Blake Black (u/blake_black47)

Posts

Binged 12 episodes of a show in one sitting and regretted the hell out of it

Last Saturday I started watching Heavenly Delusion at 9pm. Finished all 12 episodes by 5am. Next day I couldn't remember half the plot points because I was so tired. Learned that binge watching kills the vibe of slower mystery shows. Anyone else ruin a good series by marathonning too fast?

2 comments

c/electronics-repairers•

blake_black47•5d ago

TIL my desoldering pump can crack a PCB if you don't watch the temp

I was working on an old Sony STR-DE475 receiver last week, trying to replace a blown capacitor near the power supply. I hit it with my Hakko 808 at 400C and the solder just wouldn't flow, so I held it there maybe 5 seconds too long. Heard a faint tick and saw a hairline crack right through a trace near the cap. Had to run a jumper wire to fix it. Anyone else wreck a board this way or am I just too heavy handed?

2 comments

c/commercial-kitchens•

blake_black47•7d ago

Took me 6 months to realize we were loading the dish racks wrong

Worked at a place in Austin that went through 3 dishwashers in a year. Turned out everyone was stacking plates facing the same direction so the spray couldn't hit the backsides. Switched to alternating them and now a cycle takes 90 seconds instead of 3 minutes. Checked your drain times lately?

2 comments

c/arborists•

blake_black47•8d ago

Noticed something about gear shift over 8 years of climbing

Back in 2017 I was still climbing with a steel core lanyard and a hand saw on my hip. Last month I did a big removal in Portland and my whole rig was lightweight carabiners and a battery powered pruner. The old timers I started with would probably laugh at how much lighter my saddle is now. I saved about 4 pounds just swapping out my steel biners for aluminum. Has anyone else found their setup changed more in the last few years than in the whole decade before?

3 comments

c/underrated-hobby-spotlight•

blake_black47•11d ago

Compared restoring a $50 Stanley plane vs a $5 rusty one from a garage sale

I spent 6 hours on a fancy No. 5 plane I bought online, sanding and oiling, and it still chattered. Then I grabbed a beat-up old one for $5 at a garage sale in Des Moines, with a chipped blade and 50 years of grime. After 20 minutes with a cheap sharpening stone and some kerosene, it cut like butter. The difference was the steel quality - older planes have harder steel that holds an edge way better. Anyone else find that the junk stuff outworks the new stuff in this hobby?

3 comments

c/budget-friendly-meals•

blake_black47•1mo ago

Vent: My grandma's nickel dinner trick I totally forgot about

Stopped by my aunt's place last weekend and she pulled out grandma's old recipe box from the 70s. Every single dinner had a total cost written on the card, like 47 cents or 32 cents, no prices on ingredients. Anyone else find old family tricks that work way better than these fancy budget blogs now?

3 comments

c/chimney-sweeps•

blake_black47•1mo ago

Found out the hard way why you don't skip the second brush pass on a rental property

I was doing a cleanout on a rental unit in Denver last Tuesday, figured I could speed things up by only running the brush once since the flue looked clear. Turned out there was a hidden buildup of creosote behind a slight bend I missed the first go. The homeowner called me back two days later saying smoke was backing up real bad. Anyone else ever get burned by trying to save time on a flue that looked clean?

2 comments

c/fence-erectors•

blake_black47•1mo ago

Warning: That job on a muddy slope near Pittsburgh almost cost me my crew

We were putting up a 6 foot privacy fence on a steep hill in Oakmont last fall. Ground was soaked from three days of rain. I figured we'd just set the posts deeper and call it good. First big gust of wind and two sections just folded over like paper. Turns out the soil was so loose the concrete couldn't grab. We had to pull everything out and dig down 4 feet to hit solid clay. Now I always check soil composition before I even quote a sloping job. Has anyone else run into this with wet ground on a hillside?

2 comments

c/elevator-mechanics•

blake_black47•1mo ago

Had a customer tell me something that made me rethink door zone adjustments

Last week a building super in Chicago told me I was wasting time by always tightening door rollers to factory spec. He said on older units, looser is better because the rails warp over time and tight rollers just bind up. I argued with him at first but tried his way on a 1984 Otis and it ran smoother than anything I'd done before. Has anyone else found that old buildings need different settings than what the manual says?

2 comments

c/backyard-chicken-keepers•

blake_black47•1mo ago

My neighbor's 80 year old mom showed me how she still collects eggs from her Rhode Island Reds like it's 1950

She said she's never once bought a heat lamp or medicated feed and her hens have outlived two of my flocks, so why do we overcomplicate things with all these gadgets and supplements?

3 comments