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Elmer's/Borden's siliconized acrylic latex glue/caulk; sometimes labeled "Elmer's Squeeze 'N Caulk" (with or without copper anti-mold ingredient depending on application; school-glue-style container & just the right fluidity makes it easier to apply; cures tough; good for more than kitchens & bath-rooms, e.g. book repair, temporary shoe repair)
Chair-Loc (chair dowel-joint wood-expanding repair)
easy-change air filters
easy-change water filters
blueberry: preserves/jam (Smucker's from Orrville)
yogurt (Publix blueberry, German chocolate, cherry, mixed berry)
fresh-picked blackberries (sometimes blackberry jam/preserves)
some fresh-picked raspberries
freeze-dried berries & berry powder
fresh-picked Red Delicious apples
MicroRave brownies
sassafras root tea
gunpowder tea with a teaspoon of rose hips
earl Grey tea
Graeter's French hand-packed ice cream
Solgar vitamin D3
"wedding cookies" with anise (fake licorice) & confectioners sugar
horehound rock candies
real licorice candies (real licorice)
those little maple-leaf-shaped maple cookie/candies
dark chocolate
Ovaltine or un-sweetened cocoa powder to mix with...
Folger's freeze-dried instant coffee
pizza (lack of edible pizza in crazy left-coast California made me appreciate real pizza: thin & cripsy crust; thick crust loaded with real food; appreciating Pasquale Gramaglia, "Dago Pat", LaRosa's, GodFather's, Minsky's, & others through numerous life stages & software product development, functional & performance tests & demonstrations; the closest they had in crazy California was at PizzaPort)
Astro-Chef/Control Data big, heavy-duty microwave ovens (that last & last for decades, good interface that let you program in a sequence: thaw/warm-up, full-blast cook, keep-warm-at-eating-temperature... but, OK, a built-in turn-table & built-in surge suppression would have made them even better)
navel oranges, some tangeloes, some Clementine, some mandarin oranges, rarely tangerines
fresh chilled watermelon
cinnamon
Italian herb blend (thyme, oregano, rosemary... Publix, McCormick)
McCormick pumpkin pie spice (somehow, they get the "right" proportions, the right blend)
mouth-wash/-rinse with thymol, eucalyptol, methyl salicylate (is also an effective mitocide, nasal disinfectant)
CAD/CAM/CAE software (e.g. ICEM/DDN extremely high-res 2.5D wire-frame w surface image rendering, Intergraph (pretty slick), ComputerVision (clunky))
Cincinnati Milacron high-res 3-axis & 5-axis milling machines
Cincinnati, Inc. tools (Shafer/Schaeffer/Schaeper plant on Kilby road) ditto
Pentel (made in Tokyo, Japan & Jacksonville, FL): Pilot Precise v5 & v7 (liked the earlier permanent ink models slightly better; the writing balls on newer ones tend to get gummed up with bits of paper & seem to have balls made of curled-up wire; blue, red, black, lime-green, green, ...); Pilot G-2 07 gel-ink click pens (blue, red, black)
Pentel Click 0.7 Twist-Erase pencil (made in Mexico the last I saw)
Sanford Sharpie (black, red, orange, green...; write on clean glassware in the lab)
Black & Decker drills, back when they were made in the USA to last 20, 30, 40, 50 years before the bearings wore out, instead of the current trash that may last 3 years if you are lucky... have merged with Stanley who followed the same price-inflation-driven path into the trash-pit ("simulated diamond" screw-driver tips; pfffft) and, hopefully, back out
Craftsman channel-lock pliers (were made in the USA) in several sizes
Vice Grips (regular, needle-nosed, tiny, huge; made in the USA; beware items labelled "drop forged")
Stanley screw-drivers (when they were made in the USA from decent steel)
spoke-shaves/draw-knives (& similar specialized shapers, e.g. for moldings/mouldings)
high-carbon steel hunting knives (if you want artsy & extreme flexible strength, go for the many-times-folded layers of soft & hard steel)
"SuperSocket"... if you can't find the right sized socket in your tool-boxes (works well for some situations, but might mess up some nuts, bolt-heads)
ratcheting strap for clamping wood in position or gluing, etc.
torx-head screws (of all sizes, diameters..., not just "cabinet screws")
replacement B&D ratchet handles for screw-driver kits
screw extractor bits
rust bonders/reformers/converters (usually a milky liquid, painted or sprayed on, bonds with rust, turns flat black & serves as primer; actually works better the worse the surface rust is because it reacts with the rust itself; POR-15, Gempler's, Rust-Oleum, Eastwood, Rust Kutter, Grainger, FDC Ultra Rust Converter, Evapo-Rust, Kimball MidWest Rust Master Plus, Extend, Corroseal, CorrVerter, Permatex, VHT SP229, Black Star MRO, AP Products 154, TotalBoat, Rustzilla, Rust Bullet, Chassis Saver, Zero Rust; 16oz, 32oz spray or by the gallon; tannic acid which may cause rust at edges, latex & other polymers)
rust removers (for painting/re-painting preparation; e.g. Rust Bullet Metal Blast? [have not tried that particular product])
crocus cloth (like sand-paper but on a more flexible cloth backing)
wet-or-dry super-fine-grit polishing sheets (400, 440, 500, 600)
high-zinc paints ("cold galvanizing")
aluminum paints
oil & wax wood finishes & preservatives (we still need a better, tougher surface coat that works with them... and tung oil does not get anywhere near hard enough)
"Parade Gloss" cordovan & brown & neutral wax wood finisher with silicone (labelled as shoe polish; gives mild protection against moisture, semi-gloss shine, not a hard finish)
bees-wax
Restor-A-Finish
Feed-N-Wax
"Danish oil"
Armor All Extreme Shield (silicone & UV blockers to protect plastic, wood, metal; but do not try to use it under other finishes & polish)
water-based deck sealers (?)
silicone for protecting metal from humidity/moisture (needs to be re-applied, especially in humid & wet climates; does not work well as water-proofer for clothing)
Teflon + silicone lubricant for protecting metal from humidity/moisture (DuPont & WD-40 variant & other brands work well but need to be re-applied periodically in high-humidity & wet environments)
WD-40 penetrating oil with silicone
penetrating oil
Boy Scout folding pocket knives (they had a good selection of blades, awl, can opener...without going unusable crazy)
vinyl Boy Scout poncho with the zip-lock zipper at the neck (lighter than the old coated canvas, but not too light, heavier than those over-priced brittle, easily-shredded disposables near the grocery check-out)
heavy brown/green or camo khaki pants
integral frame back-packs (30lb-100lb capacity, maybe 2-3 cubic feet, with lots of strap attachment points -- top, bottom, sides; thick, wide shoulder strap padding... they are never quite big enough on the inside, but hang too low in back on the outside 😎)
Silva liquid-filled compasses (with measuring edges for use with map scales)
receive-only GPS/geo-coder (but, perhaps, with panic transmit button made so it does not get accidentally turned on)
water-proof over-shoe rubber rain boots with 3-5 lever/buckles for adjustable fit
magnesium, flint & steel camp-fire starters
votive &/or emergency candles
UV water treatment sticks
geraniol (3%+), cedar, cinnamon, thymol, eucalyptol, limonene, mint, lemongrass mosquito & other bug killers & repellants like STEM & EcoSmart (honey-bee friendly, doesn't burn eyes or skin, doesn't smell bad)
big iron dutch ovens (recently read a bit of history which featured their multiple utility)
laser room/construction measurers
high-res (finer than half a millimeter) 3-D surface scanners for testing parts, scanning surfaces to decipher engravings, for 3-D printing...
carpenter "rules"
steel measuring tapes (various lengths), cloth-re-inforced composite measuring tapes
machinist calipers (inside & outside)
micrometers
weed-whackers (Stihl, Pouland...; yard vacuums are OK; dust-blowers are evil!; they still need to improve cutting-line reels, dispensers, line length adjustment; I prefer gasoline, but see some improvement in battery-powered motors)
pruning-pole style light-duty chain-saws
Velcro (but they still need to do a lot more work to make them hold up longer)
Goof Off
rotary tiller accessories for small tractors (small tractors with smaller turning radius for small fields/big gardens, and lighter than medium-sized tractors so as not to pack down the soil, but with big deep-tread tires for... traction)
ditto rake/vacuums with bins/bed to haul it to the compost pile (bags are too cumbersome)
3/4 length axes (20"-22" handle; not quite as much leverage, but more precisely manageable; WOOX in NC has some nice-looking axes)
mattock/hoe (long-handled, heavy enough to dig deeper into soil better than light garden hoes can, but not as heavy as a pick-hoe or pick-axe, not a combination garden-hoe + tined-cultivator, but with wide & narrow blades {about 5" & 2"} that are oriented opposite each other, not at right-angles, so, you can go along with the wide head & give the long-handle a twist to flip to the narrow head ro work a narrower space or break up harder soil, then quickly twist it back; kind of like a 2-headed grub-hoe but lighter; more like the Rogue brand "trail hoe" or "Seymour MidWest ProValue Garden Hoe Mattock")
triangular "Warren" hoe is handy for planting
light hand-plow (light large-diameter spoked-wheel, handles to push) with a garden-trowel blade, is handy for preparing rows for planting in already-loosened soil... and covering the seeds after (some have a place near/in front of the axle where you can attach a strap or rope for an assistant to pull)
2-man cross-cut saw
rotary tillers (light, heavy, narrow, wide, PTO from tractor or with its own engine & pulled by tractor depending on your lawn/garden/field & soil conditions)
⚠Warning: There are a lot of over-priced cheap-trash tools out there which will lose their heads/business-ends, a lot made out of metal that is too cheap, too light/thin, won't keep an edge or take an edge.⚠
string
twine (for string-beans to climb)
tableware sorting trays
curtain hangers (S-hooks that make it easier to take down & put back up... & launder the curtains)
hack-saw blades
open-end hack-saw (for those places traditional bow-hack-saws cannot fit, even sideways)
bow-saws (16" - 28")
re-sharpenable pruning saws (20+ inch cutting edges)
Black & Decker portable/foldable work-bench
draw-saws
carpenter's saws (cross-cut & rip) & pruning saws with cutting edge longer than 20 inches and thick enough not to bend during normal sawing
some saws with heat- or laser-hardened teeth because they go longer without need for re-sharpening (OTOH are more brittle and more difficult to re-sharpen)
bug-screen (copper, aluminum, polywhatzis [fiberglass does not seem to work well))
hardware cloth (comes in half-inch, quarter-inch square mesh, usually galvanized/zinc electro-plated or dipped)
cup hooks
3M "Scotch Magic" tape
thicker (about ⅛") silicone tape, double-sticky with protective plastic
blue dress-shirts with white collar (NOT made in Red China; fit, comfy, durable; 2 pockets; narrow red&white&blue vertical stripes or solid baby-blue, pink, gray, black, yellow, etc., with white collar)
3-piece suits & thick wool over-coats with wide over-lap, that fit (thank you, Victor & Margie Engle at Nadler's!!!)
income to afford multiple suits & the dry-cleaning
comfy denim over-alls
Wrangler tack-shop jeans (made in Kansas City? formerly made in KC? durable; comfier than those other guys', comfier than their own other lines; found near the San Dieguito river a mile or so above the race track)
Swedish farmer/ushanka/Czech/Matt Ridgway Winter hats (with a fold-up base-ball cap bill & furry ear flaps that can be snapped or tied up or down)
good water-proof dress rain/trench-coat with vented over-lapping panels & Gore-Tex to release steam/vapor & block out the rain & sleet)
waxed/oiled moisture-resistant wool coats (but the scratchiness you can keep)
shoes & hiking boots (NOT made in Red China) (that are actually the size they are labelled, comfy, durable wear-surface, cushioning between wear-layer & inner sole & replaceable cushion inside; durable durable durable should last 5 years of hiking over rough rocks, not 7-10 months!!!)
over-shoes
pith helmet (saw once in a Banana Republic catalog, along with a spiffy Italian waiter white jacket)
goose-neck kitchen spigot with built-in sprayer-head on retractable hose
clear, heavy vinyl shower curtains with art-work (opera stage, tropical plants...)
Farah Fawcett shampoo with vitamins (some female-type people like the scent)
cedar oil shampoo/soap (Every Man Jack, unortunately they have removed the actual cedar oil, geraniol, w only tiniest hint of citronella; another once good product wrecked)
cedar oil de-odorant/anti-perspirant (Every Man Jack, unortunately they have removed the actual cedar oil, geraniol, w only tiniest hint of citronella; another once good product wrecked)
Clairol: Herbal Essence: juniper, birch leaves, cinchona, melissa, and mountain gentian (sounds like a prophylactic against mosquito-borne diseases, but smells good... not the stuff with melons, mango, vegetables, etc.)
Borax/Borateem kitchen & bath-room cleaner with EDTA chelating agent which quickly dissolves mineral & soap scum & easily rinses off
Publix H₂O₂ unscented, undyed, detergents & non-chlorine bleach (including hydrogen peroxide laundry bleach)
roomy family cars & trucks that you sit upright in that can comfortably hold all of the family's impedimenta [luggage, toys, tools, building materials, snacks, musical instruments...], with bodies like eighth-inch armor-plate & even heavier shock-absorber-mounted bumpers, that get 50 miles per gallon at 70-100 miles per hour 500-1000 mile per re-fueling/re-charging due to improved fundamental engine design (analogous to the break from rotary-cylinder internal combustion to turbo-jet, not mass-shaving gimmicks)... and it should fly...above roads, buildings, trees, hills, 350KV transmission lines, etc. Without those accursed babbling GPS transceivers, without defective India & Red China electronics. With EFI & carburetion automatically adjusting to altitude, humidity, air pressure, oxygen levels. Intermittent & variable-speed wipers are good. Frangible steering columns are good. 4-point harnesses are good, but 3-point harnesses are uncomfortable, asymmetrical, strain-generating. Exploding dash-boards & steering columns are bad. Privacy-violating government & protection-racket spy-cameras & telemetry are evil. Vehicles should be 97% owner-driver serviceable/maintainable! Give the driver/owner control, not the power-mad, privacy-hating, liberty-hating watermelon climate hysterics & gooberment bureaubums!)
"[The automobile is a] suit of armor with 200 horses inside, big enough to make love in. Once having tasted the delights of a society in which almost everyone can be a knight, it is hard to go back to being a peasant." --- Kenneth Boulding _The Green Life-style HandBook_ [quoted in Reason Magazine in the 1980s]
do NOT brush, power-brush, scrub, rub, sand, grind, or power-wash; do not use acidic cleaners (e.g.vinegar, chlorine bleach), do not use basic cleaners (e.g.ammonia)... because some materials will crumble, disintegrate; , do not use sealants (they can trap moisture inside the stone or metal & corrode or split it when, e.g. the temperature changes) Ask the folks in charge of the place.
D2 or D/2 (to fight mold, mildew, etc.; is used on national monuments)
Citra-Shield
Wet & Forget [is very mild, expensive, but not always impressively effective, your-mileage-may-vary]:
Cemetery Conservators for United Standards (CCUS) monument cleaning methods (ask the folks in charge of the cemetery)
3M door-bottom draft-stop strip
3M window insulation kit (double-sided tape & large sheet plastic; stick tape around window, press on plastic film, shrink film using hair-dryer to stretch it smooth, peel it off when the weather gets better, but impractical to take off & re-install repeatedly; can buy double-sided tape separately)
3M (heavy, permanent, difficult to remove weather seal, e.g.for windows when storm-windows & multi-layer windows are too expesive)
ATack (peel-away weather seal, e.g.for windows)
DAP Seal 'n Peel (peel-away caulk)
DraftStop (peel-away weather seal, e.g.for windows)
Duck window insulation kit (double-sided tape & large sheet plastic; stick tape around window, press on plastic film, shrink film using hair-dryer to stretch it smooth, peel it off when the weather gets better, but impractical to take off & re-install repeatedly; can buy double-sided tape separately)
Frost King plastic (permanent, difficult to remove weather seal, e.g.for windows)
GelTape (peel-away weather seal or masking tape, e.g.for windows, trim painting, "for washable painted surfaces or other washable surfaces")
PeelAway (peel-away weather seal, e.g.for windows)
Proxicast silicone tape (sticks-to-itself, stretchy, peel-away temporary hose, cable, pipe water-sealing tape)
Roof Max (asphalt/fiberglass shingle coating to extend time between over-/re-shinglings)
silicone tape that is stretchy & sticks to itself
weather-strip foam tape
Dumond Peel Away (peel-away paint remover)
ear-training (frequency recognition) apps (for musicians, singers, etc.)
voice-training apps (for singers, actors, speakers, people with Asperger's/autism, etc.)
music-composition/synthesizer apps that can record from & play through MIDI devices while also allowing composition & editing on displayed "charts"
CADDKey (CAD/CAM/CAE)
Pro*Engineer (CAD/CAM/CAE; did not work well when I played with it but perhaps improved since then; the implementation of "lathing" a bit bizarre)
OpenSCAD (copyleftist; low-res; dimensions in mm; sits astride wire-frame & additive solid model; odd default definition of axes but which complements their 3D printer; CAD/CAM for 3D printing/additive manufacturing)
Fusion 360 (inexpensive low-res CAD/CAM for 3D printing/additive manufacturing)
TinkerCAD (inexpensive low-res CAD/CAM for 3D printing/additive manufacturing)
StepCraft CNC router
SaniPik (super-sonic water-pick)
Crud Cutter
ACT Cleaners
Drainbow (bacterial/enzyme-based drain cleaner)
Roebic Laboratories (bacterial cultures & enzymes for drains & septic systems)
Green Gobbler (enzymes)
TracSafe (non-slippery Daich coatings for concrete surfaces)
Lie-Nielsen ToolWorks planes, spoke-shaves, draw-knives, hand-routers
E.E. Emmerich Werkzeugfabrik (work-tool fabricators)
OdorXit (multiple odor oxidizers)
EdenPure (odor oxidizing air filters)
Fog-U-Mold
Permagrit (sanding blocks, rods, files, blades)
Fox infra-red scope 3-9x40mm
12x Astroscope
permeable/porous pavement
(super-)porous concrete paving
foam concrete/foamcrete
dense concrete (heat sink)
stone tile flooring (forgotten oldie but probably goodie on proper under-layer)
low- & high-density brick & block (low-density are light-weight, provide some small degree of insulation, and less wear & tear on the hands & joints of masons; high-density provide heat-sink, a sort of heat inertia: if it gets cold, it says cold longer; if it gets hot, it stays hot longer, heating up & cooling down more slowly)
porcelean-surface or other low-porosity brick (probably more resistant to destruction by e.g. English ivy)
Hydroblox (porous blocks for drainage, various sizes including 7 foot by 5 inch)
Easy Composites
Plaster Weld
Quikrete (textured acrylic, recap, resurface, vinyl repair, stucco-patch, hydraulic)
Concrete Weld
QuickSeal Ultra
Masonry Defender
grout cleaner
brushable sealants (e.g.silicone not optimal in every application)
specialized brad drivers
Bionic gardening gloves
PowerPro screws (Hillman)
DynaTrap
Tear Mender
Roxul insulation (rock-wool?)
Blue Bear paint remover (made from soy)
Franmar paint remover
Git Rot (mold/mildew/fungus treatment for wood)
Ahh-Some (enzyme-based dish-washer drain-cleaner, hot-tub drain cleaner...)
Blaster (lubricants, penetrating, silicone...)
Granite Gold (grout cleaner, granite surface cleaner & sealers)
⚠Warning: There are a lot of over-priced cheap-trash tools out there which will lose their heads/business-ends, a lot made out of metal that is too cheap, too light/thin, won't keep an edge or take an edge.⚠
Black & Decker seems to have gone through a period of extreme quality degradation while shipping manufacture to Red China, but some recent products appear to have improved
Stanley Tools went through a period of extreme quality degradation while shipping manufacture to Red China, following Jack Welch's lead & under the bad guidance of McKinsey; but a change of executives seems to have restored their corporate culture of high quality.
Shark Grip (breathable, water soluble acrylic paint additive)
Geltape (better masking tape)
Defy "extreme" paints
Motsenbacher's silicone remover
RidX (septic tank, drain clearer)
TriCalm
escutcheons for around door handles
Illinois Tool Works nail-guns
Signature Hardware (to match old gear for old building resoration)
TOY: GAN 2x2, 3x3, 4x4, 4-sided triangular-faced pyramid, & pentagonal-sided (dodecahedron?), magnetic-link, speed-enhanced twisty puzzle block thingies, from tiny key-fobs to just under 27 cubic inches
bad
smelly-stuff:
Brut
English Leather
Chanel
Shalimar
lavender
bad-tasting: mouth-rinse/-wash: cetyl pyridinium
saws that use "scratch-teeth" (mainly because they don't eject the saw-dust as effectively and because they are more difficult to re-sharpen)