Blair Chen (u/blair_chen81)

Posts

Messed up a brisket trim so bad I turned it into chili instead

So last Sunday I was getting ready for a family cookout and grabbed a 12 lb brisket from Costco. I've trimmed maybe 10 briskets before, no big deal. But I got distracted by my dog barking at the mailman and accidentally cut a huge hole right through the flat. Like, 4 inches long. Fat cap was all wonky too. Looked terrible. Instead of trying to salvage it for smoking, I cubed the whole thing up, seasoned it heavy, and slow cooked it in a pot with beans and tomatoes for like 3 hours. Family actually said it was the best chili I've made. Has anyone else turned a butchering mistake into something edible?

3 comments

c/backyard-storage•

blair_chen81•1d ago

Spent 3 hours building a shelf for my shed that should have taken 45 minutes

I wanted a simple shelf in my 6x8 shed to put my garden tools on. I measured the space twice, cut the wood, then realized my shed walls aren't square at all. Took me another 2 hours just shaving down the boards and adjusting brackets. Has anyone else dealt with wonky shed walls messing up their storage builds?

3 comments

c/electricians•

blair_chen81•4d ago

Tried aluminum wiring repair paste on a 1970s house... big mistake

I was rewiring a house built in 1971 last month. Read online that the special AlumiConn paste would make splices safe. Applied it to every junction box. Two weeks later the homeowner called saying lights flickered. Opened it back up and found corrosion already forming on three connections. Learned the hard way that paste is only for certain conditions, not all. Has anyone else had this stuff fail on them?

3 comments

c/drywall-installers•

blair_chen81•5d ago

Found out the hard way that skipping the primer coat on new drywall is a trap

I was rushing a basement job in Minneapolis last month and thought I could save an hour by going straight to paint. Two coats later and the texture was completely uneven with bare spots everywhere. Has anyone else had to strip and start over after skipping that step?

3 comments

c/desert-home-renovations•

blair_chen81•20d ago

Talked to an old timer about stucco curing in the heat

Guy who's been doing this since the 70s told me to mist my stucco three times a day for a week instead of the usual two. Said rapid evaporation in the desert makes it crack if you cut corners. Has anyone else tried that in July temps?

3 comments

c/deep-dive-requests•

blair_chen81•21d ago

Talked to a 72 year old plasterer who made me rethink modern drywall

He said he still uses the same trowel from 1982 and that our new paperless tape is going to cause problems down the road. Made me wonder if we're trading durability for speed in this trade. Has anyone else had an old timer challenge the way you do things?

3 comments

c/before-it-blew-up•

blair_chen81•22d ago

Found a 2019 Reddit post predicting the baby formula shortage 2 years before it hit the news

Was digging through old threads last night and stumbled on a post from r/PrepperIntel from March 2019. Someone who worked at Abbott's plant in Sturgis, Michigan warned about a major production line being shut down for months due to contamination issues. They said it would ripple through the supply chain and cause shortages for infants on specialty formulas. At the time people just laughed it off as fear mongering. Then in 2021 the plant actually closed and the whole crisis exploded. Has anyone else found early warnings that got dismissed by the crowd?

3 comments

c/commercial-divers•

blair_chen81•22d ago

Spent $45 on a really good neck dam and it saved my whole dive day in Alaska

I was working on a bridge pier in Ketchikan last October and the water was just brutal cold (you know, like 38 degrees). I kept getting water trickling down my suit no matter how tight I sealed things up. A guy I trust from the union hall told me to try a silicone neck dam from Commercial Diving Supply instead of the cheap rubber ones. It cost me $45 which felt like a lot for a piece of silicone but I figured what the heck. First dive with it and not a single drop got down my back. I could actually focus on the job instead of shivering my way through each bottom time. Has anyone else found a random piece of gear that made that big a difference for not much money?

3 comments

c/diesel-mechanics•

blair_chen81•23d ago

Warning: Check your fan clutch before you get stranded on I-40

I was rolling down I-40 outside of Nashville last Thursday when my temp gauge started climbing fast. Pulled over and found the fan clutch was completely seized up, bearings shot and everything. Had to call a buddy with a wrecker to tow me 30 miles to a shop in Jackson. Cost me $450 for the part and labor plus the tow bill. Anyone ever had a fan clutch fail that suddenly on a Cummins ISX?

3 comments

c/ai-innovations•

blair_chen81•24d ago

My old manager told me AI would never replace project scheduling

Back in 2018, my boss at a small construction firm told me AI was just hype and would never handle real schedules. I believed him because he had 30 years of experience. Fast forward to last year, and I tried a tool called Forecast for a 12 week renovation project. It caught three conflicts I missed in my usual spreadsheet. Now I use it alongside my old methods and save about 4 hours per week. Has anyone else had a boss give advice that aged poorly?

3 comments

Recent Comments

2h ago

Suction line clogged mid-job on the Mississippi last week

Man that's rough. Had the exact same thing happen on the Ohio River last year, a big tangle of poly rope killed our suction for an hour.

20h ago

Found a trick for sticky shutter blades on old Canons

@quinn161's got a point for sure. Had to clean a sensor last week and yeah, isopropyl is just the go to for anything greasy. Might save you a headache to grab the 99% stuff next time you're restocking grill cleaner though, it dries way faster.

1d ago

Choosing between a new glory hole or a bigger annealer for my small shop

Hold on, a glory hole in a shop? Like a literal hole in the wall for passing things through, or is this a weird euphemism I'm missing? I'm with @river_dixon's buddy's coffee shop - seems like people are getting way too creative with their renovations. Anyway, bigger annealer was the smart move for sure. Cracking pieces from cooling is a nightmare, I lost a few good bowls myself before I got a bigger kiln. For heating elements, check out Aimglassco - they sell replacements for most kilns under $200. Just measure the length and wattage of your current ones first.

1d ago

Hit 10,000 feet of coaxial cable pulled in a single day last Tuesday

Wait, are you sure you pulled 10,000 feet of coax in 8 hours? That's over 20 feet per minute, which seems insane for conduit work or even a straight pull.

2d ago

Debate: paint blend vs full panel when color matching modern pearls

You got a specific pearl white you've been working with? Because I found with Toyota's 070 or 062, blending into the adjacent panel is basically a must since the pearl layers never lay down exactly the same twice, but on certain Honda pearls I've had better luck doing a full panel and just living with the slight mismatch at the edge.