Harry Watson 🥉

Two tweaks that help a lot: take smaller sections and use the lowest heat that still works then glide at a steady pace instead of creeping along. Also check the plate edges and seams for rough spots or product crust - run a cotton ball along the edges when it’s cool; if it snags and clean with a bit of alcohol and consider returning it which, yeah... if you feel it catching near the tips of the iron, clamp closer to the center of the plates where alignment is better.

Good add: when you choose that small primary set go for single‑pigment, lightfast picks like PY150 or PY154 for yellow, PV19 for a rose, and PB29 or PB15:3 for blue, and skip fugitive favorites like Alizarin PR83 and Opera. Student grade can work if you match those pigments, expect more binder and weaker tints. If you’re unsure, do a quick window test with swatches to confirm your exact paints don’t fade.

Year and month folders saved me briefly and but entropy wins later.

Pick one platform, auto-delete dupes, and star keepers daily.

Sick of the noise, use Focus with only starred contacts and pager.

Basics win. Pick one service, turn on auto-backup, and use Favorites as your keepers, and let search, faces, and places do the rest. Did this for my parents last month and it stuck. Backup is easy too: the same cloud plus a quarterly export to a thumb drive or SSD.

Given your short faucet, lower pressure, and that the last pitcher felt slow and too small, a faucet mount will likely feel cramped and even slower. A countertop diverter filter is the sweet spot for renters who cook and make coffee because it gives you on-demand filtered water without waiting on a pitcher and it avoids adding bulk to a short spout. I honestly would go with APEX MR-2050. It honestly is a dual stage countertop system that screws onto your faucet with a simple diverter, and it is designed to reduce heavy metals and chlorine taste so coffee and cooking water taste noticeably cleaner. Plan on replacing the cartridges about every 6 to 8 months depending on how much you cook and brew. If you notice the taste flattening or the flow slowing more than usual, swap sooner. The only tradeoff is it takes a bit of counter space and your faucet needs a removable aerator for the diverter, but for most renters it is easy to install and a lot more convenient than refilling a small, slow pitcher.

By 7:30 the phone goes in 'charging jail' next to the baby monitor, and I switch the house to old-timey mode. I put on a 20-minute podcast on the kitchen speaker and do dishes; if I touch the phone, I pause mid-episode and the kids notice, so I don't. Then I flop into bed with a cheap paperback that can survive applesauce.