We habitually spend a lot of time in daily routines, and we hear about cool stuff from the same sources. As such, we tend to lack awareness of things that don’t have the capability to advertise broadly. So, what’s something you expect many people don’t hear about or consider for use in their life?

  • @Katana314@lemmy.worldOP
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    492 months ago

    It’s common to think of libraries as Public Book Rental, but recently most have expanded their services quite a lot.

    • Rentals of items many households may only need briefly, like tools to find insulation gaps
    • Online services that allow for digital renting of comics, manga, audiobooks, and even streaming services like Kanopy that have both old and new movies/TV shows
    • Printing services; so that you don’t need to buy an ink cartridge for one printout one month, then another 4 months later when that cartridge has dried
    • Tax prep assistance; because fuck Intuit

    Libraries were admittedly the reason I started the thread but I’m also curious what other things will be mentioned.

    • @VeryVito@lemmy.ml
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      102 months ago

      Libraries are one of the only public places left where you’re not expected to spend (or even need) money.

    • @kooks_only@lemmy.ca
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      22 months ago

      My library even has 5G routers you can rent for 3 months at a time. Really great option to get internet at home if you’re on a tight budget.

    • @neidu3@sh.itjust.worksM
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      2 months ago

      Shout out to the librarians in Gulfport, MS. They were really helpful and friendly when some haggard dork with a weird foreign accent showed up out of the blue in desperate need for a printer to deal with some DHS forms.

  • riquisimo
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    232 months ago

    Walking around the neighborhood.

    It’s good exercise, you can meet your neighbors, and sometimes you can pick up something someone is throwing away that’s in good condition.

    • Libb
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      82 months ago

      100% this.

      It changed my life, literally from being barely able to walk a few steps (even getting the mail at the door, I would then had to rest for the entire day) to be walking miles almost every single day of the year. It all started by walking a few feeble steps in my neighborhood, one day after the other. And it took me less than a year to get back into, let’s say, a functional shape.

          • @creamlike504@jlai.lu
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            22 months ago

            They are, however, more likely to call the cops to report a “suspicious person” “loitering” around the neighborhood.

            Then couch-hunting turns into threading the needle on a law enforcement interaction on eggshells, because maybe the officers who pull up are scared of you and have received more “warrior” training than de-escalation training.

  • toomanypancakes
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    142 months ago

    Playing an instrument, it’s something I think everyone should try to learn to do at some point. It’s mentally stimulating, it’s creative, and it can be a lot of fun. You don’t have to be good at it to be good enough for you to enjoy.

  • @Gerudo@lemm.ee
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    72 months ago

    Geocaching. I used to do it all the time, and need to start back up.

    If you don’t know, it’s basicly a gps based treasure hunt. Some hunts are one and done, and others are multistage riddles to solve.