A Comma 3 to run Openpilot on my Honda Civic. It's lane keep / adaptive cruise control on steroids. I drive about 40 thousand miles each year for work, 46 miles round trip on "local" days. Having that level of driver assist on the highway makes a life changing difference. I arrive less fatigued and feel more capable of reacting to hazards. Their tagline is making driving chill, and it really has delivered. I don't know how I did this mileage before Openpilot.

Crocs. Technically two items but you need a pair to get the benefits.

Espresso machine, best present ever.

I used to have very bad plantar fasciitis from my time in the military. For years I suffered every step of every day. I researched possible solutions and found out zero drop shoes help it. I bought some Xero shoes and after about three months it all just went away. Now I just wear zero drop shoes.

I bought a low sided frying pan for when I make pancakes. It makes getting them out so much easier

I don't really know for sure. Best bet is probably a ball pen when I was like 11. I've used only fountain pens until then.
It just doesn't leak and I don't have to wait for ink to dry up.

Welder a number of years back. Led to a whole ass career change lol

Lots of comments already but I’ll contribute too. So I have a few:

• A water flosser. Normal floss is okay but wasteful imo, water flossers work wonderfully
• A flip belt for running. It’s much better then keeping stuff in your pockets
• An instapot, I use it every time I cook. Either for rice or for actual meat

An 18 button mouse for my PC. 12 buttons on the side which I've mapped my function keys to. It's excellent for gaming, so many things you can do without even using your left hand on the keyboard.

Knitting needles.

Not only have they been essential in breaking the habit of reaching for my phone while I'm meant to be watching my TV/monitor, but I also end up with a practical, useful, personalised product at the end

A wok. It sounds insane that a simple and small carbon steel wok would reduce the time needed to cook and clean in my kitchen. It even makes my meal costs cheaper. Just make fried rice or udon noodle dishes or just cook what we get from everyplate in it and it's the best way to cook on the stove.

A Linux USB (Linux was not included but it's the key thing)

An hdmi to composite converter. It allows me to connect my pc to my old crt, I can play games, watch YouTube, stream everything, it made me realize I don't really need a new TV

Proper quality in ear headphones/monitors. So nice. Proper over ear headphones hurt my neck, and you can't always turn the speakers up to a decent volume.

My PC, which allowed me to do more than 2000 custom ROM builds.

Water flosser + electric toothbrush combo. Water flossers are game changers.

chatgpt. it's the perfect workaround for my weaknesses.

May seem silly but a chamber vacuum sealer. It's so much more convenient than the suction style ones. You can place mason jars in it to seal them. I use it pretty much every day.