My friend said my show picks were too predictable and it stung a bit.

He called me out last week, said I only watch the same three types of cop dramas. So I forced myself to try 'Severance' on Apple TV+. Totally different vibe, and now I'm hooked. What's a show that pulled you out of your usual genre?

Heard a guy at the hardware store say he'd never check his own rigging, and it made me think about trust on site

Walked past the old diner on 5th Street and the burger is now $18. Remember when it was $6?

My friend said my 'organized' junk drawer was just a pile of stuff in a box, and after I spent $12 on a pack of small plastic bins from the dollar store to actually sort it, I have to admit he was right.

Now I'm wondering what other simple container trick I've been missing out on for years.

Vent: The old shop I worked at in Cleveland just got rid of its last manual mill

Three years ago, we had a whole row of them for quick one-offs and repairs. Last month, they sold off half of them to make room for another 5-axis machine. Now the final Bridgeport is gone, and the whole feel of the place is different. Anyone else's shop go full CNC and lose that hands-on corner?

Unpopular opinion: I tried fixing a Samsung washer pump with a universal part versus the OEM, and the OEM lasted three times longer.

After the universal pump I bought online failed in under a year, I spent the extra $45 on the Samsung part and it's been running fine for over three years now, so what's your take on using generic versus factory parts for common repairs?

Changed my mind about using a single pump on a long run

I had a 400 foot slurry line to move on a job near Mobile last month, and I was set on using just our big 12 inch pump. An old hand on site said to split it with a smaller 8 inch pump halfway. I thought it was extra work for no gain, but the pressure drop was so bad we were losing half the flow. We put in the second pump and cleared the line in two days instead of four. Anyone ever run into a pressure wall on a long distance like that?

Saw a city park in Portland using goats for lawn care instead of mowers

I was walking through Laurelhurst Park last month and saw a fenced-off area with about a dozen goats munching on weeds and overgrown grass. The park worker I talked to said they rent the herd for two weeks each spring, and it costs the city roughly the same as using gas mowers and weed whackers. The goats leave the soil in better shape and don't make any noise or fumes. Has any other city near you tried something like this?

I finally stopped buying old tools at the flea market after a guy in Springfield showed me his busted knuckles.

Remember when everyone said you had to sand down to bare wood for a good finish?

I was fixing a 1950s dresser with a thick, cracked lacquer top. Sanding it all off would have taken a full day. On a whim, I grabbed a random orbital sander and some 150 grit paper, but I just knocked down the high spots and feathered the edges of the old finish. Then I brushed on a coat of shellac as a barrier before the new lacquer. The whole thing was done in about three hours and it's held up for two years now. Has anyone else had luck sealing over an old finish instead of stripping it all?