My mason jar lid cracked during a 2 week kimchi ferment

I started a batch of kimchi on October 1st with a brand new wide mouth jar. On day 5 I heard a pop and saw a hairline crack running along the rim. What kind of lids are you guys using that actually hold up to the pressure for long ferments?

PSA: Sewing your signatures with linen thread isn't always better than waxed polyester.

I tried polyester thread on my last rebind of a 400-page fantasy novel after using linen for years, and the polyester held up way better under stress without snapping, has anyone else moved away from traditional materials for durability?

Switched from a foam sleeping pad to an inflatable one last summer. Never going back.

I used to haul around this bulky foam pad for years because I thought it was tougher. Last June on a trip to Smoky Mountain National Park, I woke up on hard ground three nights in a row. That foam pad just wasn't cutting it anymore. I finally bought a cheap inflatable one for 30 bucks and my sleep changed overnight. Anyone else make the switch and find a big difference in how rested you feel the next day?

The day the current pinned me to a piling for 45 minutes

Guy at the supply house changed my mind about cork underlayment

I always thought cork underlayment was just extra cost for no real benefit, but last Tuesday a 20 year installer showed me how it reduces sound transfer by like 15 decibels in his own house. He had a decibel meter and everything to prove it. Anyone else ever been shown hard numbers like that on a product they were doubting?

The week I tried to fix my derailleur without a stand

Last Tuesday I decided to adjust my rear derailleur in my apartment parking lot. No bike stand, just flipping the whole bike upside down on the grass. After THREE hours of messing with the limit screws and cable tension, I finally got it shifting smooth. My back was killing me from crouching, but I saved $40 not going to the shop. Has anyone else had a rough time doing drivetrain work without a repair stand?

Took me almost two years to learn how to store my game boards flat without warping

I kept stacking games sideways on an IKEA shelf and after about 18 months the boards started bowing so bad that pieces wouldn't stay in place. Has anyone else dealt with board warping from bad storage choices?

Had an SSD die on me mid-shift last Tuesday and lost a whole backup job

I was running a backup for a client's server at 2 PM, everything was fine, then boom, the drive just clicked once and went silent. It was a Samsung 870 Evo that I had installed maybe 18 months ago, not even that old. I ended up having to pull an old spinner from my parts bin to finish the job, which took twice as long. Has anyone else had reliability issues with these newer SSDs or was I just unlucky?

Last Tuesday was my worst day in 15 years of repair work

I had three jobs lined up that morning. First one was a 65 inch Samsung TV that needed a new power supply board. Got it all done, plugged it in, and the whole screen went black with a loud pop. Turns out I mixed up two capacitors on the board. Second job was a microwave door switch that I fixed in 10 minutes but the customer said it still didn't work right when I left. Third was a simple soldering job on a receiver that ended up taking 3 hours because the board had hidden corrosion. Has anyone else had a streak of bad luck like that where everything just goes wrong in a single day?

My neighbor in Springfield said to always check the 'free' section on Tuesday mornings. I found a working lawnmower last week.

He argued it's when people post after weekend cleanouts, but my sister says evenings are better for quick pickups. Which time actually works for you?