Man, that sand jug trick is the real deal. I did the exact same thing last summer after my pop-up almost took out a neighbor's grill. We filled up old detergent bottles with gravel instead, just because we had them lying around, and tied them to the frame with bungee cords. The wind picked up pretty good that afternoon and the canopy didn't budge an inch. I used to think those store bought weights were a rip off, and now I'm fully convinced they are. Rick's a smart guy, you should listen to him more often.

Yeah I was just reading about how some cities are using those electric buses as mobile wifi hubs and it made me think about how much idle time we waste in cars, honestly the $85 savings sounds about right, I did the same kind of math for my own trip and it was close to that after I added up oil changes and brake wear.

Four hours on a single helicoid sounds like a lot of patience for a lens that's maybe worth fifty bucks. A tiny brass chip is annoying for sure, but I've found that a solid flush with compressed air and a soft brush usually clears stuff like that without needing a full tear down. Are you sure it wasn't just old grease that looked like a chip after you heated it up?

120 buses is great, but what's the filter and maintenance cost per mile versus diesel?

Bro that monstera is straight up playing 4D chess with your other plants. I had a mint plant that literally killed my basil by just existing next to it in the same pot. Mint is like the herpes of the garden world, spreads everywhere and doesn't care what it destroys. Your peace lily didn't stand a chance once that monstera got comfy.