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Looking for a durable chair mat that is made for heavy use. [more inside]
posted by cozenedindigo at 4:44 AM - 1 answers

I have two young children, voracious readers both, and am struggling with the persistent challenge of finding things to read. Please help with recommendations. [more inside]
posted by forza at 3:06 AM - 7 answers

So apparently the hot thing this year for Christmas is matching socks for parents and kids. Unfortunately everyone seems to be sold out, so now I'm wondering if I can scrounge together a combination on my own. Complication: Child socks need to be for a small 18-month old, so I'm really looking for 12 month sized socks. [more inside]
posted by Nonsteroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drug at 11:33 AM - 4 answers

Headphone people of Metafilter, I need your best recommendations and experiences for headphone purchases . Limitations follow. [more inside]
posted by jadepearl at 12:29 AM - 9 answers

I buy pretty much everything from Amazon, as do most people I know. But during this season of shopping and gift-giving, I've been feeling like I want to see what else is out there. So... where else and what else do you like to buy online? Also important with online shopping -- how good is their customer service/return policy?
posted by thelasttango at 1:17 PM - 29 answers

Now that it's cold, I'm appreciating my hiking socks, but I don't where I got them to buy more. Who makes or sells these brown or blue thick socks? [more inside]
posted by filthy light thief at 12:58 PM - 11 answers

I need a bomb proof travel mug with minimal plastic and a robust way to use a carbiner for attachment to backpack/bags. [more inside]
posted by jadepearl at 2:08 PM - 9 answers

I think my dad would enjoy getting a "nice" watch for Christmas, but have no idea what to buy or where to look for it. I'm aiming for a Wall Street executive aesthetic but for a couple hundred dollars, not thousands. [more inside]
posted by sepviva at 9:35 PM - 21 answers

What is the best quiet desk or other small fan? Priorities (in order of importance): quiet, small, sturdy build quality, long lasting, effectiveness at moving air, aesthetics, and price. I would usually just buy what Wirecutter recommends for a purchase like this but their fan reviews emphasize volume of air being moved, not quietness. I’ll put this fan either on my desk at work or under it to move the stale warm air around my cube.
posted by fieldtrip at 10:16 AM - 7 answers

Essentially looking for an update of this 2011 post. What's the best wooden train set for my little barbarian engineer in 2018? [more inside]
posted by Naberius at 11:40 AM - 17 answers

Recently bought a model 32B replacement foil/cutter for my Series 3 razor, and, even after a cleaning cycle, it yanked every beard hair longer than stubble and failed to give me anything remotely resembling a clean shave. Did I get a bad one-off or counterfeit, should I buy from a store or vendor other than Amazon, or are most or all current replacement 32B/32S's just bad? [more inside]
posted by anonymous at 7:01 AM - 1 answers

We've unexpectedly been given (actually, my husband won) a $750 gift card for Home Depot. We'd like to turn this into a new snowblower. Can you help us pick one that, uh, doesn't suck? [more inside]
posted by anastasiav at 6:09 AM - 14 answers

Sounds odd, but I can’t seem to find large scale, robust, semi realistic, jet plane toys. [more inside]
posted by inflatablekiwi at 6:59 PM - 3 answers

I'm buying 21 year old daughter X a PS4. 20 year old vegan Daughter Z isn't so interested in a PS4. She's asked me for books on feminism & socialism (making me a proud dad). She loves baking, ballet, tattoos, and being an angry feminist-socialist. She's super smart, but college wasn't her gig. Ideas? [more inside]
posted by arkham_inmate_0801 at 4:27 PM - 39 answers

My husband likes this brief-bag. However, the amazon reviews note some problems with the hardware and the (dire, IMO) problem of the dye rubbing off on clothes. Can you help me find a higher-quality option in a similar price range (under $150)? I want recs from brands you KNOW are good quality, I can find 500 brown leather briefbag options on e-bags myself, but I'm a little short on time to sort the wheat from the chaff. [more inside]
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 10:52 AM - 4 answers

I want to buy a small but good quality poster of a popularly reproduced painting. I'm Googled out. [more inside]
posted by nantucket at 6:38 AM - 3 answers

My husband and I are expecting a kiddo next year, in late February or early March. We are very lucky to be in a good financial position so we don't really want for much. My father-in-law has been asking us for gift ideas for this Christmas, and we're at a loss. Do you have any recommendations for items that really improved your own quality of life post-kid but wasn't specifically for the kid? [more inside]
posted by ancient star at 5:07 PM - 34 answers

I have a 9 and 7 year old who are both wanting spy paraphernalia. Everything looks so cheap when I go looking. Does anyone have any recommendations for anything that is actually useful and worth buying?
posted by cmm at 7:04 AM - 27 answers

My husband's preferred pillow is big and gusseted. Stuffing it into a regular pillowcase is a challenge, and it compresses the pillow in a way he dislikes. He'd like pillowcases for a present this year, but I'm having trouble finding the right ones. They need to be wider than almost any I've found, yet not overly long -- as close as possible to 22-24" wide x 33-36" long. (21" is definitely too narrow and king length of 40" is definitely too long... unless it's the only option and worth having it shortened.) [more inside]
posted by daisyace at 4:17 AM - 8 answers

Mrs. Sauce and I need to buy a used car! But we've been relying on a dealer shop for our car servicing needs for the past ten years and don't know where to take candidate cars to get them inspected -- taking them to a dealer shop seems ill-advised. Do you have an independent mechanic you like in Seattle?
posted by Sauce Trough at 7:54 PM - 8 answers