I finally figured out how to get past the slow start on 'The Wire'

Everyone kept telling me it was the best show ever, but I quit twice after the first three episodes. Last month, I decided to watch the first four episodes with subtitles on, forcing myself to pay attention to the police jargon and street names. By episode five, I was hooked and finished the whole series in under a month. Anyone have a similar trick for a show that's hard to get into?

My power went out right at the climax of the final episode of Severance

Honestly, I was in my living room in Austin during a storm last week, and the lights cut just as Helly was about to walk through that door. Ngl, I was so annoyed I just sat there in the dark for a minute. I ended up finishing the episode on my phone with 12% battery left, which felt like a real mission. Has anyone else had a binge totally derailed by something like that?

Update: my old boss in Tulsa taught me a trick for fitting a shoe on a horse with a really low heel.

He said to rasp the hoof wall at a sharper angle before nailing, and after trying it on three tough cases last month, it actually worked better than anything I'd done before.

Spent $800 on a fancy digital kiln controller and it just made my work worse

Switched from a straight razor to a shavette for neckline cleanups

Always thought the fixed blade was faster, but a client in Dallas pointed out the shavette's precision for his tough beard grain. Anyone have a favorite shavette brand under $40?

My sister in Boise said she 'just waters them' when I asked about her fern care three years ago.

Last month I saw the same ferns, and they looked better than my over-researched ones. Do people just overthink plant care sometimes?

My idea for a better ending to The Dark Knight Rises

Bruce Wayne should have actually died in the bomb blast, with Alfred seeing a stranger at the cafe. That final shot of him with Selina felt like a cop-out after such a huge sacrifice. What's an ending you think would have been more fitting?

My neighbor told me my chili was wrong because I didn't brown the meat first

We were at a block party in Denver last fall, and I brought my slow cooker chili. He took one bite, looked at me, and said, 'You can tell you just dumped the raw beef in. It's got no depth.' I was annoyed because my recipe is just dump everything in the pot and turn it on low for 8 hours. He insisted that taking 10 minutes to brown the meat in a pan first makes all the difference. Has anyone else tried it both ways, and is it really that big of a deal?