My Indispensable Stuff

Stuff I use Every Day

My zerOs wallet was hard to get used to at first, but since getting over the initial hurdle I’ve had three or four of these and never looked back.

The iPhone 13 Pro (Sierra Blue, 2021) is just the latest in a long line of mobile phones going back (ahem) a while.

I’m on my fifth or sixth pair of Ray-Ban Justin sunglasses. They are perfect in every way.

My Apple Watch Series 9 is with me every waking moment of the day. Not quite perfect, but an example of tech that just works. Close them rings!

I use my iPad Pro 11-inch (3rd gen.) for browsing the web, reading the news and magazines, and hanging out on the socials.

For reading books, I prefer my Amazon Kindle Scribe. I was using the Paperwhite and just recently switched for the larger form factor and notebook functionality.

I love Bombas quarter socks so much they’re all I own now. I have a few different styles and they’re all great but the “basic” (cotton/poly blend) ones are my favorites.

I like to take notes on paper. I’ve tried typing my notes, but I just can’t shake the tactile experience of writing things down. It’s how I process. My favored writing instrument is a wood pencil, particularly the Blackwing 602 pencil with its “firm” graphite. I have a big assortment of Blackwing “Volumes” too.^[1]

Stuff I Travel With

• My silver TravelPro Roundtrip hardside bag is the carry-on half of my “one carry-on and one personal item” duo. (I never, ever, EVER check a bag.) Update: It looks like this has been replaced by the newer Maxlite Air.
• I recently added the TravelPro Platinum Elite Carry-On Business Plus Hardside Spinner, which I use if I need to take an extra laptop.
• My Lowepro Fastpack BP 250 AW III backpack is a worthy successor to the smaller Hatchback model. It has tons of room for my gizmos and gadgets, and fits perfectly under the seat.
• Have music will travel, with the Bose Soundlink Mini II Bluetooth speaker (an oldie but goodie) and the Sony WH-1000XM4 noise-canceling headphones.
• Wood pencils are hard to take on the road so I travel with a Caran d’Ache Fixpencil, a 2mm lead holder with a hexagonal barrel similar to the 849 ballpoint pen, is the best pencil not made of wood. It even has a built-in pointer!

Beverage Service

• Cuisinart Cordless Kettle - We got our first electric kettle when babies came to live with us, and our kitchen counter hasn’t been without one since. How do people live without a kettle?
• FORLIFE Stump Tea Pot - I love this tea pot because it looks good, is the perfect size, and is highly functional. What else could you ask for?
• The Bunn BT is my favorite coffee maker ever. It brews fast (too fast actually, but Bunn provides a slow flow spray head for free if you ask) and the insulated carafe keeps the coffee hot without cooking it.
• Breville Nespresso Vertuo machine - When I first heard of these I thought what most Americans probably thought, “why would I need that when we have Keurig machines?” After using a couple of them in Europe, I realized how wrong I was.