Patricia Black (u/black.patricia)

Posts

Rant: my whole week got wrecked by a stubborn piece of granite

Last week I was helping a buddy build a patio in his backyard, and we hit a huge slab of granite about two feet down. We thought it was just a big rock, but it was part of a solid ledge. I mean, we tried everything. We rented a jackhammer for a day, which cost us $85, and it barely made a dent. My arms were shaking for hours. After three days of this, we had to call a local guy with a mini excavator, which set the whole project back. It just stood out because I've dug up plenty of river rock and shale before, but this granite was like concrete. It really showed me how different rock types can totally change a simple job. Has anyone else had a project completely stalled by the wrong kind of bedrock?

2 comments

c/education-resources•

black.patricia•3d ago

Unpopular opinion: I ditched my expensive textbook for a free YouTube series and my grade jumped from a C to an A in two months.

The 'Crash Course' videos on U.S. History broke everything down into simple stories that actually stuck in my head, unlike the dense paragraphs I was forcing myself to read before.

2 comments

c/cosmetologists•

black.patricia•3d ago

A client showed me a picture of her 'balayage' that was clearly just a full head of foils

I've seen this mix-up at least five times in the last two months. People are asking for a soft, blended balayage but their old stylist gave them a solid line of highlights instead. It matters because the client ends up with a look they didn't want and a lot of correction work. I had to explain the difference using a picture of a real hand-painted highlight from my portfolio. How do you handle a client who comes in with a service they were told was one thing, but it's clearly another?

2 comments

c/community-tool-library•

black.patricia•4d ago

My buddy insisted we charge a $25 annual fee for our tool library, and he was dead right.

I argued it should be free, but after a year, that small fee covered our insurance and kept the 'borrow a drill once' crowd from draining our inventory. Anyone else find a small fee actually improves member commitment?

2 comments

c/fermenting-foods-at-home•

black.patricia•10d ago

I used to be scared of opening my kimchi jars early

For the first two years, I'd always wait a full seven days before even cracking the lid, worried I'd ruin the whole batch. Then my friend in Seattle, who's been making it for a decade, told me to just check it after three days and push the veggies back down if needed. I tried it on my last batch and the flavor was way better because I could actually taste it as it developed. Now I'm a convert to the early peek method. Does anyone else check their ferments more often than the recipe says?

2 comments

c/book-club-debates•

black.patricia•11d ago

Warning: Our book club almost broke up over whether the ending of 'The Secret History' was a cop-out or perfect.

Half of us, including me, thought the final chapter in Vermont was a brilliant, quiet tragedy, while the other half called it a lazy fade-out that ignored the central moral question, so which side are you on?

2 comments

c/bread-baking-basics•

black.patricia•1mo ago

My kneading routine has become my new stress relief!

I started making bread to save money on store bought loaves. At first, kneading felt like a hard job and I got annoyed. I decided to slow down and focus on the feel of the dough. Now, it's like a quiet time that helps me unwind. My bread has gotten better with a nicer crust. This small win has made baking something I really enjoy.

2 comments

Posts

Rant: my whole week got wrecked by a stubborn piece of granite

Unpopular opinion: I ditched my expensive textbook for a free YouTube series and my grade jumped from a C to an A in two months.

A client showed me a picture of her 'balayage' that was clearly just a full head of foils

My buddy insisted we charge a $25 annual fee for our tool library, and he was dead right.

I used to be scared of opening my kimchi jars early

Warning: Our book club almost broke up over whether the ending of 'The Secret History' was a cop-out or perfect.

My kneading routine has become my new stress relief!

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