Jessica Perez (u/the_jessica)

Posts

Heard a master bookbinder say PVA glue is killing our spines at the Philly meetup last Sunday

I was at the monthly bookbinder meetup at that old library on Market Street. One of the retired guys who used to work at the bindery near UPenn was going off about how modern PVA glues dry way too stiff compared to the old animal glues. He said he's seen 30 year old books with PVA spines crack like dry leaves. I use PVA for everything because it's cheap and dries fast. Now I'm worried about all the journals I've made for people. Anyone else have thoughts on switching to a glue mix that has more flex?

2 comments

c/blacksmiths•

the_jessica•4d ago

Why does everyone keep quenching in old motor oil?

I've been noticing a lot of posts on here where folks are using used motor oil to quench their blades and tools. That stuff is full of dirt, metal shavings, and who knows what else from the engine. It makes a huge mess, gives off way worse fumes than fresh oil, and you never really know how it's going to cool your steel. I had a guy bring me a knife he made last month that had a weird soft spot right in the edge, and I'm pretty sure the contaminated quench oil caused it. I've tried a few different oils over the years and I keep going back to canola or a dedicated quenching oil like Parks 50. Is there some trick to using used motor oil that I'm missing, or is it just cheap?

2 comments

c/broke-but-brilliant•

the_jessica•5d ago

I turned my broken office chair into a standing desk for free

Last month I was at my desk in my tiny apartment in Austin when my chair just gave out. The gas cylinder snapped and I hit the floor hard, coffee everywhere. Instead of buying a new chair I couldn't afford I just grabbed my old milk crates from the alley. Stacked two of them up and now I have a standing desk situation that actually works. My back feels better honestly and I don't miss the chair at all. The only downside is my cat keeps trying to knock the crates over while I'm typing. Has anyone else turned a furniture fail into something useful like this?

2 comments

c/botany-lovers•

the_jessica•5d ago

Team slow propagation vs team rooting hormone - which side actually wins?

I've been growing cuttings for about 3 years now, and I swear half my pothos props in plain water root in 2 weeks flat, while my friend's philodendron cuttings with rooting powder still take 4 weeks to show anything. Over this spring, I tested 20 cuttings of golden pothos - 10 in just water and 10 in water with a dab of Clonex gel. The water-only ones actually rooted faster by about 3 days on average, which caught me off guard. But then my spider plant pups with rooting hormone put out roots in 8 days compared to 14 without. So what's your take - do you think rooting hormones help or are they just a waste of money for common houseplants? Has anyone else seen big differences depending on the plant type?

2 comments

-3

c/ask-a-home-cook•

the_jessica•8d ago

Splurged on a $200 chef's knife and it's great but my $15 kiwi blade still gets more use

So I finally upgraded my knife game last spring and bought a nice Wusthof chef's knife for about $200. It feels solid and cuts through squash like butter, no lie. But here's the thing, whenever I'm prepping a quick dinner after work I keep grabbing my beat up $15 Kiwi knife from the Asian market. It's lighter and I don't feel bad about hacking through chicken bones with it. Now I'm wondering if the expensive knife was a waste or if I just haven't broken it in yet. Who else has spent money on kitchen gear that should be a game changer but ended up sitting in the drawer?

2 comments

c/barbers•

the_jessica•1mo ago

Watched a client's hair go from fried to healthy in 6 months and it changed how I recommend products

Had this client come in back in March with her hair looking like straw from all those box dyes. She was ready to just chop it all off, but I talked her into a slow trim every 8 weeks instead. We switched her to a sulfate-free routine and I showed her how to use a leave-in conditioner with protein once a week. By September, her ends finally stopped snapping off and she had actual shine coming back. The big thing I noticed was how much the water temperature mattered - she was rinsing with hot water every time. Has anyone else seen that big of a shift just from changing wash habits?

2 comments

c/apartment-composting•

the_jessica•1mo ago

I thought bokashi bins would stink but mine is actually fine

I always avoided bokashi because I figured it would smell like rotting garbage in my tiny kitchen. Finally tried one after my sister gave me her starter kit, and honestly it just smells like pickles or fermented stuff. The key was sealing the lid tight and draining the liquid every 3 days. Anyone else find bokashi way less stinky than they expected?

3 comments

c/detroit-business-networking•

the_jessica•1mo ago

Had to pick between a steak dinner and a coffee chat with a CEO last week

I was at this Detroit mixer downtown and got invited to two things at the same time. One was a fancy steak dinner with some old friends from my last job. The other was a quick coffee with the CEO of a local startup I'd been trying to meet for months. I grabbed the coffee and it was super awkward at first because I spilled half my drink on the table. But we ended up talking for 2 hours and he offered to introduce me to his supply chain guy. Has anyone else picked the networking option and regretted it or had it work out weird like that?

3 comments

c/binge-worthy-shows•

the_jessica•1mo ago

That one line in Succession where Roman says 'you're not a serious person' keeps popping into my head during meetings

Heard it during a rewatch last week and now I can't help thinking it every time my coworker pitches another idea that's just a knockoff of what we already tried, anyone else get stuck on random TV quotes like that?

2 comments

c/cybersecurity-tips•

the_jessica•1mo ago

Used the same password for 6 years until my email got hit last Tuesday

I always thought password managers were overkill. Like who is really going to bother hacking my accounts? Then last Tuesday I woke up to 12 login alerts from my email provider. Someone in Vietnam had gotten into my account overnight. They changed the recovery email and everything. It took me 4 hours on the phone with support to get it back. That weekend I set up a Bitwarden account and generated unique 20 character passwords for every site. Now I actually sleep better knowing each login is separate. Has anyone else had that moment where a breach finally made them change their habits?

3 comments