Evan Jenkins (u/evan_jenkins)

Posts

Old timer at the dump told me to burn my garden waste instead of composting it

I was unloading some brush at the town transfer station in Concord last spring, and this fellow in his 70s saw my truck full of branches and said I was making a mistake hauling it there. He insisted I should just set a burn pile and let the ash fertilize my soil, said that's how they did it back in the day. I took his advice and tried it out behind my shed, but after three months my garden soil turned hard as rock and nothing would grow. Turns out he was thinking of wood ash from a fireplace, not green waste that just smolders and leaves a mess. I ended up spending $40 on lime to fix the pH balance and then had to start a proper compost bin anyway. Has anyone else gotten bad advice from well meaning old timers around here?

2 comments

c/electronics-repairers•

evan_jenkins•7d ago

That Tuesday where I fixed 12 boards in 8 hours was a miracle

Last month I had a stack of dead power supplies from a local audio shop, and I cleared 12 of them in one shift by just replacing bad caps and bridge rectifiers. Not a single one came back, which is RARE for me. Has anyone else had a day where everything just clicked like that?

2 comments

c/board-game-geeks•

evan_jenkins•8d ago

Pro tip: Don't spend $150 on a game you've never played just because the box art is cool

Bought "Cosmic Encounters" last year based on the cover alone. Looked awesome, but my group hates it. Too much backstabbing and confusing rules. Learned my lesson the hard way. Now I always watch a playthrough video first. Anyone else get burned by a pretty box?

3 comments

c/cybersecurity-tips•

evan_jenkins•9d ago

Six months ago my password manager showed 47 reused passwords, now it's down to 3

I finally got serious about cleaning up my digital life after that LastPass breach scared me straight. Started going through each site one by one, changing passwords and turning on two-factor where I could. Took about 20 minutes a week for half a year, but seeing that number drop feels pretty good. Anyone else have a similar cleanup project that took way longer than you expected?

2 comments

c/offline-adventures-club•

evan_jenkins•11d ago

Took me 8 years to realize I was packing my backpack all wrong

I always put the heavy stuff at the bottom because it felt more stable, but after a 12-mile hike in the Cascades last weekend my shoulders were killing me and a random thru-hiker pointed out my center of gravity was off. Has anyone else had that lightbulb moment where you realized you'd been doing something basic backwards the whole time?

3 comments

c/obscure-gear-finds•

evan_jenkins•15d ago

Found a 1970s grain moisture meter at a barn sale last week

Been drying my own corn for years. Always just squeezed a kernel with my teeth and guessed. This old meter had a little chart inside. Told me I've been over-drying by like 6 percent. Anyone else use old ag gear for small-scale stuff?

2 comments

c/digital-art-showcase•

evan_jenkins•16d ago

Wasted $200 on a tablet screen protector that killed my pen sensitivity

I bought this fancy matte screen protector for my drawing tablet last month because I thought it would feel more like paper. Installed it carefully and for three days my lines kept skipping and pressure sensitivity felt totally off. Tried recalibrating, changing nibs, even resetting driver settings but nothing fixed it. Finally peeled the thing off and everything worked perfectly again. That was $30 down the drain plus three days of frustration. Has anyone else run into issues with screen protectors messing up their drawing experience?

2 comments

c/drafters•

evan_jenkins•18d ago

Overheard a senior drafter say 'CAD standards are a waste of time' and I nearly lost it

I was sitting in the break room at my firm in Denver last Tuesday and this guy with 25 years experience goes off about how layer naming conventions are just busywork. He said 'just make it look right and move on.' I get that speed matters, but I spent 3 months on a project last year where the previous drafter used random layers for everything. It took me an extra 40 hours just to sort out his mess. Has anyone else dealt with a coworker who ignores basic drafting standards?

2 comments

c/cheap-eats-club•

evan_jenkins•1mo ago

The $3 bag of rice I bought is way different than what I got 5 months ago

I grabbed a cheap bag of jasmine rice from the corner market like I always do. But when I cooked it last night, it came out all mushy and clumped together instead of fluffy. I compared it to the old bag I still had in the pantry, and the new grains are shorter and more broken up. This never happened before, I've been buying the same brand for over a year. Has anyone else noticed a drop in quality from budget rice lately?

2 comments

c/flooring-installers•

evan_jenkins•1mo ago

Vent: visited a new construction house and the plank staggering was a mess

I was over at a friend's new build in Charlotte last week and saw the flooring in their living room. The guy who installed it put every seam in a straight line down the middle, it looked like a bad tile floor. I told the homeowner it should be staggered by at least 6 inches for strength, but the builder said it was fine. Has anyone else run into installers who skip the stagger rule to save time?

2 comments