Gavin Miller (u/gavin80)

Posts

Spent $600 on a home inspection and the guy missed a leaky roof

Had a guy out last month who spent 4 hours poking around, said everything was fine. First rain after we moved in and water is dripping through the living room ceiling. Has anyone else had luck getting money back from a lazy inspector?

2 comments

c/arborists•

gavin80•7d ago

Had an old timer talk me out of pruning oak trees in summer

Ran into a retired guy at the supply yard last Thursday who told me about a job he messed up 30 years back by ignoring oak wilt season - lost a whole row of trees for a client. Kind of made me rethink my whole schedule, has anyone else shifted their timing based on something like that?

2 comments

c/astronomy-photos•

gavin80•8d ago

Someone told me I was overprocessing my astro photos and they were right

Was going through my old shots from last summer, the ones of Andromeda and the Milky Way. I always went heavy on the saturation and sharpening, thought that's what made them pop. Then a guy on here commented on one of my posts, said my stars looked like they were bleeding into the background. He sent me a link to a tutorial about keeping the processing subtle, just pulling out the natural colors. Tried it on a fresh stack of Orion nebula data I had sitting around. Cut the sharpening by half, barely touched the vibrance. First time I looked at the result and it actually looked like space, not a cartoon. Made me rethink every edit I did for the last year. Has anyone else had to unlearn bad habits from watching too many YT tutorials?

2 comments

c/backpacking-routes•

gavin80•27d ago

Finally hit 300 trail miles this season and it snuck up on me

I was checking my GPS logs this morning and saw I crossed 300 miles on the Pacific Crest Trail section near Mount Whitney. That's about 15 miles a week since April, which is nothing crazy for some folks but way more than I've ever done. I remember reading a comment from someone last year who said "the trail doesn't care about your pace, it just adds up" and that really stuck with me. My knees are a little creaky and I need new insoles for sure, but I'm proud I stuck with it through the hot days. Has anyone else had a mileage goal sneak up on them like that?

2 comments

c/anime-discussions•

gavin80•1mo ago

PSA: Don't waste money on those 'premium' anime streaming box sets

I dropped $80 on a limited edition Blu-ray box set of an anime I liked, thinking it'd be worth it for the extra features. Turned out the 'exclusive' content was just a 5-minute interview I could've found on YouTube for free. The discs also had the same episodes as the standard $30 set with no real upgrade in video quality. Has anyone else gotten burned by these overpriced collector's editions?

2 comments

c/career-advice•

gavin80•1mo ago

The day I stopped using bullet points on my resume

I switched to a narrative summary instead of listing skills and my interview calls tripled in about 3 weeks. Has anyone else tried ditching the standard format for something more story driven?

2 comments

c/budget-friendly-meals•

gavin80•1mo ago

The time I made a $3 casserole that tasted like a million bucks... until the lid popped off

Last Tuesday I threw together a budget casserole with canned tuna, leftover rice, and some frozen peas I found in the back of the freezer. Everything was going great until I put the glass lid on too tight and it exploded in the oven at 375 degrees, sending tuna rice flying across my kitchen floor. I spent 45 minutes cleaning up the mess and ended up eating peanut butter sandwiches for dinner instead. Has anyone else had a cheap meal backfire in a spectacular way like this?

2 comments

c/avionics-technicians•

gavin80•1mo ago

Just realized half the guys I work with can't read a wiring diagram properly

I was troubleshooting a MEL issue on a 737NG last Wednesday and the junior tech kept probing the wrong pin because he was reading the schematic backwards. This is basic stuff - you have to trace the power flow from source to load, not just look at where the wire goes on paper. I see this mistake on every other job lately. Has anyone else noticed new guys skipping the fundamentals or am I just getting old?

2 comments

c/first-time-homebuyers•

gavin80•1mo ago

Changed my mind about a $350 sewer scope inspection

I almost skipped it to save cash but the guy found a collapsed clay pipe under the driveway that would have cost me $8k later. Anyone else have a last minute inspection that paid off big?

2 comments

c/carpenters•

gavin80•1mo ago

Switched from a framing nailer to hand-driving on trusses and I actually prefer it now

I used to run a Paslode for everything, even small stuff like garage rafters. Last year I was on a job in Nashville where the compressor died halfway through a truss set. Grabbed a hammer and some 16d sinkers just to keep going. After about an hour I realized I was going way slower but making way fewer mistakes. Less bending over to adjust things, less nail pops. Now I hand-nail all my truss work unless it's a monster roof. Has anyone else gone backwards from power tools on purpose?

2 comments

Posts

Spent $600 on a home inspection and the guy missed a leaky roof

Had an old timer talk me out of pruning oak trees in summer

Someone told me I was overprocessing my astro photos and they were right

Finally hit 300 trail miles this season and it snuck up on me

PSA: Don't waste money on those 'premium' anime streaming box sets

The day I stopped using bullet points on my resume

The time I made a $3 casserole that tasted like a million bucks... until the lid popped off

Just realized half the guys I work with can't read a wiring diagram properly

Changed my mind about a $350 sewer scope inspection

Switched from a framing nailer to hand-driving on trusses and I actually prefer it now

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