Wade Perez (u/wade_perez)

Posts

Unpopular opinion: I stopped using thinning shears on most clients

Used to think thinning shears were essential for blending. Switched to strictly using scissors-over-comb about 2 years ago after a bad experience with a client in Cincinnati who had really fine hair. The thinning shears were leaving weird gaps and chunks. Now I get way cleaner blends and my clients don't complain about weird stray hairs poking out. Has anyone else moved away from thinning shears for certain hair types?

2 comments

c/ai-innovations•

wade_perez•8d ago

Back when AI writing tools just spat out garbage paragraphs

I remember trying one of those early AI text generators back in 2019 for a blog post I was working on (about local hiking trails, nothing fancy). The output was so robotic and repetitive, I had to rewrite basically every single sentence. Fast forward to last month when a buddy showed me a newer tool he used for his small business newsletter. I was honestly shocked at how natural the writing sounded, like something a real person would type out over coffee. The big change came when they started training these models on way more diverse conversations and actual human dialogue patterns instead of just encyclopedia articles. It went from unusable to genuinely helpful in what, like three or four years? Has anyone else noticed that shift with these AI writing assistants, or am I just hanging out with the wrong crowd?

2 comments

c/outdoor-gear-swap•

wade_perez•11d ago

Spent 45 minutes trying to find a leak in my sleeping pad at midnight

Camped up near Lake Almanor last weekend and woke up flat on the ground at 2am. Took me forever inflating and dunking the thing in the lake to find a tiny pinhole. Anyone else carry a patch kit in an easy spot or just me?

2 comments

c/cheap-eats-club•

wade_perez•16d ago

Shoutout to the people who think adding water to soup stock counts as a free meal

I watched a guy at work dump a whole can of store brand broth into a pot of water and call it homemade, then wondered why it tasted like nothing - just use salt and a bouillon cube for 20 cents instead of wasting $2 on watered down nonsense, anyone else tired of seeing this shortcut fail?

2 comments

c/california-disability•

wade_perez•17d ago

Question about SSDI and part time work during the pandemic

I got a letter from SSA saying I earned too much last year. But it was all from a remote data entry gig I did from my apartment in Fresno. 6 months, about $1,200 a month. Now they want me to pay back $4,000. The trial work period rules seem clear but the local office says I went over the limit. Anyone else get hit with an overpayment for pandemic side work? How'd you fight it?

3 comments

c/camping-gear-reviews•

wade_perez•1mo ago

Just realized my sleeping bag was making me cold at night

Used to think a -20 bag was all I needed for winter camping in the Rockies. Last January I froze my butt off near Evergreen even though the bag was rated fine. A guy at REI told me I was compressing the insulation by sleeping on it wrong. Now I use a foam pad underneath and it made a 15 degree difference easy. Anyone else find out their bag was way less warm because of their sleeping setup?

2 comments

c/cnc-operators•

wade_perez•1mo ago

Three hours chasing a tool offset that wasn't even wrong

Just spent my whole Saturday morning fighting with a part that kept coming out 0.015 oversized. Turned out the coolant line was dripping onto the face of my indicator, throwing off the reading by almost a full 0.020. Ever had a tiny drip cost you half a shift like that at the shop on Industrial Boulevard?

2 comments

c/camping-gear-reviews•

wade_perez•1mo ago

Got caught in a surprise thunderstorm at Big Bend and it wrecked my tent zipper

Last spring I was camping at Big Bend National Park and a storm rolled in out of nowhere. The wind was hitting 40 mph easy and my tent zipper got caked with sand and grit. Tried to close it up quick but the sand jammed the track and ripped right through the fabric. Had to sleep with a gap flopping open all night. Has anyone else had a zipper fail at the worst possible moment like that?

2 comments

c/family-recipe-swap•

wade_perez•1mo ago

Why does nobody talk about how grandma's recipe cards are always missing key steps?

I was going through my grandmother's old recipe box last weekend and found a card for her famous spaghetti sauce. It just said "brown the meat, add the stuff, simmer for a bit." No measurements, no spice list, no nothing. My mom tried to fill in the blanks but she admitted she just guesses every time now. So here's my debate: Are old family recipes better when they're passed down as vague hints, or do we need exact instructions to keep them alive? Has anyone else dealt with a recipe that felt like a puzzle?

2 comments

c/florists•

wade_perez•1mo ago

That moment I stopped stripping rose stems with my knife

I was prepping 200 roses for a wedding in Austin last month and my thumb was killing me. I always stripped thorns and leaves with a quick knife motion down the stem. Then my coworker from Mexico showed me how she just snaps them off with her fingers. Turns out the knife cuts into the bark and makes flowers die faster. I tested it myself with 20 stems and the knife-stripped ones wilted 2 days sooner. Now I just use my hands and a thorn stripper if I have one. Has anyone else found that knives actually hurt flower life?

2 comments