A retired tech in Mobile showed me a trick for stubborn cannon plugs with a zip tie

Spent $800 on a fancy drafting tablet and barely use it

Everyone says you need a high-end digital tablet for modern drafting work. Bought a top model last fall. Used it for maybe two weeks. Went right back to my old setup with a large monitor and a basic mouse. The learning curve killed my speed. Felt like I was drawing with a brick. Honestly think it's overhyped for technical work. Has anyone else gone back to simpler tools after trying something 'better'?

Shoutout to the Detroit Regional Chamber's online mixer last month

I had to pick between going to their big in-person event at the Ren Cen or just doing the virtual one. I chose the online one because my schedule was packed. It actually worked out great. I made two solid contacts with people in Corktown who need my printing services. Has anyone else tried their online events and had good luck?

Warning: my sourdough starter went totally flat after a power outage in Denver last month

It was out for 8 hours and the fridge temp killed the yeast. Anyone know a good way to bring a starter back from the cold?

Cleaned out my old email and found over 1,200 unread newsletters

I finally went through my personal email inbox last weekend. I knew it was bad, but the number that shocked me was 1,247 unread newsletters and marketing emails. I never open them, but they just pile up. It hit me that this is a huge security risk I never thought about. Each one is a potential phishing attempt hiding in plain sight, and if my email ever got breached, that's over a thousand points of data about my interests and habits. I spent three hours unsubscribing from everything, starting with the oldest ones. It felt like cleaning digital clutter, but it's really about reducing my attack surface. Has anyone else done a big purge like this and noticed fewer sketchy emails getting through?

Warning: The third day on the Teton Crest Trail almost broke me

We planned a 5 day trip through Grand Teton National Park last August. The second night at Alaska Basin was perfect, but day three was a brutal 12 mile push over Hurricane Pass with a 50 pound pack. A sudden afternoon storm rolled in just past the pass, turning the trail into a slick mudslide for two solid hours. We had to posthole through knee deep snow patches in July with zero visibility. Has anyone else had a beautiful route turn into a survival march like that? What did you do to get through it?

Rant: The 7:15 AM express bus used to be a quiet zone. Now it's a phone call conference room.

For about two years, my morning ride was a peaceful 35 minutes. People read, slept, or looked out the window. In the last six months, it's totally flipped. Now, without fail, at least three people are having loud, full-volume speakerphone calls about work stuff before we even hit the freeway. It's like a rolling office. The change seemed to happen right after that big tech company opened its new campus near the last stop. I guess a bunch of new riders brought their 'multitasking on the go' habits with them. The driver put up a 'please be considerate' sign, but it's just paper over a crack. Has anyone else's regular route had its whole vibe ruined by one big change like this? What did you do?

Hot take: that 'simple' capacitor replacement on a 2018 MacBook board took me 4 hours

Turns out the pad was completely gone under the old one... had to run a trace wire from three points over. Anyone know a better flux for that kind of micro-soldering?

Just welded my 500th inch of 3/8 plate on this tank job in Toledo

I was tallying my cut lengths today and realized I've laid down over 500 inches of weld on this single vessel. It's for a new pressure vessel at the refinery here. That's a lot of passes with the Lincoln Power MIG 256. Anyone else ever surprise themselves with how much linear weld they put down on one project?

Just got 12 eggs from my three hens in one day

My three Buff Orpingtons, all about two years old, laid a dozen eggs total last Tuesday. That's four each, which I didn't think was possible. It happened after a week of really warm weather here in Charlotte. Has anyone else seen a short burst like this from a small flock?