Patricia Black (u/black.patricia)

Posts

Had a line cook tell me mise en place is overrated and it got me thinking

So last Wednesday, this kid fresh out of culinary school says he doesn't bother with mise because it's just "extra dishes." I laughed it off at first, but then I watched him work a dinner rush without it. He was faster than half my seasoned guys who spend 30 minutes prepping everything before service. Now I'm wondering if we overdo the whole prep thing sometimes just because that's how we were taught. Has anyone else seen a cook skip the traditional setup and still kill it?

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c/fence-erectors•

black.patricia•10d ago

Took me 8 years to realize I was setting posts wrong

I always used gravel backfill for my posts, thought that was standard. Then a guy from a crew up in Portland told me I was basically creating drainage issues around the wood. Switched to crushed rock and concrete mix last month, 3 to 1 ratio. Anyone else had a similar wakeup call on their post setting method?

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c/community-tool-library•

black.patricia•12d ago

Debate: Should we charge late fees or just ban repeat offenders at our tool library?

Last month someone kept our pressure washer for 3 extra days, but then last week a member returned a circular saw broken and didn't even offer to pay for repairs since we started the library 3 years ago in Portland, so do you think fines actually keep people honest or do they just scare off the good members?

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c/community-tool-library•

black.patricia•1mo ago

Hit 500 tool checkouts this week and had no idea

I was just going through the log book for our little library last Tuesday and counted up the entries. Turns out we hit exactly 500 checkouts since we started last March. I nearly dropped my coffee. It's wild because I remember when we had maybe 5 people in the first month and I thought nobody would use it. The thing that surprised me most was that the pipe wrench got borrowed 37 times alone. Has anyone else hit a random milestone like that and just had to stop and stare at the numbers?

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c/foundry-workers•

black.patricia•1mo ago

Had a shift last Tuesday where every pour came out clean as a whistle

I run the afternoon shift at a small shop in Akron. We were working on some gray iron castings for a local machine shop. Usually we have at least one mold that gives us trouble, but that day everything just clicked. The sand mix was perfect, the ladies stayed closed tight, and we didn't have a single cold shut or crack. The foreman even said "I don't know what you did different but keep doing it." It was one of those days that makes you forget about the bad ones. Has anyone else had a shift like that where everything just lined up?

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c/budget-travel-hacks•

black.patricia•1mo ago

Had to ditch my Airbnb in Barcelona at 2am because the host's key code stopped working and their phone went straight to voicemail

After sitting on the curb for an hour with my luggage watching drunk tourists stumble by I finally booked a hostel that cost three times what I paid but at least had a 24 hour front desk, has anyone else had a host just vanish on them mid trip?

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c/baking-fails-and-wins•

black.patricia•1mo ago

Just tried the 'rest your dough in the fridge overnight' trick for sugar cookies

I kept getting cookies that spread too thin and lost their shape, even after chilling for an hour. So I left the dough in the fridge for 12 hours before baking and the edges held perfectly, no spreading at all. Has anyone else found that a longer chill time makes or breaks their cut-out cookies, or is it just the butter I'm using?

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c/gadget-reviews•

black.patricia•1mo ago

Just saw the tear strength rating on Uline bubble wrap and it shocked me

I was looking for packing materials and noticed the 3-ply small bubble stuff only has a tear strength of 6 lbs per inch. Has anyone else run into stuff being way weaker than you expected from a brand name?

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c/geology-rocks•

black.patricia•1mo ago

That trick with vinegar on limestone worked better than I expected

Saw a guy on a trail in Missouri mention he uses a 50/50 water and vinegar mix to clean buildup off limestone samples. Tried it on a chunk I found near the Ozarks and it took off that white crust without damaging the surface. Anybody got other cleaning tips for sedimentary rock?

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c/drywall-installers•

black.patricia•1mo ago

A homeowner in Cincinnati asked me if I ever get bored of seeing a smooth wall go up

I told him the satisfaction of a perfect finish after a long day of mudding never gets old, but has anyone else had a client ask something that made you pause and think about the craft?

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