I tried to fact-check a rumor about that actor from the superhero movie and it got weird

Honestly, last week I saw a post saying this actor was secretly married to a costar from like ten years ago. I decided to be a good gossip detective and trace it back. I spent maybe two hours looking at old red carpet photos, checking dates on fan blogs, and even found a wedding registry from 2014 with a similar name. Ngl, I was feeling like a real sleuth. Then I realized the registry was for a dentist in Ohio, not the actor, and the original rumor post was from a parody account. I learned that some gossip is just a house of cards built on a coincidence and a joke. Has anyone else fallen down a rabbit hole chasing a story that turned out to be totally nothing?

My air fryer disaster with frozen sweet potato fries

I tried to cook a full bag of frozen sweet potato fries last Tuesday, and it was a total mess. I set it to 400 degrees for 15 minutes, but halfway through, the basket was just a solid, soggy block of fries stuck together. I had to stop it, pry them apart with a spatula, and start over, which added another 10 minutes. The outside got too dark while some pieces in the middle were still soft. I think the problem was overcrowding the basket. Has anyone else nailed the method for a whole bag of frozen fries without this happening?

I got called out for my sloppy forge welds at a meet in Boise

Another smith pulled me aside and said my scarf joints looked like 'two angry dogs fighting.' He was right, my welds were weak and full of cold shuts. I started using way more flux and hitting the metal way harder right at the start, not just tapping it. My welds hold now, but I still get a little slag pocket sometimes. What's your trick for a clean scarf?

Finally figured out why my character art looked so flat

I was working on a portrait last week and my friend Mia pointed out that I was using the same brush for everything, even the background. I realized I'd been using the default round brush in Procreate for like 2 years straight. I tried a textured brush for the hair and a soft one for the skin and it made a huge difference. Anyone else get stuck using the same tools out of habit?

My uncle told me to always soak my bricks in Phoenix, and he was right

He said, 'Pat, if you don't wet them down in this heat, the mortar will cure too fast and you'll get a weak bond.' I was working on a garden wall last July and decided to test it on one section. The bricks I soaked laid up perfectly, but the dry ones sucked the moisture right out of the mix and the joints crumbled after a week. Has anyone else found a specific trick that works in your local climate?

I was convinced that photo of a 'giant rat' in New York was real, but a reverse image search found it was from a 2015 Photoshop contest.