Spent $600 on a used bench power supply and it paid for itself in 3 months

The night my sourdough starter went from sluggish to supercharged

I have been baking sourdough for about three years now, and my starter always acted kind of lazy. It would take a full 12 hours just to double after feeding, and my loaves came out dense and flat. Then about two months ago, I started using filtered water instead of tap water from my kitchen sink here in Phoenix. The change was almost overnight. Within a week, my starter was doubling in 4 hours and had a much stronger, fruitier smell. I guess our local water has a lot of chlorine that was killing off some of the good bacteria. Has anyone else seen a big difference just from switching water sources?

I finally tried those 99 cent cans of chili for a pot... big mistake at my apartment

So last Thursday I was dead broke and grabbed a few cans of that store brand chili from the dollar store near my place in Austin. Thought it'd be fine to dump into a big pot with some beans and rice for a cheap dinner. But when I opened the first can, it smelled like soggy cardboard mixed with old pennies. I added it anyway cause I hate wasting food. Two hours later I had the worst stomach cramps of my life and spent the night on the bathroom floor. Now I stick to their canned tomatoes and beans only. Anyone else find certain dollar store canned stuff that's just not worth the risk?

Had to choose between a DNF pile and a one star rating system for my book club

My book club had 8 people and we split right down the middle on how to handle bad books. Half wanted to mark any book we didn't finish as DNF and just move on. The other half insisted on rating everything with stars so people knew what was a waste of time. I picked the DNF route because I figured it was less drama. After 4 months, 3 people quit because they said we never actually finished anything tough. Has anyone else dealt with this kind of split in their group?

Old timer told me to stop squaring my chisels every time I sharpened them

Guy had been doing cabinets since the 70s, said I was wasting time and metal making them perfect 90s after every session. Tried his way where you just touch up the bevel, and I've been sharpening half as often with the same results. Anyone else get advice that went against everything you learned?

Learned the hard way: don't buy a cheap countertop composter

I spent $80 on a generic electric composter from Amazon 3 months ago thinking it would be a game-changer. After 2 weeks the motor started making a weird grinding noise, then it just quit on me. The seller ghosted my messages so no luck with a return. Now I'm back to using a simple 5-gallon bucket with bokashi bran, which cost me $20 total and actually works better. Anyone else get burned by one of those overpriced machines?

I spent 3 hours on a single paragraph and it still sounds like garbage

Last Tuesday I sat down to write a short story for a contest, and I got stuck on this one paragraph about a guy walking into a diner. I rewrote it maybe 12 times trying to get the lighting and the smell of grease just right, but every version felt flat and fake. My wife finally read it and said 'just say the place was dim and smelled like old fries, stop overthinking it.' She was totally right, but now I'm wondering how do you guys push through that first draft paralysis without losing the plot?

Dropped $60 on a titanium brush set last month and it shredded on the third flue.

Was trying to get through some heavy creosote buildup on a job near Albany and the bristles started flying off after like 15 minutes, has anyone else had luck with those poly brushes instead?

I finally stopped buying those expensive hydrating sprays from the beauty supply store

I spent like $40 on a big bottle of that fancy hydrating spray last month because I thought it would save my dry ends between clients. But my coworker at the salon in Austin told me she just uses a mix of water and a drop of argan oil in a spritz bottle, and it works way better. I tried it this week and honestly my hair looks smoother than with the store stuff. Has anyone else found a cheap dupe that replaced a pricey product for you?

Warning: That 6 inch pipe took me 2 hours to fit up and it should have been 15 minutes

I was working on a boiler feedwater line at a plant outside Cleveland last Tuesday. Measured three times, cut the pipe, and when I went to tack it, the gap was almost half an inch off. Turns out the flange on the receiver tank was warped just enough to throw everything out. After fighting with it, shimming, and re-cutting, I finally got it to sit right at 7:00 PM. Has anyone else dealt with a flange that looked flat but was actually out of square?