I recently mentioned I’d been “blogging” using an Alphasmart Neo2 (a used obsolete $30+/- “teaching tool” word processor that runs on AA batteries) in a room lit by oil lamps. You may think I’m exaggerating. Nope. I’m not making this shit up!
These handy tools bear mention, for they’re useful old friends that I trust
First and highest ratings go to my “Bit Shovels”. I’ve mentioned the Alphasmart Neo2 and it’s sister product the Alphasmart Dana before. Check out: Buying A Spare Bit Shovel (which discusses my “upgrade” to the cruder and ironically superior Alphasmart Neo2 in 2016). This came after A Belated Acknowledgement Of An Elegant Device (discussing the Alphasmart Dana I purchased in 2011).
The point is that both devices work. They work now. They work if I’ve left them in a freezing truck all night. They work if left them in the barn. They work if I forgot to charge them (oddly the AA battery option is better than the rechargeable batteries). They work if Godzilla chewed them up and spit them out. I toss these hearty bastards in backpacks, saddlebags, tool boxes, and everywhere else… and they just keep working. Try that with a decrepit old laptop… which will age in OS if not in function.
A Hammer and a Bit Shovel. Both are cheap, utilitarian, and reliable. These are mine, get your own.
There is a modern “alternative”. The Freewrite is hipsterific eye candy that looks great but isn’t necessarily superior. I do like the looks but for the price differential I can live with my childish “toys”. They work with no muss / no fuss. Here’s a link to the “Freewrite” which for only $500+ more than a humble Dana, includes “screen savers”. How much do you like screen savers?
It’s pretty but is is $550 worth of pretty?
More mundane but just as handy are my oil lamps. I have several but my “go to” lamps are a pair of dirt cheap “Montana” oil lamps. They’re perfect! The best feature is that they hang on the wall (removable of course). This is an important feature because they’re always ready. Fill ’em up, dust ’em off once in a while (or don’t), and they’ll be there when you need them. This is key: my other lamps wind up on shelves, pushed into closets, etc… (Also, lamps that aren’t wisely secured to a wall are more likely to get broken by getting jarred or dropped.)
I highly recommend these lamps. They’re about $30 a pop. They’re not built super strong, like a lifetime lasting family heirloom, but for $30 what do you want? They work well, look pretty, and never need batteries.
Don’t let the picture fool you. They come with a wall hanger that serves admirably to keep them readily available and you can light them while on the wall. They’re pretty too.
