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New life season notes: advice I’d give past-me
April’s “new life” season brings back how it felt to be new. If I could replay that start with today’s knowledge, here’s what I’d tell myself about distance, safety, and pacing.
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Waterproof rainwear, umbrellas, and windbreakers with Nikwax
Ran every nylon item through a Nikwax bath—rain jacket, windbreaker, and umbrellas—and got the water beading back without spray fumes.
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Kakkonto for early colds and mastitis—apparently it eases leg cramps too
Kakkonto is the go-to herbal remedy for early colds and mastitis. A tweet claimed it helped leg cramps; digging into its ingredients (and shakuyaku-kanzo-to) showed why—and what to use for sports cramps.
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Faster post-shower drying with a super-absorbent PVA chamois towel
A PVA swim/chamois towel soaks up post-shower water way faster than microfiber—keep it slightly damp, lay it on your hair, and most of the moisture is gone.
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Does resistant dextrin really help with weight loss?
Looked into resistant dextrin—the soluble fiber inside many “tokuho” drinks—to see if it really slows carb/fat absorption, how to take it, and what research and users say.
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My plastic clothespins kept snapping, so I tried 100-yen polycarbonate ones—nine years later they’re still fine
The plastic pinch hangers on my laundry rack crumbled. A 100-yen “2× stronger” polycarbonate set looked dubious but has survived nine years of sun with no cracks. Here’s what I learned and what else I tried.
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Running C-cell Plarail trains on AA batteries—with spacers
Many Plarail trains still take C cells. Rather than buy C-size Eneloops and a charger, I used battery spacers—100-yen ones were flaky, but BTONE spacers worked great.
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Using Seria’s dressing bottle for natural cleaning powders
Seria (and Can Do) sell a white-cap dressing bottle with a wide spout—perfect for decanting powders like sesqui washing soda, citric acid, and oxygen bleach for quick cleaning mixes.
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Perfect for dry goods storage: finally bought a Freshlock
My cheap containers leaked and warped, so I tried the much-hyped Freshlock airtight jars. The 500 ml snapped shut cleanly, the seal works, replacement gaskets are cheap—and four years later it’s holding up.
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Master 100-yen storage by knowing the maker (Inomata)
Instagram fridge-storage tags were full of Daiso Color Life baskets I couldn’t find. I dug into the actual manufacturers and standardized on Inomata baskets—stocked at nearly every 100-yen chain with tons of size options.