Found out my water pressure was 90 psi after buying a gauge from Home Depot

I was tired of my faucet always making that hammering sound when I turned it off, so I grabbed a $12 pressure gauge from the plumbing aisle on Thursday. Hooked it up to the outdoor spigot in my backyard and it read 90 psi, which I guess is way too high for a house like mine built in 1978 in Phoenix. No wonder I keep blowing out those rubber washers every 6 months. Anybody else deal with high pressure wrecking their fixtures?

Tried a different bevel prep on a boiler tube and it backfired bad

Overheard my COO say "we don't have process problems" during a standup

Last Tuesday we had our weekly ops sync and the COO said that line about not having process problems. I literally bit my tongue because our order fulfillment has a 12% error rate this quarter. We are still using a shared inbox for customer escalations and nobody owns the follow up. Last week a client waited 3 days for a response because three different reps thought someone else was handling it. I know for a fact our onboarding checklist hasn't been updated since 2021. Has anyone else dealt with leadership refusing to admit basic workflow gaps exist?

My 8-year-old nephew made me rethink how I pick games at the store

Last weekend my nephew asked why I always look at the back of the box first (you know, before even reading the theme). He said 'Uncle, you smell the game more than you look at it' and I laughed but then realized he was kind of right. I spend way too much time on mechanics and complexity ratings while ignoring if the game even feels fun to me. Has anyone else had a kid say something dumb that actually changed your whole approach to buying games?

Update: That guy who told me to quit using flux pens was right

I used to swear by flux pens for small board work. Then a repair shop owner in Denver watched me reflow a connector and said 'you're just pushing corrosion deeper with those things.' I didn't believe him until I looked under a scope at 40x and saw the residue trail. Switched to a syringe with gel flux and my joints actually flow right now. Has anyone else found flux pens cause more problems than they solve?

Unpopular opinion: I used to throw away rusted garden tools without thinking twice

Last week my pruners were so rusty I couldn't close them. Was about to toss em but read online that a soak in white vinegar for 24 hours works. I tried it and they look almost new, definitely keeping them next time.

Warning: I walked through a forest that was clear-cut near Salem last week

I was scouting a tree removal job on the edge of a property and noticed the entire hillside behind it was stripped bare. The owners told me the logging company left all the slash piles right up against the creek, and now there's runoff staining everything downstream. Has anyone else dealt with this kind of aftermath on their land or jobsites?

Finally saw my first real batch of compost after 4 months of waiting

I almost gave up when my countertop bin just smelled like rotten veggie scraps for weeks, but I kept adding shredded paper and turning it every few days. Yesterday I sifted out about 2 cups of dark, crumbly stuff that actually smelled like earth. Has anyone else had that moment where you doubted your method and then suddenly it works?

Had a power supply blow up on me during a test yesterday

I was testing an old Tektronix scope from the 80s and one of the filter caps let go with a bang and smoke. Made a real mess on my bench and now I'm wondering if the whole unit is toast or just that one part. Any tips on checking for collateral damage after a cap failure like this?

My old boss in Austin told me something I still think about

We were cleaning out the supply closet after a big project and he just stopped and said, 'You know, the only real job security is being the person who knows where the tape is.' It wasn't about the tape, it was about making yourself useful in small, real ways. What's a simple piece of advice that's stuck with you like that?