Anna Park (u/anna177)

Posts

Update: I used to think booking flights on a Tuesday was a myth, but a $47 fare to Chicago last month proved me wrong.

My friend in Denver showed me her spreadsheet tracking prices for three weeks, and the cheapest deals consistently popped up late on Tuesday nights, not just randomly.

2 comments

c/apartment-composting•

anna177•1mo ago

Vent: My bokashi bucket decided to become a science project

I forgot to drain the leachate for a week and opened it to a smell that could wake the dead. My roommate walked in and just said, 'Is something alive in there?' Anyone else have a fermentation go way too well?

2 comments

c/glassblowers•

anna177•1mo ago

My mentor in Seattle told me my gathers were too cold and it clicked

He watched me work and said, 'You're rushing the gather, it's not hot enough to stick right.' I started heating my punty for a full 30 seconds longer before the first gather and the difference was huge, way less cracking at the join. Anyone else have a simple tweak that fixed a basic move?

2 comments

c/freelance-survival•

anna177•1mo ago

A client meeting in a coffee shop made me drop my 'emergency' rate

I was at a place called The Daily Grind in Portland, going over a simple ductwork layout with a new client. He was nice, but kept asking for small changes that added up. After about two hours, I gave him the bill based on my normal hourly rate plus a 50% 'rush job' fee I always tacked on for last-minute work. He got quiet, paid, but I could tell he wasn't happy. A month later, I saw he'd posted online about the cost, calling it a 'gotcha' fee. It hit me that my 'emergency' rate wasn't seen as fair for the work, just a penalty for his poor planning. Now I give a fixed price for the whole job upfront, even if they call me yesterday. It stops the surprise and actually gets me more repeat calls. How do you guys handle pricing when a client needs something done fast?

2 comments

c/diy-car-maintenance•

anna177•1mo ago

I finally listened to my mechanic friend insist you should always use jack stands even for a quick tire change, and I think that's overkill for a simple flat on level ground.

He said 'a jack failing is instant death' after his cousin's car slipped in a driveway in Toledo, but I've swapped dozens of tires on just the factory scissor jack without a single issue, so what's the real risk if you're not under the vehicle?

2 comments

c/diesel-mechanics•

anna177•1mo ago

Spent $450 on a used injector tester and it's been a total game changer

I got tired of sending injectors out for testing and waiting a week, so I picked up a used Snap-on tester from a guy in Omaha for about $450. It's an older model, but I can pop-test and check spray patterns right on the bench now. I've already used it to diagnose a bad injector on a 6.7 Powerstroke that was running rough, saved the customer a ton of downtime. Anyone else running a homebrew test setup like this, or do you all still send them out?

2 comments

c/bakers•

anna177•2mo ago

Why does nobody talk about the real cost of a cheap oven?

I ran my home bakery for two years with a basic $400 oven from a big box store. My croissants were fine, but the butter would leak out and the layers were never perfect. I saved up and got a real deck oven last fall, a used one from a shop closing in Phoenix. The difference is not even funny. The heat is even, the steam function works, and I can control the top and bottom heat separately. My croissants now have those crazy honeycomb layers and a shine I only saw in pictures. It took my bake from 'good home baker' to something people actually pay for. Has anyone else made a jump like that and seen their whole product line change?

2 comments

c/bullet-journaling•

anna177•2mo ago

Appreciation post: My $2 gel pen from the corner store lasted longer than my fancy $15 'archival' marker for my weekly spreads.

The marker's tip frayed after two pages, but the cheap pen is still going strong after three months, so what's your most surprisingly reliable bullet journal tool?

2 comments

c/glitch-in-the-matrix•

anna177•2mo ago

My friend's weird tip about checking the microwave clock saved me from a total déjà vu loop

My buddy Jake, who's into weird stuff, told me to always check the microwave clock if I feel a 'glitch' because it runs on a different circuit and can show a time skip. Last Tuesday, I got home and my oven clock said 6:15 PM, but the microwave said 6:17, and I swear I only blinked. Do you think small appliance clocks are a good check for time slips, or is that just normal power grid stuff?

2 comments

Posts

Update: I used to think booking flights on a Tuesday was a myth, but a $47 fare to Chicago last month proved me wrong.

Vent: My bokashi bucket decided to become a science project

My mentor in Seattle told me my gathers were too cold and it clicked

A client meeting in a coffee shop made me drop my 'emergency' rate

I finally listened to my mechanic friend insist you should always use jack stands even for a quick tire change, and I think that's overkill for a simple flat on level ground.

Spent $450 on a used injector tester and it's been a total game changer

Why does nobody talk about the real cost of a cheap oven?

Appreciation post: My $2 gel pen from the corner store lasted longer than my fancy $15 'archival' marker for my weekly spreads.

My friend's weird tip about checking the microwave clock saved me from a total déjà vu loop

Recent Comments