My old way of watering my ferns in Chicago was killing them

For years, I'd just give my Boston ferns a quick splash every other day, and they always looked sad and brown at the tips. Then last spring, I watched a video from a local plant shop that said to soak the whole pot in a sink of water for 15 minutes once a week instead. I switched to that method about 8 months ago, and now the fronds are totally green and twice as full. It turns out they needed a deep drink to reach all the roots. Has anyone else found a better way to water plants that like a lot of moisture?

My automatic coop door failed to open at sunrise this morning, what's a good backup plan?

PSA: I thought those tiny backpacking pillows were a total waste of money.

Honestly, I slept on a rolled up fleece for years until my partner got me a Sea to Summit Aeros for a trip to the Sawtooths last month. Ngl, I slept through a whole thunderstorm and woke up without a stiff neck for the first time ever. Has anyone else had a piece of gear they thought was dumb that actually changed the game?