r/lifehacks

Just got my passport renewal back and I'm still annoyed about the photo situation. Went to CVS, waited 20 minutes, paid $16, and the employee literally painted over the background with a brush tool on some ancient software. The digital copy they emailed me was the unedited version - wrong background, completely unusable for the online upload.

Eventually figured out I could just take the photo at home against a white wall with my phone and get it done properly for basically nothing. The state dept has a free cropping tool that handles the formatting. Printed a backup copy at Walgreens photo for $0.29 just in case.

I regret every CVS passport photo I've ever paid for. Anyone else made the switch to doing it at home? What's your workflow?

Hey! I was carrying fish in my car and then the water from the fish spilled into my car seats and my car smells like fish. No matter what I do it won’t go away. Can anyone suggest anything! I asked ChatGPT too but it didn’t help much.

I live alone in a city apartment, and the noise is starting to wear me down. It’s not one huge problem, more like a constant mix of street noise, people in the hallway, footsteps upstairs, and random music from nearby units.I’ve tried earplugs, white noise, closing the windows, and even adding a heavier rug. Some of it helps, but I don’t love feeling completely blocked off from the world. Since I live by myself, I still want to hear important stuff like my phone, the doorbell, or something unusual happening nearby.Has anyone found a good middle ground? I’ve been wondering if open-ear sleep earbuds, noise-reducing earbuds with transparency mode, or something similar would help lower the background noise without making me feel unsafe or totally isolated.Not looking for perfect silence, just something that makes the apartment feel calmer while still letting me stay aware of what’s going on.

Stretch a rubber band lengthwise across the open paint can from rim to rim. Wipe your brush across it instead of the edge. The paint drips back into the can, the rim stays clean and the lid actually seals properly when you're done. Ruins nothing, costs nothing, saves the lid every single time.

I've been recommended Silicone spray which worked... for a short while. Also been told the solvents in it may attack the rubber in the long term. Another perhaps more believable trick was to apply some vaseline. Haven't tried anything besides the silicone yet as I'm waiting for sound advice from a kind internet stranger. 😄

Edit: not sure about anything, found a bunch of somewhat contradicting info online...

If you have a power strip hidden under your desk that looks like a tangled mess of identical cables, save the plastic clips from bread loaves. Use a permanent marker to write the device name (PC, Monitor, Lamp, Router) on the clip, and snap it onto the cord right near the plug. No more playing Russian Roulette when you need to unplug a specific device

No matter how carefully I try to wrap my wired earphones, the second I toss them into my pocket or backpack, they magically tie themselves into an impossible knot. I feel like I spend way too much time just untangling them before I can actually listen to anything.

Does anyone have a quick, reliable wrapping method or a simple DIY trick to keep them organized? I'm looking for a low-effort everyday solution that doesn't involve buying a bulky case or a special cord winder.

I want an app that...

• is intuitive and easy to use (rules out Obsidian - this one drove me insane as a tech noob)
• syncs across my devices (Windows laptop, iPhone and iPad)
• has a decent free tier (I don't have the money for a subscription)
• lets you add tags and backlinks
• lets you add tables (rules out OneNote)
• lets you add images that you can view on any of your devices (rules out Zotero - images show up as empty boxes on my phone)
• lets you search within a note (rules out Notion)
• doesn't glitch endlessly (rules out Amplenote - web version has started working SUPER slowly)

I've used Obsidian, Notion, Amplenote, Zotero and OneNote and I can't figure out why this is so hard. Is this really too much to ask? Is anyone else having a tough time with finding their holy grail notes app? (Esp as a student)

I almost want to switch to MS Word to make my study notes, but its formatting glitches make me stabby. Plus, no zettelkasten-like possibility there, which I'd really like.

I used to deal with subscription or billing issues the moment I noticed them, and it always ruined my focus. A small charge I didn’t recognize would turn into 45 minutes of digging through account settings, waiting on chat support, or trying to find a cancellation button that was hidden somewhere weird. The thing that helped was making a simple “admin list” on my phone. Anytime I notice a subscription, refund issue, billing mistake, or account problem, I add it there instead of dealing with it immediately. Then once a week, I sit down with coffee and handle all of them together with my card statement open. It sounds boring, but it stopped these tiny problems from taking over random parts of my week. I also catch recurring charges faster now because I’m looking at everything in one session instead of reacting one by one.

I have a $34 charge from a subscription I cancelled three months ago. Every time I call I get put on hold or transferred and never reach an actual resolution. I've tried twice. Is there a smarter way to go about this that doesn't involve sacrificing another afternoon to hold music?

Does anyone have any tips for undoing Gorilla Glue?

I have a sentimental ceramics piece that was reassembled incorrectly with Gorilla Glue and need to take it apart. So far I've tried soaking in acetone and warm soapy water (separately) with no luck.

UPDATE BELOW: Here's hoping someone here has a hack for this. I do a lot of cooking and freezing soup, and have somehow managed to get three soup containers STUCK IN MY FREEZER. Obviously I overfilled them and when they froze, they popped up a bit. The shelf has a little lip on it, and the containers each nested into the others' lids.

I'm dying to figure out if I can get them out without having to completely defrost my freezer.

Things I tried:
Standing there with the door open, swearing.
Pulling real hard.
Removing the shelf (it's fixed)

I'm tempted to borrow a hack saw and try to saw the middle one in half.

Hacks pls?
—-

Update:
I showed all of this to my husband. While I was prepping the materials to do some hot water/ blowdryer solvin’, i heard a huge crash.

Husband pulled really hard on the middle soup, it cracked the top container & destroyed middle soup container & lid, and it all ended up on the kitchen floor.

He looked proud, if slightly startled. I felt much relief, and great joy that no power tools were actually needed in my freezer. RIP those two soups, although the bone broth is still perfect.

Pic below.

​

https://preview.redd.it/irsq5yg57s1h1.jpg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=bf57319205eb01d785e80777d274b771a45f8e38

Not sure if a lot of people know this, but most of the people I know don’t. Or, they refuse to believe it. Anyway here it is

Straight into the air fryer, 130 degrees celsius, 10 minutes

Thank me later

Take enough water to coat the back of the throat into your mouth and tilt your head upwards. The threat of inhaling the water while hiccuping will override the body's urge to hiccup again.

For a few years i would load up my hinges with WD40, olive oil, motor oil, oil, anything lubricant. Still squeaked a lot sooner than when i used Vaseline.

It lasted a lot longer and the squeak came back quietly, compared to the other ones i used.

Never trust yourself making life decisions after 1 AM. At that hour, suddenly quitting your job and moving to the mountains sounds reasonable.

I used a closet auger (also known as a toilet snake) to break through a nasty clog in my parent’s guest bathroom. Unfortunately I left a few scratches, and I knew it was a good thing I cleared it because I knew my mom would shit upon seeing that. Fortunately I looked up to how to properly use a closet auger so I didn‘t repeat my mistake and the guy said if you do scratch the porcelain a few licks with very fine sandpaper would do the trick.

I had some black sandpaper (for metallic surfaces) and he was correct indeed. Took a bit more than a ”few licks” but in less than a minute the scratches were gone. The toilet (at least 25 years old) also had a stain all along the water level. Another minute or so and that was gone as well. Mom was pleased and wanted to know my secret. Tell her and admit I fucked up? I remained mute but did the rest of the toilets to keep my sin secret.