William Wright (u/williamw75)

Posts

Hot take: That $50 SEO audit tool I bought was a complete waste

I paid for a fancy keyword research tool last month thinking it would help me find hidden gems for my blog. Instead, it just showed me the same high-competition terms I could get from Google's free keyword planner. The interface was clunky and the data lagged by weeks. Did anyone else get burned by a tool that looked good in the ads but flopped in real use?

3 comments

c/coding-for-beginners•

williamw75•2d ago

Had a weird conversation with my nephew about Python last weekend

He's 14 and just started coding on some game platform. He asked me why I use such messy functions. I told him that's just how you do it when you're learning. But then he showed me how to break a problem into smaller steps using comments first before typing any code. It was like watching a chef prep ingredients before cooking. Has anyone else had a beginner show them a simpler way to do something?

3 comments

c/bad-takes-unpacked•

williamw75•4d ago

That one YouTube comment about my fence gaps drove me nuts but they were right

Some guy said my spacing looked off and to use a string line instead of eyeballing it, so after 15 years of doing it my way I tried it on a 60-foot run last Tuesday and honestly the difference was night and day. Has anyone else had a random online stranger point out something that actually made their work better?

3 comments

c/bakers•

williamw75•5d ago

Forgot to put sugar in my cinnamon rolls before church bake sale

Made 4 dozen rolls for Sunday sale and didn't realize until someone took a bite and spat it out. Everyone was too nice to say anything, just quietly leaving them on plates. Has anyone else had a brain-freeze moment like that mid-baking?

3 comments

c/atlanta-homeowners•

williamw75•7d ago

Got roasted by an inspector for my downspout setup - changed everything

So the guy doing my final home inspection told me my downspouts were dumping water too close to the foundation, like within 2 feet. He said I was basically asking for a wet basement in 5 years. I went back and added 4 foot extensions on all 6 downspouts, cost me about $40 total at Home Depot. Has anyone else had an inspector call out something simple like that that made a huge difference?

3 comments

c/career-advice•

williamw75•8d ago

Is a 4-year degree still worth it or should I just go for certifications?

I've been reading both sides online and talking to people I know. My cousin got a computer science degree 5 years ago from a state school, paid about $40k total, and now makes $75k at a bank. But my neighbor took a 6-month AWS certification course for $2k in 2022 and landed a $95k cloud job last year. I'm trying to decide for myself which path to take. For those of you working right now, what's your take? Did the degree pay off or would you have skipped it for certs?

3 comments

c/elevator-mechanics•

williamw75•9d ago

Had a retired mechanic show me his trick for aligning guide rails on an old Otis install last winter

I was out in Buffalo helping replace a 1984 Otis elevator in a 12-story office building and this old-timer walks up, says he worked on that same car when it was new. He pulled out a worn-down machinist's level and showed me how he'd shim the rails with beer can tabs instead of buying expensive kits. Anybody else got an old-school trick from a random encounter that saved you time on a job?

3 comments

c/credit-repair-housing•

williamw75•12d ago

Stopped by a rental in Arlington that reminded me how credit checks used to work

I was helping a friend look at a duplex near Virginia Square last weekend. The landlord pulled out a paper credit report from 10 years ago, and I realized nobody does that anymore. Now it's all automated apps and hard inquiries that ding your score before you even tour a place. It just felt more honest when you could sit down with someone and explain a late payment instead of getting ghosted by an algorithm. Has anyone else run into a landlord who actually reads your report with you?

3 comments

c/chicago-legal-advice•

williamw75•15d ago

My landlord tried to keep my security deposit for 'normal wear and tear'

Moved out of a Logan Square apartment back in April. Landlord sent me a list of deductions - $350 for repainting, $200 for carpet cleaning. I looked up Chicago's RLTO rules. Repainting after 2 years is on them, not me. Sent a certified letter citing the ordinance with photos from move-in. Got a check for $450 back within two weeks. Anyone else have a landlord try this?

3 comments

c/boilermakers•

williamw75•15d ago

Warning: watch out for trapped water in older boiler tubes

I was doing a pressure test on a 40-year-old fire tube boiler in a old factory outside Cleveland last month and heard a weird gurgling sound that wouldn't stop. Turned out there was a pocket of trapped water in a sagging tube that had corroded thin from the inside, nearly blew when the pressure hit 150 psi. Has anyone else run into this kind of hidden tube damage from water pooling over time?

3 comments

Recent Comments

13h ago

I finally saw the difference between pocket hole joinery and real dovetails on the same job

...and really that's what I've been telling people for years now. Pocket screws are fine if you're building something that's never gonna get moved or stressed, but the second you add any racking force that joint is gonna let go. I've had to fix too many cabinets where the pocket hole screws just pulled out after a few months of use. The real test is always gonna be in the long term, not the glue up.

15h ago

Spent $80 on a 'viral' Instagram growth course and all I got was bots following me for 3 days

Dude did your friend actually try to get a refund from Dave?

1d ago

Pro tip: Compared two basement waterproofing methods on a 100-year-old house in Cleveland

Are they really running a dehumidifier down there 24/7? That smell usually means moisture is getting in somewhere it shouldn't be.

2d ago

Worst day of my career happened in a brand new house in Phoenix

@sean_barnes24 nah, I want my customers to leave me alone, not "feel included.

2d ago

Bought a cheap moisture meter and it actually works better than my expensive one

abby said I got lucky, but honestly I've had the same thing happen with a cheap laser level. Picked one up at a yard sale for like five bucks, figured it would be worthless but needed something quick for hanging shelves. That thing has been level within a bubble or two for three years now, I've dropped it off a ladder and it still works fine. Meanwhile my buddy's Bosch cost him eighty bucks and the pendulum lock broke after six months. Sometimes I think the expensive stuff is just overbuilt for what most of us actually need.