My last apartment had a toilet that ran constantly for two months before I noticed. The water bill was double the usual amount, and I just thought rates went up. A plumber friend finally pointed it out when he visited, said it was wasting a gallon every few minutes. It makes you wonder how much stuff like that slips by without these smart monitors.

Still feels pretty lonely even with the crowd.

My buddy Steve had one of those pulley systems in his garage for five years. It finally gave out last winter when he was trying to lower a bin of old holiday decorations. The whole thing seized up halfway down, just dangling there. He had to climb a shaky ladder in the freezing cold to cut the cord, and ornaments went everywhere. He spent more time cleaning up broken glass than he ever saved with that stupid pulley. He went back to just using the hooks on the rafters like a normal person after that.

Sometimes a messy system works better for creative flow, in my experience.