Linda Reed (u/linda_reed)

Posts

Fell for a $150 "pro grade" wire stripper that couldn't even handle 12 gauge

Bought one of those fancy auto-adjusting wire strippers from an ad online, took it home to strip some 12/2 Romex, and it just chewed up the insulation instead of cutting clean. Anyone else get burned by a tool that looked way better in the video than it worked in real life?

0 comments

c/chimney-sweeps•

linda_reed•15h ago

That $90 ash vacuum I swore I'd never buy ended up saving my Saturday

3 comments

c/before-it-blew-up•

linda_reed•2d ago

Found an old blog post from 2018 predicting the housing crash in my city

I was digging through my bookmarks last night and found a blog post from a local real estate agent in Austin from 2018. He was talking about how inventory was surging and prices were way outpacing wages, and he said 'this feels a lot like 2007 to me'. At the time I figured he was just being dramatic, but now with all the layoffs and rate hikes I'm wondering if he was onto something. Has anyone else stumbled across an old prediction like that that ended up being right?

3 comments

c/cosmetologists•

linda_reed•11d ago

Compared two ways of sectioning for a foil highlight and one was way faster

I've always done the traditional brickwork pattern for foils, but last week I tried the "horseshoe" sectioning method my instructor back in Denver showed me once. It took me about 20 minutes less on a full head of highlights, and the placement looked way more even. Has anyone else tried switching up their sectioning and noticed a big time difference?

3 comments

c/before-it-blew-up•

linda_reed•1mo ago

Talked to a retired farmer who called the 2022 fertilizer shortage back in 2019

He told me specifically that China's phosphate export limits would hit us hard three years before it even made the news, and I just thought he was being dramatic about his corn yields.

3 comments

c/concrete-finishers•

linda_reed•1mo ago

Tried a magnesium float on my last driveway pour and got a darker finish than I expected

I figured a magnesium float would just smooth things out faster, but the darker color surprised me, has anyone else seen this happen with certain mixes?

3 comments

c/aircraft-mechanics•

linda_reed•1mo ago

The day I found a paperclip holding a landing gear wire

I was doing a routine inspection on a Cessna 172 last Wednesday and popped open a panel near the wheel well. There it was, a bent paperclip jammed in where a cotter pin should have been, holding a brake line clamp. The owner swore he'd never seen it before, but the rust on that paperclip said otherwise. How do you even miss that during a preflight? Has anyone else run into weird stuff left behind by previous mechanics?

4 comments

c/bookbinders•

linda_reed•1mo ago

Warning: That cheap PVA glue ruined my first leather binding job

I was working on a leather journal last Saturday and my spine just peeled open after 2 days of drying. Turns out my $4 bottle of generic PVA wasn't actually pH neutral or flexible enough for bookbinding leather. I had to carefully scrape off all the failed glue and start over with a proper bookbinding grade adhesive from a local craft store. The new glue cost me $12 but it held perfectly. Has anyone else had a project fail because of bad glue choices or is it just me?

3 comments

c/electronics-repairers•

linda_reed•1mo ago

Guy at my shop swore by compressed air for cleaning motherboards, then blew a capacitor right off the board

I was helping a buddy troubleshoot a dead power supply last Tuesday and this older repair guy walks over, says "just blast it with air" and aims a 100 PSI nozzle at a 15 year old motherboard. Dust went everywhere, but so did a tiny capacitor that pinged off the wall. Has anyone else had a repair go sideways because someone was too aggressive with cleaning tools?

3 comments

c/coding-for-beginners•

linda_reed•1mo ago

Why does nobody talk about learning Python vs JavaScript first?

A buddy in my coding group swore I should start with Python. Said it's easier for beginners. I ignored him. Went straight to JavaScript. Three months in and I'm stuck on DOM stuff. He's building simple scripts already. Was he right? Or is JavaScript better in the long run? Which side do you pick?

3 comments

Recent Comments

1d ago

That insulation contractor who laughed at my stucco fix

My own stucco patch job from 2019 taught me this the hard way. @kimw57 you're smarter than me, I shoulda listened to the first guy. I did exactly what you said, just touched it up with elastomeric. Looked fine for a year. Then water got behind it during a freeze-thaw cycle. Efflorescence everywhere. Whole corner crumbled. Had to rip out 4 feet of stucco and redo the lath too. Cost me 2 grand. That little crack would've been a 200 dollar fix if I'd let the pro do it right. Now I just pay the guy and sleep better.

2d ago

Rushed 20 loaves of sourdough for a farmer's market and everything went sideways

Used to think starters just need a quick stir and you're good to go, but that bulk fermentation debacle changed my mind completely. Cold starter from the fridge really can mess with everything, like Betty said... now I take mine out the night before and let it sit on the counter, makes a big difference. That oven temp being 50 degrees off is rough though, maybe get an oven thermometer next time so you can catch it early. I'd say proof longer if your kitchen is cool, but don't scrap the whole batch unless it's totally hopeless, sometimes those slightly underbaked loaves work as breadcrumbs or toast later.

3d ago

Spent 45 minutes trying to fix a leaky regulator valve before realizing the O-ring was just dry

Brooket43, check the battery connection first - that's always what gets me.

6d ago

Debate: Does going vegan actually help the climate or is it just a drop in the bucket?

I get what you're saying about almond milk and shipping, but I think the numbers still favor plant-based pretty clearly. Cows produce methane directly on a massive scale, and crops for feed take way more land than crops for people. Even if my tofu has some footprint, it's still way smaller than a burger, so I'd rather keep going with this than go back.

6d ago

Hot take: That barista told me to ditch my expensive grinder and get a hand crank one

Ask miller.diana if you've actually checked the temperature of your beans right after grinding them. I had a $200 electric grinder for years and never thought about heat until I put a thermometer on the grounds one day. 110 degrees. That's a solid 40 degrees above room temp. So yeah, the beans are getting cooked before the water even touches them. The hand crank thing is a pain but my water stays clear and my coffee doesn't have that bitter edge anymore.