Pro tip: My buddy said to store sleeping bags loose not stuffed and he was right

Overheard a guy at the lumberyard say prefinished plywood is a waste of money

He was loading up a truck with raw birch and said he'd rather spend the extra time finishing than pay the premium. I get the cost savings but I've had too many jobs where the client's paint job chips on site and I'm the one fixing it. What do you guys think, is prefinished worth the markup or just an upsell?

Tried that whole 'wrap brisket in butcher paper at 165' thing and got the opposite result

I've been using foil for years on my brisket runs, figured it was time to see what the paper hype was about. Got a nice prime packer from the local HEB in San Antonio, rubbed it with just salt and pepper like always. Stalled right around 162, so I wrapped it tight in uncoated butcher paper and put it back on my offset smoker. Checked it 4 hours later and the internal temp barely moved past 178, way behind schedule. Meanwhile the bark felt almost soggy and the paper was soaked through. Ended up cranking the heat to 300 just to get it finished by dinner time. The meat was still tender but that bark never set right, it was more leathery than crispy. Learned that my smoker's humidity and airflow might just play better with foil, at least in the winter months. Anyone else had paper go weird on them when conditions weren't perfect?

Just realized I've been cleaning sensor contacts wrong for like 5 years

I used to just dab some isopropyl on a q-tip and go to town on those ribbon cable contacts. Then last month I was fixing a Canon 5D classic and the shutter kept erroring out. An old timer at the shop said I was probably leaving residue that messes with the connection. He showed me to use a dry q-tip first then only a tiny bit of alcohol on a fresh one. Took me 3 tries to get it right but the camera works perfect now. Does anyone else have a cleaning habit they had to unlearn the hard way?

Just realized my cheap highlighters were bleeding through my Leuchtturm pages after a month

Honestly, I kept seeing ghosting on my weekly spreads and couldn't figure out why, until I tested my old highlighters on a blank page and the ink soaked right through. Ngl, it ruined my entire February log because the back of every page is now a mess. Has anyone found a brand that truly doesn't bleed on 80gsm paper?

I was reading a baking book from the library and found out you can over-knead dough in under 5 minutes with a stand mixer

I always thought more kneading meant better gluten, right? So I was making a basic white bread recipe yesterday and just let my KitchenAid run on medium for like 7 minutes while I cleaned up. The dough went from smooth and elastic to this weird, sticky, wet mess that just tore apart. I looked it up in this old baking book I got from the Springfield library, 'The Bread Baker's Apprentice', and it straight up says you can over-develop the gluten and break the dough down in just 4 to 5 minutes with a machine. I had no idea it could happen that fast. I thought that was only for like, 20 minutes of kneading by hand. Totally ruined that loaf, it was dense and gummy. Has anyone else had their mixer turn dough into glue that quickly? What's your go-to time for kneading with a machine now?

Spent $120 on a set of those magnetic oil drain plug washers after a buddy swore by them, and they actually stopped a slow weep on my F-150 that I'd been chasing for a year.

Anyone else have a small fix that solved a big headache?

Cleaned out my old phone and found I had 4,200 unread emails from 2018

Pro tip: Always check your crucible temp before a big pull

Last week at the studio, I went for a heavy gather and the whole thing slumped because the furnace was running about 50 degrees too cool. Had to scrap the piece and reheat the whole batch, which took an extra hour. Anyone else had a furnace temp reading lie to them like that?

Pro tip: always pack your own dice to a convention

I was at Gen Con last year playing in a tournament final. The venue provided dice, but one player rolled three natural 20s in a row on a set that felt way too light. I asked to check them and they were definitely loaded. The judge just shrugged and said 'supplier issue'. Now I bring my own transparent casino-grade dice to any event. Has anyone else caught cheating with house dice?