PSA: That cheap harbor freight miter saw stand nearly cost me my toes last tuesday

Can we talk about how much fence posts sink in clay soil after a wet spring?

Ngl, I used to think setting posts with gravel at the bottom was fine for drainage. But after doing a job near Denver last April, we dug up a 5 year old post that had dropped 4 inches into the mud. The customer showed me a photo from when it was first installed, and the difference was wild. What do you use to stop sinking in heavy clay?

I blew $150 on a fake hostel booking site and almost had no place to sleep in Barcelona

Booked through a site that looked exactly like Hostelworld but wasn't. Showed up at 10pm and the place had no record of me. Had to scramble and pay double for a last minute room at some random hotel. Hostel worker said this happens like 5 times a week. Has anyone else gotten tricked by those lookalike booking sites?

Spent 3 hours chasing a ground fault that was just a loose neutral in a junction box

Turned out to be a wire nut that wasn't tight enough behind a drywall patch. Has anyone else spent way too long on something that simple?

Debate: did that guy at the game store gatekeep me or was he just being helpful?

I was at Atomic Comics in Phoenix last Saturday looking at Terraforming Mars, and this older dude walks up and tells me I should 'start with something lighter' like Catan before trying anything with cards. He spent 10 minutes listing reasons why I'd mess up the rules and waste my money, even after I said I've played it on my phone before. Does that sound like friendly advice to you, or was he just trying to run me off from the hobby aisle?

Appreciation post for the old framer who saved me from a bad roof

I was roofing a deck addition last summer in Denver, and this older guy named Joe walked over from down the street. He pointed at my birdsmouth cuts and said, 'Son, you're gonna have a sag in 5 years with those gaps.' I had already nailed up 3 trusses with maybe a 1/4 inch gap on each one. He showed me right there how to scribe them tighter using a scrap piece of plywood as a gauge. That interaction changed how I approach every single rafter cut now. Has anyone else had a random stranger just walk up and fix your work on the spot?

Spent a day at the T hangar at KAPA last weekend and noticed half the planes had dried out sealant on their cowling fasteners

I was helping a buddy swap a cylinder on his 172 at Centennial Airport near Denver and got distracted looking at the other planes parked around us. Must have seen 8 or 9 different birds that had this cracked, grayish sealant just flaking off around the screws on their cowling panels. One guy said he just uses bathroom caulk because it's cheaper than the proper stuff and lasts about 6 months before it looks terrible. Has anyone here tried that or do you all stick with the actual aircraft-grade sealant from the parts counter?

Shoutout to the guy who told me to preheat my iron before soldering

I used to just heat up my iron after starting a job and it took forever. A guy at a repair meetup in Des Moines last month said let it sit for 2 full minutes before touching a joint. I tried it on a motherboard capacitor swap and the solder flowed way smoother with less cold joints. Only took me 5 years to learn that basic tip.

Had to choose between dry aging a ribeye for 30 vs 45 days last month

I went with 45 days for my first attempt and the flavor was incredible but I lost way more trim weight than I expected, like almost 20% - has anyone else had that much waste on longer aging?

Just realized my sourdough starter was too acidic after a week in the fridge

I had to choose between feeding it twice a day for three days or doing a single refresh with bottled water and a bit of rye flour. I went with the single refresh... it was a gamble but I was short on time. The loaf turned out flat and dense, so I guess that didn't work. Has anyone else fixed a really sour starter without the long feeding schedule?