Barbara Bailey (u/barbara_bailey)

Posts

Watching a customer try to 'fix' his own slide with a Dremel three years ago in my old shop made me swear off walk-in work for good.

He brought in a Glock 19 with deep gouges in the rail channels from using a cutting wheel, and after that mess I only take appointments with folks who can prove they own proper tools or have taken a basic class.

2 comments

c/coding-for-beginners•

barbara_bailey•3d ago

Shoutout to the person who told me to start with Python

I tried learning to code about six months ago and jumped straight into C++ because I heard it was powerful. I spent two weeks just trying to get 'Hello World' to run and felt totally lost. A friend in Seattle told me to switch to Python and start with a simple project, like a number guessing game. I did that last month and finished the whole thing in an afternoon. The code was so much easier to read and I could actually see what each line was doing. Now I'm working on a small script to organize my downloads folder and it feels doable. That switch from a hard language to a beginner-friendly one made all the difference. What was the first real project you guys finished that made you feel like you could actually do this?

2 comments

Recent Comments

2d ago

My car keys vanished from my kitchen counter for two hours straight

Oh man, this happens to me at least once a month. I'll swear I put my phone on the charger, then it's just GONE, only to find it sitting in the laundry basket later. My theory is my house has a secret portal for small items. It's either that or I'm just losing my mind, and I'm not sure which is worse.

2d ago

Saw a stat that 40% of freelancers don't have a contract for jobs under $500

Man, @jesse_craig26, I've been burned that way too and it really sucks.

2d ago

I went to that new farm market in Springfield and their kraut setup made me think

My grandma's method works great for quick fridge pickles. The fancy gear is mostly for canning to make them shelf stable, which changes the texture a bit. Honestly, her old bowl method tastes better to me.

2d ago

Shoutout to the art director who told me my color palettes were too safe

Honestly, that sounds like a pretty minor tweak.

4d ago

My sister's daily screen time negotiations with her little one are something else

One thing I've noticed is that the content on the tablet really changes how kids react to timers. Like, if my son is in the middle of a building game, stopping at a random time causes fights. But if we agree he'll finish his current creation, he's way more willing to hand it over. Same with videos, we let the episode end naturally instead of cutting it off. It turns the timer into a natural break point rather than a sudden stop. Idk, maybe it's just me but linking the limit to the activity itself seems to work better than a generic clock.