Patricia Foster (u/foster.patricia)

Posts

Rant: Stop washing your cast iron with soap... you're ruining it for everyone

I keep seeing people online saying it's fine to use soap on cast iron. My grandmother gave me her skillet from 1962 and told me one thing... never soap. I've had mine for 15 years now, eggs slide right off it like teflon. My neighbor used soap on his brand new Lodge pan and after 6 months the seasoning is patchy and food sticks like crazy. Why would you risk 50 years of tradition for something that works perfectly fine with just hot water and a stiff brush?

2 comments

c/cybersecurity-tips•

foster.patricia•2d ago

Switched from free antivirus to paid and saw a huge difference after a ransomware scare last month

My roommate's laptop got hit with ransomware last month from clicking a bad email link. I was running the free version of Avast and he had nothing. His files got locked and he lost everything. Mine was fine but it scared me enough to actually pay for Malwarebytes Premium. Ran a full scan and found 3 tracking cookies my free one never caught. Has anyone else noticed a big gap between free and paid security software?

2 comments

c/estheticians•

foster.patricia•5d ago

That $200 nano-infusion facial machine I bought from a distributor at a mall kiosk ended up being a glorified water sprayer

I lost a whole weekend and $200 after watching YouTube tutorials that promised glass skin but all I got was a wet face and a weird burning smell from the thing after three uses, has anyone else gotten burned by those pop-up distributor deals?

4 comments

c/bullet-journaling•

foster.patricia•6d ago

Can we talk about how I was numbering my weekly spreads wrong for months

I was setting up my March spreads and realized I'd been putting the page numbers in the bottom corners, but my friend in Austin pointed out it makes way more sense to put them in the top outer corners so you can flip through faster. What's your go-to spot for page numbers in your bujo?

2 comments

c/chefs•

foster.patricia•10d ago

My old head chef told me to never salt mushrooms until the end

I mean, he was super firm about it, said it draws out water and makes them steam instead of sear. I followed that for years, cooking them in a hot pan with just oil. Then a new sous in our Portland spot showed me his method: salt them right at the start. Tried it last week and they got this amazing, crispy crust I never got before. Has anyone else switched up their mushroom method and seen a big difference?

2 comments

c/drafters•

foster.patricia•13d ago

Warning: I just saw a set of old shop drawings from 2015 next to the new ones for the same building.

The difference in line weight and text clarity is huge. The new set, done with a cheap office inkjet, is already fading after two weeks in the site trailer. The old set, plotted on a proper machine, is still crisp. Our office switched printers to save money last month. Has anyone else had a plotter change ruin their drawing sets?

2 comments

c/arborists•

foster.patricia•13d ago

My new climbing rope frayed after just two months on a big oak job

I bought a 150 foot static line from a discount site for $180, thinking I was getting a deal. The sheath started showing serious wear after we used it for a big crown reduction on a white oak in Springfield. It wasn't a name brand, and I should have known better. I had to replace it with a trusted one for safety, so that cheap rope cost me the original price plus another $220. Has anyone else had a rope fail way faster than it should?

3 comments

c/glassblowers•

foster.patricia•18d ago

Unpopular opinion: I think those fancy graphite paddles are overrated for beginners.

I was trying to shape a simple vase in my garage studio last month and my cheap wood paddle cracked right when I needed to flatten the base, so I grabbed a wet newspaper instead and it worked fine. Anyone else just use basic stuff when starting out?

2 comments

c/flooring-installers•

foster.patricia•22d ago

Just finished a job where the waste cut count hit 47 pieces

I was laying that new rigid core stuff in a big open plan area, thought I had the pattern down... but the room had these weird angles and a fireplace bump-out that threw everything off. Every time I made a cut for one wall, it left a piece too short for the next run. By the end of the day, I had a stack of 47 cut-offs under 6 inches long. It wasn't just the material cost, it was the time lost measuring each one. I've never seen a number that high on a residential job before. It made me stop and really look at my starting wall layout again. Has anyone else run into a waste number that made you change how you plan a room?

3 comments

c/estheticians•

foster.patricia•1mo ago

Unpopular opinion: I stopped using a magnifying lamp for every single extraction

I used to think you needed that intense 5x magnification for every pore, but after a client in Tampa last month pointed out how much it stressed her skin, I switched to just my loupes for initial assessment. Anyone else find that less is more sometimes?

3 comments

Posts

Rant: Stop washing your cast iron with soap... you're ruining it for everyone

Switched from free antivirus to paid and saw a huge difference after a ransomware scare last month

That $200 nano-infusion facial machine I bought from a distributor at a mall kiosk ended up being a glorified water sprayer

Can we talk about how I was numbering my weekly spreads wrong for months

My old head chef told me to never salt mushrooms until the end

Warning: I just saw a set of old shop drawings from 2015 next to the new ones for the same building.

My new climbing rope frayed after just two months on a big oak job

Unpopular opinion: I think those fancy graphite paddles are overrated for beginners.

Just finished a job where the waste cut count hit 47 pieces

Unpopular opinion: I stopped using a magnifying lamp for every single extraction

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