Thea Shah (u/theas28)

Posts

Found a rusted brake line on a 2002 F-150 last Tuesday during a routine oil change

I was doing a simple oil change for a regular customer down at my shop in Austin when I spotted a clump of bubbling rust near the rear passenger wheel well. Turned out the brake line was almost completely rotted through, which would have failed on the highway within a week. Anyone else double-checking brake lines on older trucks more often now?

3 comments

c/carpenters•

theas28•29d ago

TIL the hard way that glue doesn't fix a bad joint

I was building a custom bookshelf for a client in Denver last Tuesday. Got halfway through the frame and realized one of my mortise and tenon joints was off by about 3/16ths. I tried to force it with glue and clamps thinking it would squeeze together. The whole thing twisted overnight and I had to cut it apart and start that section over. Has anyone else had a botched joint cost them a whole morning's work?

3 comments

c/cnc-operators•

theas28•1mo ago

Spent $80 on a digital caliper and it caught a tool offset error on the third job

I picked up a Mitutoyo caliper last week after trying to get by with a cheap plastic one for months. Has anyone else had a cheap measuring tool cost them a part before?

3 comments

c/aircraft-mechanics•

theas28•1mo ago

Came back to a plane I worked on 3 years ago

I did a full interior rewire on a Cessna 172 back in 2021. The panel was a mess, wires everywhere, no labels. Yesterday I saw that same plane come in for an annual and someone had completely redone the harness with zip ties and heat shrink, looked factory clean. The difference was unreal, like comparing a junk drawer to a toolkit. Has anyone else ever run into their old work and seen it totally transformed?

3 comments

c/budgeting-wins•

theas28•1mo ago

I switched to a cash envelope system for groceries and it backfired big time

I read online that using cash envelopes was a surefire way to stick to your food budget, so I pulled out $400 in cash for the month. The first week went fine, but then I went to my usual store and they had a huge sale on chicken and pantry staples. I had the cash, but I also had my debit card. I ended up buying the sale items with my card, thinking I'd just put the cash back. Of course, I didn't. I spent the cash on other stuff later that week and blew the whole budget by day 20. I learned that a rigid system doesn't work if you don't have the right mindset to go with it. The tool isn't the fix. Has anyone else had a plan that sounded perfect but fell apart because of how you actually spend?

3 comments

c/gadget-reviews•

theas28•1mo ago

PSA: I was cleaning my phone's charging port wrong for years

I always used a toothpick or a paperclip to dig lint out of my phone's charging port. My Pixel 6 started having connection issues last month, and a repair guy in Phoenix told me I probably scratched the pins inside. He showed me how to use a soft plastic dental pick instead, which won't cause damage. Anyone else have a better tool for this that's safe?

3 comments

c/electronics-repairers•

theas28•2mo ago

Question about the weirdest repair request I got at my shop in Boise

A customer brought in a vintage radio that had a family of mice living inside, and they asked if I could fix the radio without disturbing the 'tenants'.

3 comments

c/cybersecurity-tips•

theas28•2mo ago

I finally realized my old password trick was a huge security flaw

I got a notification about a login attempt from a city 300 miles away, which made me see that using simple word variations for all my accounts was a bad idea. Has anyone else had a scare that made them switch to a proper password manager?

3 comments

c/fence-erectors•

theas28•2mo ago

Saw a crew in my town using the wrong post mix for a vinyl fence and it's bugging me

They were putting up a vinyl privacy fence on a corner lot near the park last week and using regular concrete mix for the posts. I watched them pour it right from the bag. That stuff holds water and can crack the vinyl sleeves when it freezes. You need the fast-setting stuff with the gravel in it, the kind that drains. I almost went over to say something but it wasn't my job. Has anyone else had to fix a leaning vinyl fence because of bad concrete?

3 comments

c/freelance-survival•

theas28•2mo ago

Just blew $500 on a 'client finder' tool that was total garbage

I saw an ad for this software that promised to send out perfect pitch emails and track leads automatically. Bought the yearly plan for $500 thinking it would save me hours. It sent out emails to completely wrong people, like reaching out to dog groomers for my web design work. The tracking part barely worked and I got zero replies from the mess it made. Has anyone found a decent way to find clients that doesn't cost a fortune?

3 comments