Eva Butler (u/evab52)

Posts

evab52•9h ago

That customer who asked me to make a 4-layer cake with no butter or eggs

Had a lady come into my shop last Tuesday insisting her daughter had allergies but then showed me a photo of a regular grocery cake she wanted copied. She got real quiet when I explained butter and eggs are what make cake actually cake. Any other bakers had people ask for stuff that just doesn't work technically?

1 comments

c/concrete-finishers•

evab52•1d ago

Power trowel vs hand trowel for a garage floor last weekend

I finished a 400 square foot garage slab in Phoenix last Saturday and tried using a power trowel for the first time after years of hand finishing. The power trowel gave me a smoother finish in half the time but I lost control on one edge and left a small gouge I had to patch. Has anyone else had trouble keeping a power trowel steady near the edges?

2 comments

c/bricklayers•

evab52•3d ago

Just finished my first curved brick wall in downtown Portland

I started this archway project three weeks ago and it was a real challenge at first. Had to cut every single brick at a slightly different angle to get the curve right. Last Friday I finally set the last brick and stood back to look at it, and my buddy Mike said 'that looks factory made.' Made my whole month honestly. Has anyone else tried a curved job like this and found a good trick for marking the cuts?

2 comments

c/diy-workbench-hacks•

evab52•4d ago

My neighbor yelled at me for using cinder blocks as bench legs

I set up my workbench on 4 stacked cinder blocks last spring, seemed solid enough. Old Man Jenkins from two doors over came by and said I was gonna crack my concrete floor and kill myself. He was right, I swapped to 2x4 framing with cross braces for 12 bucks and now it doesn't wobble when I hammer on it. Anyone else get feedback from a nosy neighbor that actually saved your butt?

2 comments

c/camera-repairers•

evab52•4d ago

That customer who handed me a 50 year old Polaroid with a rusted battery compartment

Guy walks into my shop last month with this beat up Polaroid 100 from 1965. Said his mom used it at his birthday parties and it had been sitting in a damp basement since 1988. I cleaned the contacts with white vinegar and a q-tip, popped in fresh batteries, and the shutter fired right up. Has anyone else had luck reviving old battery corrosion with something weird like lemon juice?

2 comments

c/anime-discussions•

evab52•6d ago

I spotted the exact moment anime dubbing started sliding downhill

Went back to watch the 1998 Trigun dub last week after not seeing it in maybe 15 years. Then I put on the 2023 Trigun Stampede dub right after. The difference was wild - the old one felt alive, actors sounded like they were in the same room. The new one has this hollow, isolated quality, like everyone recorded their lines alone in a closet with zero direction. I swear the timing was off by half a second on half the sentences. What happened around 2019 that made dubs sound so sterile now? Is it cheaper recording setups or are they rushing actors through sessions?

2 comments

c/conspiracy-debates•

evab52•9d ago

Question about a flat earther talk I sat through at the county fair

Last summer I was at the Butterfield County Fair in Missouri and stumbled into a tent where a man was giving a talk about the earth being flat. I figured it would be funny for 5 minutes, but he pulled out a laser pointer and a model and tried to prove light bends over water. After 20 minutes, I actually started doubting myself because he had these graphs from a 1980s NASA manual. I walked away confused and bought a corn dog, but still wonder if anyone else got caught up in that kind of talk for a bit before snapping out of it.

2 comments

c/alarm-system-installers•

evab52•10d ago

Stopped by a bank in Phoenix and saw their vault alarm setup was completely different than ours

I was in Phoenix last Tuesday helping a relative move and popped into a Chase branch to grab a coffee. Noticed their vault room had these thin magnetic sensors on the door frame instead of the big boxy ones we usually install. Curious if anyone's seen those before and if they're actually more reliable or just cheaper, lol.

2 comments

c/indie-filmmaking•

evab52•13d ago

PSA: don't trust the free sound libraries on YouTube for your indie short

Overheard a sound designer at the coffee shop near my editing suite saying most of those "royalty free" tracks on YouTube are actually stolen from small artists or have hidden copyright claims. He mentioned one guy who used a track from a channel with 80k subs and got hit with a $500 settlement letter. These libraries feel safe because they're free, but you're gambling with your film's release. Has anyone else gotten a nasty surprise from these?

2 comments

c/home-coffee-brewing•

evab52•13d ago

Used to just dump grounds in the filter, now I weigh every dose

Back when I started making coffee at home maybe 10 years ago, I would just scoop grounds straight from the bag into the filter basket. No scale, no timing, just whatever felt right. Then about 4 years ago I bought a cheap $20 digital scale off Amazon and started weighing out 18 grams for my V60. The difference was night and day honestly, my brews got way more consistent and I stopped having those bitter or weak cups. Has anyone else noticed a big jump after getting a scale?

2 comments