What is something really stupid you purchased that turned out far better than expected? - eviltoast

I bought a piece of 1.5 inch stiff foam to try to fix a sag in a bed. It didn’t work but having that thick piece of solid foam around has been a life saver.

Need something flat to put a laptop on? Throw it on the foam. Going to be doing something that requires you to be on your knees for a while? Get the foam!

It went from stupid purchase to something I’d gladly replace if it broke.

  • JasonHears@lemmy.fmhy.ml
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    1 year ago

    When I worked at a small startup, we were moving to a new office and I was asked to help with the buildout. I engaged with the flooring vendor, and he came by one day to drop off a carpet sample. He put it on my desk where my mouse was. It was a rectangle sample of tight knit office carpet, about 18”x22”. When I got back to my desk, I just put my mouse on top of it and started using it as a mouse pad. That was 15 years and 3 companies ago, and I still use it as my mousepad. It’s perfect for the mouse to glide on, soft enough for my wrist to rest on, absorbent of sweat or drink condensation, and large enough I never hit the edge. I will never not use it. It is my mouse carpet, and I love it.

    • HerrBoedefeld@feddit.de
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      1 year ago

      So you’re saying you decline to take this business opportunity which could have made you rich for 15 years just to feel superior to us gaming-spaceage-mousepad plebs with your exclusive desk carpet? How dare you.

    • BoxOfFeet@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      I work in automotive interiors tooling. We had a customer bring by a sample of this headliner material. But they brought an entire roll of it, four feet wide, no idea how long. Probably 75 feet. I cut a couple feet off of it, now my whole desk is a mousepad.

      • DarthBueller@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        Better than car carpet mousepad - imagine vacuuming your desk for 15 minutes and still have sand particles jumping around under the vacuum head like fleas.

      • peereboominc@lemm.ee
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        1 year ago

        That is a nice solution. There are also these giant mouse pads that can cover most of the desk. They are awesome.