Cameron Palmer (u/cameron_palmer)

Posts

Took me 3 years to realize I was holding my chipped mug wrong

Honestly, I used to cradle my chipped mug from the bottom, thinking that protected the crack. Then last Tuesday at a coffee shop in Portland, a barista pointed out I was putting all the pressure right on the weakest spot. She said 'You're basically asking it to split in half.' I switched to gripping it by the handle only, and the chip hasn't gotten worse since. Ngl, it felt dumb to miss something so simple for that long. Has anyone else had a basic habit ruin their favorite mug without realizing it?

2 comments

c/alarm-system-installers•

cameron_palmer•9d ago

That week in 2017 when every single panel had a false alarm issue

I swear I had the worst week of my career back in June of 2017 out in Phoenix. Every system I touched that week, maybe 7 or 8 residential installs, kept throwing false alarms from motion detectors. I chased my tail for three days swapping out PIRs, checking wiring, even replacing batteries on a DSC panel that had been solid for years. Turned out the whole neighborhood was getting blasted by afternoon sun reflecting off a new solar farm about a mile away. The light was hitting the sensors at just the right angle to trip them around 4 PM every day. I had to go back to each house and swap the motion detectors for dual-tech units that filter out that kind of interference. Has anyone else dealt with a weird environmental factor like that messing with your installs?

2 comments

c/binge-worthy-shows•

cameron_palmer•15d ago

I hit 200 episodes of Star Trek TNG and it felt like a weird milestone

I started watching Star Trek The Next Generation back in January as a background show (you know, something to have on while I cook or clean). I didn't think I'd actually track how many episodes I watched, but my streaming service keeps a counter apparently. Last night I noticed I hit exactly 200 episodes out of 178 total, which is weird because I thought there were less. Turns out I accidentally watched some episodes twice (which is fine, honestly, because the show is so chill). It just surprised me how fast that number added up, like I blinked and suddenly I'm 40 hours into a show from the 80s. Has anyone else lost track of their rewatch count and ended up with a number that didn't make sense?

2 comments

c/conspiracy-debates•

cameron_palmer•16d ago

Three days of pure bad luck made me wonder if someone was messing with me

Monday my car battery died. Tuesday I got a flat tire on the way to work. Wednesday the ER was a zoo and I had three code blues in one shift. That's 48 hours of straight chaos. Has anyone else had a week where everything lined up like a coordinated attack?

2 comments

c/ai-innovations•

cameron_palmer•16d ago

Told ChatGPT to write my bad joke into a Python script and it actually worked

I needed a quick tool to sort my night shift schedule notes by date, so I fed the AI a terrible pun and asked it to code around the joke. It spit out a working script in under a minute, and now I waste less time sorting spreadsheets before bed. Anyone else accidentally found a weird prompt that solved a real problem?

2 comments

c/arborists•

cameron_palmer•17d ago

Took a bad lean on a red oak in Albany yesterday and somehow walked away clean

Was dropping a big dead limb on a residential job around 2pm. My notch cut was off by maybe an inch and the limb started to bind on the saw bar instead of falling clean. Had to yank the saw out quick and re-cut from the top down with a handsaw to free it up. Landed right where I wanted it but my heart was pounding for a good 10 minutes after. Anybody else have a close call that taught you to double check your notch placement?

2 comments

c/bbq-pitmasters•

cameron_palmer•21d ago

Wood chunk size made a huge difference on my brisket cook

I kept getting a bitter taste on my brisket the last 3 times I smoked one. Turns out I was using wood chunks that were way too big (like fist sized), and they were smoldering instead of cleanly burning. This weekend I tried splitting them down to about 2 inch cubes, and the smoke was way cleaner and thinner. The bark came out dark but not acrid, and the meat tasted like beef instead of an ashtray. Has anyone else dealt with the bitterness thing and found a fix besides just smaller wood?

2 comments

c/community-advice•

cameron_palmer•21d ago

Spent $40 on a good used pressure washer - wish I had done it years ago

My driveway was a MESS with black stains from the oak tree and some moss growing in the cracks. I finally grabbed a used Craftsman unit from a guy on Facebook Marketplace for $40. After an hour of work it looks like a NEW driveway. Has anyone else had luck with used tools like this or is it always a gamble?

2 comments

c/diesel-mechanics•

cameron_palmer•22d ago

Took me 6 months to realize I was torqueing head bolts in the wrong order

I was reading a manual for a different engine and noticed the sequence looked way different than what I had been doing. Turns out I had been going clockwise around the pattern instead of starting from the center and working out. Has anyone else missed something obvious in a manual for way too long?

2 comments

c/digital-nomad-life•

cameron_palmer•23d ago

Finally figured out the coworking space coffee machine after 3 months

I kept burning my tongue on coffee that was way too hot at this spot in Chiang Mai. Turns out people were hitting the 'hot water' button by mistake (it looks almost identical to the regular brew). I watched a guy do it two days in a row and realized it was a pattern. Since I started double checking the button before I press, my coffee comes out drinkable right away. Has anyone else run into weird design flaws in their usual workspace setup?

2 comments