My big fort tower collapsed 20 minutes after I built it

I spent like 3 hours last Saturday making this two story tower out of appliance boxes in my garage. Taped the whole thing together with packing tape, thought it was solid. But I used too many big boxes on top and the bottom corner just folded in. Whole thing came down with a loud crunch. Guess I need to learn about weight distribution before I try that again. Anybody got tips for making the bottom boxes stronger?

Tried ultrasonic cleaning on a shifter cluster and it came out worse than before...

Pump impeller gaps - why does everyone set them so tight?

Ngl I had a job on the Mississippi last month where the guy before me had his impeller clearance at 1/16 inch and it was chewing up gravel like a blender. You want at least 3/16 for sandy conditions or you're just destroying your pump. Anybody else find that running a bit looser actually keeps your production steady longer?

Feedback from my supervisor about my air consumption changed my whole approach

My supervisor told me I was breathing too fast and holding tension in my shoulders, which was wasting air. I started doing 5 minute slow breathing drills before every dive, and now I get an extra 15-20 minutes of bottom time on my 80 cu ft tanks. Anyone else get told to fix their breathing pattern?

Showerthought: I used to race through buttering every brick until a job near Tulsa taught me slow down is faster

Back in my early days I'd lay maybe 300-400 bricks a day but half of them had cold joints or bad mortar consistency. Had a foreman on a commercial wall in Tulsa back in 2018 who made me redo a whole 20 foot section because the bond looked sloppy. Took me 3 extra hours that day. Now I spend way more time on each spread, making sure the mortar fills the frogs and I'm not rushing the cut. My daily count dropped to around 200-250 but I almost never have to chip out a brick anymore. Has anyone else found that slowing down your buttering actually saves you time on the back end?

Rant: My rookie Python script deleted a year of family photos

I was testing a file organizer on my laptop at a coffee shop downtown last Saturday, and accidentally told shutil.rmtree to point at my pictures folder instead of the temp folder, lost every vacation and holiday shot from the last 12 months, and no, the recycle bin didn't help because the drive was an external SSD, so now I'm rebuilding from social media saves and begging relatives to send me whatever they have; has anyone else had a brain freeze moment like this with os or shutil commands?

Saw a huge difference in my line weights after switching pens 6 months ago

I been drafting for about 4 years now and always used those cheap fine liners from the office supply store. My lines were always kinda shaky and inconsistent, especially on curves. Then about 6 months ago I grabbed a set of technical pens from a drafting supply shop near my shop. The difference is honestly night and day. The ink flows way smoother and I get a real consistent 0.3mm line every time without pressing hard. My old drawings looked messy up close but now they almost look printed. I think the big thing is the pen tip stays wet longer so you dont get those skips. Has anyone else noticed a big jump in quality just from switching what brand you use?

Can we talk about the time my car battery died at a gas station in the middle of a heatwave?

Last Thursday I was running errands in Phoenix and stopped to fill up at a Shell station off the I-10. I go to start my Honda after paying and nothing happens, just a sad click. It was 108 degrees out and I had no jumper cables because I loaned them to my buddy a week ago. I ended up asking three random people for help before this guy in a lifted truck finally pulled out a jump pack. Turns out my battery was from 2019 and the heat just toasted it completely. I replaced it on the spot at an auto parts store down the road for 140 bucks. Has anyone else had a car completely give up on them at the worst possible time like that?

PSA: I tried that 'paint your own backsplash' tile kit and it peeled off in 3 weeks

Spent $60 on a stick-on tile kit from the big box store for my kitchen in Austin, and by week 3 the grout lines were flaking off near the stove. Anyone else had trouble with those peel-and-stick kits holding up near heat?

Ran into an older lady at Aldi who changed how I meal plan

Last Tuesday at the Aldi on Elm Street, this woman maybe 70 years old saw me staring at a pile of bell peppers. She asked if I had ten minutes to learn her trick... she showed me how to chop and freeze all of them with a dollar store bag for later meals. Saved me from throwing out soft produce ever since. Anyone else have a random stranger help them stretch their grocery budget?