dEssence Blog
Ideas worth finding again.
Notes on AI, memory, saved knowledge, and the product patterns that make personal context useful instead of exhausting.
Target Circle Deals and Your Wish List: Tracking Both
A Target wish list and Circle offers live in different places, so a deal on something you saved is easy to miss. How to line them up before you shop, and what to watch yourself.
App to Remember Where You Put Things (and How to Find Them Again)
An app to remember where you put things works one of two ways. You record the exact spot as you put the item away, in a notes, memory or home inventory app, or a tracker like AirTag finds the item itself.
What to Put on a Wish List Before Black Friday, and How to Watch It
A Black Friday list is only useful if you built it early and know what each item cost before the sale. What belongs on the list by category, and how to watch a price so a struck-through number cannot fool you.
When did I last get an oil change? Honestly, no clue
Cannot remember your last oil change? Photograph receipts, save quick notes, and search your car's full service history in your own words.
Google Photos Favorites Disappeared or Not Syncing? What to Check
If Google Photos favorites disappeared, check the Google account first, then whether the photo backed up, Trash and Archive. On iPhone, Sync favorites with Apple Photos also removes a star when you remove the heart.
When Does Lululemon Restock Online? Alerts and We Made Too Much
Lululemon does not publish when it restocks online. Sign in, pick the color and size, and tap Notify me to hear when it is back. Check all store inventory shows how many are left at stores near you.
New Home Checklist: What to Buy in the First Month
A move splits into three purchases: the first night, the first week, and the things worth waiting for. What belongs in each, room by room, plus the measurements to take before you order anything.
I am standing in Home Depot trying to remember my wall color
Standing in the paint aisle trying to remember your wall color? Save photos and notes about your home, then ask for them the way you would describe them.
Secret Santa Ideas by Budget: $10, $20 and $25
Ten, twenty and twenty five dollars each buy a different kind of gift. What lands in each bracket, what looks more expensive than it is, and what to skip when you barely know the person.
Best Time to Buy a New Phone: Carrier Cycles and Trade In Windows
The best time to buy a new phone is right after its successor is announced or during holiday sales. For a carrier deal, compare totals: at Verizon, bill credits run 36 months and stop if you leave a required plan.
Are ChatGPT Chats Private? What AI Memory Stores in ChatGPT, Gemini and Claude
Other people can't see your ChatGPT chats unless you share one, but on a personal account OpenAI can train on them while Improve the model for everyone is on. What ChatGPT, Gemini and Claude store, for how long, and how to delete it.
When did that weird rash start? Why doctors always ask questions you cannot answer
Doctors ask when your symptoms started and you go blank. Here is why timeline questions stump everyone, and a simple way to actually have the answer.
Sephora Loves List Not Working: Fixing and Rebuilding It
If your Sephora Loves list is not working, sign in on sephora.com and open the heart icon labelled Loves or My Lists. Loves is now one of several lists there, so check them all, then compare the app before you remove anything.
Steam Wishlist Notifications: Why You Get No Sale Email and How to Fix It
Steam emails you when a wishlisted game gets a discount of 20% or more lasting over eight hours, at most once every two weeks per game. Check the Email box in Wishlist Activity, the category filter and your verified address.
Does Temu Show Price History? Why You Need an Outside Tracker
Temu shows you a current price and a crossed out one, and the second proves nothing. Why the usual price history tools do not work here, and how to build your own record with two saves and a screenshot.
After a year at the gym, I could not tell you what I lifted last week
Cannot remember what you lifted last week? Skip the gym notebook. Save quick voice notes, then ask for your history the way you would describe it.
Cozi vs Skylight Calendar: Which One Actually Gets Filled In
Choose Cozi if everyone in the family will open a phone app: it is free, and Gold costs $39 a year. Choose Skylight if plans need to sit on a kitchen screen: you buy the display, and the free app covers the calendar and lists.
Is digital hoarding a real condition? What the research actually says
Researchers have described digital hoarding since 2015 and built a scale to measure it, but it is not a diagnosis and cannot be one. What the four primary papers found, and why keeping a lot is not the problem.
Health articles saved: the information was never the problem
You have saved dozens of articles about sleep, nutrition and fitness. Your habits have not changed. Here is why saving health content does not change habits, and what does.
When Does Nike Restock Online? Restock Alerts and the Nike Wishlist
Nike has no set schedule for restocking online. It refills inventory as soon as stock is available, so a sold-out size can return at any hour. Watch the exact pair and size yourself, and use Notify me for new releases.
NotebookLM Alternatives in 2026
NotebookLM wants sources uploaded before it can help. If your material arrives through the day instead, that model works against you. The alternatives grouped by how your material actually shows up.
Price Match Policy Compared: Walmart, Best Buy, Costco, Lowe's
A price match policy decides which lower price a store will honor and until when. Walmart stores match only Walmart.com, Walmart.com matches no one, and Costco covers its own price drops within 30 days. Best Buy and Lowe's follow below.
Temu Wishlist Button Missing or Not Working
Temu does not document it, but its wishlist button is usually a heart labelled Save below the reviews, next to Product details. Sign in, update the app and open the full product page; saved items appear under You → Wishlist.
Udemy courses you never finish: the 3% problem
You bought a Udemy course on sale. You watched the first module. Your progress has sat at 3% for eight months. You are not alone, and it is not a motivation problem.
Omnivore Alternatives for Articles and Highlights
Compare Omnivore alternatives for reading, highlights, link storage and recall, then test imports and exports before moving your library.
Best Time to Buy Appliances: Sale Cycles at Home Depot, Lowe's, Costco
The best time to buy appliances is September and October for dishwashers, ranges, washers and dryers, and May for refrigerators, when last year's models get cleared. Count delivery and installation in the price.
Too many browser tabs open: the real reason you cannot close them
Too many browser tabs open usually means each tab is holding something you are afraid to forget. Save that thing somewhere you can find it, and the tab can close. Below: why it happens, and what to do when tabs reopen on their own.
Costco Price Adjustment Policy: The 30 Day Rules Explained
Costco gives you the difference when an item you bought drops in price within 30 days. Ask at the Returns counter of the warehouse where you bought it, or use the Request a Price Match form for costco.com orders. Other stores do not count.
Etsy Favorites Keep Disappearing: Why and Where They Go
Etsy favourites thin out on their own because shops close, listings expire and one-of-a-kind items sell. Here is what each cause looks like, what you can still recover, and how to save an Etsy find so it survives the shop.
Instagram places to visit: 80 saved reels. Zero actual trips.
Instagram is the best travel inspiration engine there is. It is also one of the worst planning tools. You save the reel and you never go. Here is why, and what fixes it.