The liberty-crushing coronavirus lockdown/shutdown hasn’t been easy for most of us. Most people aren’t used to being home all the time and unable to do the things we usually do to unwind. Many also struggle with the lack of availability of essentials. In the month or so of this lockdown, there are a number of things I have in my house that have truly proved to be vital household items. I’m not talking about obvious things like common house utilities (water, electricity, internet, etc.) but things that aren’t necessarily typical in every home. I don’t have $20,000 refrigerators like Nancy Pelosi, but I got a few things that have made this unfortunate situation easier.
6. An AeroGarden
I hadn’t heard of these until a few weeks ago when my wife mentioned she wanted to get one after she found it difficult to find herbs and fresh greens at the supermarket. We ordered one and now it’s set up and we can grow our own herbs, veggies, and greens in the house year-round. Obviously, we haven’t had an opportunity to harvest yet because we only got it a couple of days ago, but during this lockdown situation, this can save us a lot of hassle. It’s easy to set up, and because it’s hydroponic, plants grow five times faster. Because you’re growing inside, you don’t need herbicides or pesticides to protect them, and the seed pods you get through them are non-GMO (if that’s important to you). I expect we may actually get a second one at some point.
5. A Treadmill
Technically I suppose I can still legally go out for walks and runs on the road, but I live in New York State, and we’re probably not far off from even considering doing so being labeled a thought crime. Luckily for me, I have a treadmill in the house. Have I used it much during the lockdown? Honestly, no. I typically prefer to use it when my young son is not in the house for safety reasons, but, alas, school is closed, and he and I are home together most of the time.
4. An Extra Freezer
We have a counter-depth refrigerator in my house which limits the amount of storage we have for food requiring refrigeration or freezing. So, I got a chest freezer. In the two-plus years we’ve had it, it has never been more than half full, and probably mostly is at one-third capacity. That is until the coronavirus hit. When it was clear that everyone was stocking up on food, it was the sensible thing to do to stock up as well, and now the freezer is at least 85 percent full.
3. A Vacuum Sealer
I got one of these a couple of years ago, mostly to be able to properly cook things sous vide, but it’s also great for prolonging the shelf life of food and preventing freezer burn for stuff stored in the freezer. For a long while now, we’ve used the vacuum sealer for leftovers. Anything, even soups, can be put in a special bag, vacuum-sealed for freshness, and stored in the freezer for later. It can also be used to seal cereal bags, chip bags, and other packaged food to keep it fresher longer.
2. Air Purifiers
The lockdown has forced all of us to spend more time at home than we’re used to. And sadly, the weather hasn’t always been that great. We’ve even had snow in my area a couple of times in the month of April. So, yeah… we’re indoors a lot. I’m grateful that we have a couple of really good air purifiers in the house to keep the air clean while we’re all together in my house more than usual. I own two Molekule air purifiers, which have shown to kill other viruses in lab tests, and might actually do the same with the coronavirus. If you’re looking for an air purifier, I recommend getting one.
1. Hair Clippers
My hair is pretty easy to maintain. Shave it all off so no one can see that I’m bald.
Hey, it makes sense to me.
So, I’ve had hair clippers for years to maintain a smooth noggin. Recently though, when it became clear that my six-year-old son’s hair wouldn’t stop growing during the coronavirus and he was in desperate need of a haircut, those clippers were used to give him a much-needed trim.
Was it the best haircut ever? No way. But it did the job, and it will continue to do the job until the country is open again and we can get him to a barbershop. I can’t imagine trying to get his hair cut with scissors alone. Actually, I thought I did a decent job, and I suspect I’ll have to do it again a couple more times, and I am sure I’ll get better at it.
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Matt Margolis is the author of Trumping Obama: How President Trump Saved Us From Barack Obama’s Legacy and the bestselling book The Worst President in History: The Legacy of Barack Obama. You can follow Matt on Twitter @MattMargolis
