rating. People just gush about how good this paper is. Reviews say it's a good value, the corners of the sheets are very square as they should be and quality is high.
The only real complaint anybody talks about is that delivery driver people really don't like delivering this because it's just annoying to ship. Well, that's their problem and not yours.
If you ever needed 200,000 sheets of printer paper, now you know where to buy it, and you don't need any kind of business account to make the purchase.
I should also note that you can get smaller numbers of sheets. You can order sheet counts of 500, 1500, 2500, 4000, or 5000, meaning you don't have to get 200,000. But it's there if you want it.
This Disney animation still holds up over 90 years later
I watch this every year in October, and love it every time.
You most likely know Disney's Fantasia, a film released in 1941. The Skeleton Dance was released 12 years earlier in 1929, making it 93 years old as of 2022.
Will Disney celebrate this short film in 2029 when it becomes 100 years old? They might.
The official Walt Disney Animation Studios YouTube channel added The Skeleton Dance in 2015. I remember when they did that, and oh yes, I was all sorts of happy they did. The video has 25+ million views and deserves every one of them because the film is that good.
What makes this short film so great? A few things.
The music. You might recognize the composer's name, Carl W. Stalling. If you don't, I guarantee you've heard his music before. Ever see a Looney Tunes or Merrie Melodies cartoon? The best ones (such as "Blue Ribbon" Merrie Melodies) had the music composed by Carl, and he's featured here in this Disney film.
Hand drawn skeletons are very challenging to animate, but Ub Iwerks certainly pulled it off in fine style. Lots of skinny parts, lots of sharper lines, and so on. But it's also noodle-like where it needs to be to keep a smooth flow going. It's a total showoff piece, done in a very classy way.
And then there's the fact the animations match up so well to Carl's music, all while being done in 1929 using the animation technology of the time.
Lastly, and most importantly, none of the technical stuff matters because it's just a happy little film. What you get is a small story of skeletons coming out to dance at night for absolutely no reason at all other than it's fun...
...and that is what has made this short so enjoyable for so many years.