I was set on using a 1/2 inch spade bit for my wiring holes, but a guy at the supply house convinced me to try a step bit.

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?