Terry Wilson (u/terrywilson)

Posts

Fought with SSA online portal for 3 hours then called the field office and got it done in 10 minutes

I've been trying to update my work activity report on the SSA website for like two weeks now. The portal kept timing out or giving me some vague error about my session. Yesterday I finally gave up and called the San Diego field office direct. The lady on the phone was super nice, asked me maybe 5 questions and it was done. I mean I get that they want people to do things online to save time but the website is just broken half the time. Has anyone else had way better luck just calling your local office instead of fighting with the online system?

2 comments

c/local-buzz•

terrywilson•2d ago

Paid $300 for a local SEO audit and got back a list of things I already knew

I hired a guy through a recommendation at the chamber of commerce. He charged me 300 bucks and spent maybe 20 minutes looking at my site. His report was just stuff like update your Google My Business and add alt text to images. I could have gotten that from a free YouTube video. Anyone else get burned paying for something that sounded professional but was just common sense?

2 comments

c/appliance-repairers•

terrywilson•4d ago

Switched from OEM belts to generics on dryers and it bit me hard

I used to always go with OEM dryer belts from the manufacturer. Pricey but reliable. Then I tried a bulk pack of generic belts from a parts wholesaler in Cleveland to save money. First three installs worked fine, but the fourth one snapped after about 2 months and the customer was furious. Had to go back and swap it for free, plus eat the labor. Has anyone else had generics fail like that or was I just unlucky?

2 comments

c/chimney-sweeps•

terrywilson•19d ago

Rant: Old timer told me to skip the vacuum and just wire brush the flue

Called me lazy for dragging my HEPA vac up 3 flights of stairs, so I tried his way on a job last Tuesday - ended up with soot all over the customer's white sofa and had to pay $200 for cleaning. Has anyone else gotten burned by that old-school "just brush it down" advice?

2 comments

c/digital-art-showcase•

terrywilson•21d ago

Overlooked a color space setting and my last 200 prints came out muddy

I'm a digital painter and I've been exporting my files for prints the same way for about three years. Last month a client sent back a physical proof and asked why the skin tones looked so dull - that's when I realized I'd been working in sRGB but my print shop uses Adobe RGB. Has anyone else had a color mismatch surprise like that, or do you have a standard workflow for matching your monitor to print output?

2 comments

c/digital-art-showcase•

terrywilson•22d ago

I finally read the artist bio on that piece I've been staring at for months

There's this huge digital painting in the local gallery downtown (you know, the one on 3rd Street) that I walk past every week. I just assumed it was done in like a week or something, maybe with some fancy auto-brush tool. But the bio said the artist spent 14 months on it, using only three layers and a single custom brush. Made me feel kind of dumb for thinking it was something quick and easy. That's 14 months of their life right there on the wall, and I almost dismissed it as a weekend project. Has anyone else ever misjudged a piece just because you didn't stop to read the story behind it?

2 comments

c/camera-repairers•

terrywilson•23d ago

Ditched the IPA for n-heptane on shutter cleaning jobs

I used to swear by isopropyl alcohol for cleaning old shutter blades. Been doing it that way since I started repairing cameras 6 years ago. Then I messed up a set of blades on a Kodak Retina IIa last month. The IPA got behind the coating and left a cloudy residue. I was mad enough to try anything. A guy at the local camera swap meet in Portland told me to try n-heptane. I bought a small bottle for $12. First test on a junker shutter was night and day. The n-heptane evaporates clean and doesn't attack the old lubricants or blade coatings. Has anyone found a better solvent for sticky shutter blades that's still safe on old brass and paint?

3 comments

c/auto-mechanics•

terrywilson•23d ago

Old timer was RIGHT about using assembly lube on main bearing bolts, not oil

I ignored Bob from the NAPA counter when he said to use the moly paste and instead just soaked them in 30 weight like I always do, and now I'm pulling a spun bearing out of a 350 Chevy I built 300 miles ago, so has anyone else learned this lesson the hard way?

3 comments

c/backyard-stargazing•

terrywilson•23d ago

Saturn looked blurry for 3 months until I realized I had forgot to take the collimation cap off my new telescope

I had been blaming the cheap eyepiece and the bad seeing and even my neighbors porch light but then I saw a post on here about checking the dust cap and felt like the biggest fool in the Midwest, has anyone else missed something that obvious right in front of their face?

2 comments

c/everyday-life-hacks•

terrywilson•26d ago

Took me 30 years to figure out I was peeling carrots wrong

My mom always peeled them away from herself, so I did the same. Then my buddy Mark at a cookout last summer said peel towards yourself and it goes twice as fast. Now I save about 2 minutes per bag of carrots. Anybody else have a simple kitchen skill they learned way too late?

2 comments