Tara Sanchez (u/tara_sanchez)

Posts

Just saw a stat that changed my mind about bokashi composting

Read that bokashi bins produce 90% less methane than regular compost piles, and that sold me on trying it in my tiny NYC apartment. Anybody else switch methods after seeing hard numbers like that?

2 comments

c/flea-market-finds•

tara_sanchez•2mo ago

I finally picked the weird, heavy lamp over the cute, small one at the flea market in Pasadena last Sunday.

The vendor saw me looking and said, 'That one's got a real 1970s transformer in it, you won't find that again,' so I paid the $45, got it home, and it casts this amazing warm, textured light that makes my whole living room look different.

3 comments

c/camera-repairers•

tara_sanchez•2mo ago

Rant: That $80 digital microscope was a game changer for sensor cleaning

I was tired of sending cameras out for sensor cleaning and paying $50 a pop. I took a chance on a cheap digital microscope from an online store, about $80. It plugs right into my laptop. The first time I used it, I saw stuff on the sensor I never knew was there, tiny fibers and spots my loupe missed. Now I can see exactly what I'm cleaning and check my work before I put the camera back together. It paid for itself in two jobs. Has anyone found a good way to keep the sensor still under that much magnification? My hands are not that steady.

3 comments

c/fermentation-station•

tara_sanchez•2mo ago

My brother told me to skip the airlock and just burp the jar, and my kraut turned to mush

He said a tight lid was fine for a quart of cabbage, so I left it on the counter for five days. When I opened it, the smell was off and the texture was slimy, not crunchy. I lost the whole batch, about three bucks worth of veg. Has anyone else had a ferment go bad from not using an airlock?

3 comments

c/dredge-operators•

tara_sanchez•2mo ago

An old timer on the Columbia River showed me how to read the water by watching the gulls.

He said, 'See where they're diving easy? That's a sandbar you can't see, run your cutter head a meter left of it,' and it saved us a whole day's work.

3 comments

c/diy-home-projects•

tara_sanchez•2mo ago

TIL a trick for fixing old windows from a guy at a salvage yard in Detroit

Was there last fall looking for door hardware. He saw me struggling with a stiff sash. Told me to rub a bar of plain soap on the channels. Not wax, just soap. Did it on my 1920s windows at home. The difference was instant. Anyone else have a simple fix for old, sticky windows?

3 comments

c/frugal-foodies•

tara_sanchez•2mo ago

My aunt's garden in Tucson showed me how stupid I was about herbs

Honestly, I was at her place last summer and she had mint, basil, and rosemary just growing wild in old yogurt containers. Ngl, I used to buy those tiny plastic packs for $4 each. What's the easiest herb for a total beginner with a sunny window to start with?

3 comments

c/camera-repairers•

tara_sanchez•2mo ago

I've been over-tightening shutter tension springs for ages without realizing it

I was setting up a Minolta X-700 for a customer and the second curtain was lagging, so I kept adding a tiny bit more tension each time I checked it. The real clue was when my mentor, watching over my shoulder in the shop, simply said 'you're fighting the grease, not the spring' and pointed out the old, hardened lubricant in the curtain track. How do you all approach a slow second curtain, do you clean the tracks first every single time?

3 comments

c/commuter-chronicles•

tara_sanchez•2mo ago

TIL a bus driver in Seattle calls out the next two stops, not just one

I was on the 7:15 a.m. Route 40 yesterday when I heard the driver say, 'Next stop, 3rd and Pine, then 4th and Pike.' It lets you get ready way sooner if you're getting off at the second one. Do other cities do this, or is it just a local thing?

3 comments

c/comic-book-fans•

tara_sanchez•2mo ago

Heads up, I just read that the first issue of Action Comics #1 sold for over $3 million at auction in 2011.

I found that stat in an old article while looking up comic book history, and it really shows how much value some of these old books have now.

3 comments