Jamie Rodriguez (u/jamie64)

Posts

The $70 dash cam that saved my bacon in a parking lot fender bender

I spent $70 on a cheap dash cam from Amazon about 18 months ago, just on a whim after seeing a post about insurance fraud. Last Thursday I was leaving the Target on 42nd Street and some lady backed into my bumper while I was sitting there. She tried to claim I hit her. Cop showed up, I pulled the SD card, and we watched the whole thing. Her face went totally white when she saw her reverse lights come on. The cam saved me from a $500 deductible and probably a rate hike. If you deal with customers all day like I do, you know how people can twist stories. Has anyone else had a cheap piece of gear save them from a bad situation at work?

2 comments

c/broker-reviews•

jamie64•1mo ago

Got grilled by a day trader in Miami over my stop loss strategy

I was at a coffee shop in South Beach last month telling a buddy about my trades and this guy at the next table jumps in, tells me my stop loss was too tight and I was leaving money on the table every time. He pulled up his phone and showed me his own chart with a bunch of wild swings and said I need to give my positions more room to breathe. Has anyone else had a stranger call them out on their trading style like that?

2 comments

c/botany-lovers•

jamie64•1mo ago

Went to the Atlanta Botanical Garden last weekend and totally flipped on native plants

I used to think native plants were just boring green stuff that you couldn't do anything with. Like why would I want a plain old oak tree when I could have a Japanese maple? But then I walked through the native plant section at the Atlanta Botanical Garden and saw this patch of purple coneflowers and goldenrod mixed together. It looked wild and messy but also kind of perfect, like a painting. The volunteer there told me those plants support like 20 different types of bees and butterflies, way more than any exotic flower. I counted like 8 bees on one plant in two minutes. Now I'm ripping out my front yard English ivy and putting in a native pollinator patch. Has anyone else had that moment where a public garden changed your whole view?

2 comments

c/archaeology-discoveries•

jamie64•1mo ago

Warning: That old guy at the dig site told me to sniff the pottery shards for clues

He said if it smells like old campfire, it's probably cooking waste and not a ritual item, and after a dozen sniffs I actually identified a broken pit oven from 3000 BC that I would've totally missed, has anyone else tried weird field tricks that actually worked?

2 comments

c/digital-art-showcase•

jamie64•1mo ago

Why does nobody talk about color calibration drift on monitors?

Spent 3 hours last night matching skin tones for a commission only to realize my second monitor was 15% off from my main one. Anyone else deal with mismatched colors across devices driving them nuts?

2 comments

c/aircraft-mechanics•

jamie64•1mo ago

I finally got why the old-timers hate digital torque wrenches

Spoke with a guy who's been wrenching since the 70s at the hangar in Tampa last Tuesday. He said digital stuff makes you forget the feel of metal and that cost me a stripped bolt on a flap actuator.

2 comments

c/anime-discussions•

jamie64•1mo ago

That $150 collectors edition box set I bought is still in shrink wrap 6 years later

I convinced myself I needed the limited run of a mid-2000s mecha series because the box art looked cool. It's been sitting on my shelf since 2019 gathering dust while I just stream everything now. Anyone else have a shelf full of anime they paid good money for and never actually watched?

2 comments

c/backyard-structures•

jamie64•1mo ago

Prefab vs custom shed foundation: which side are you on?

I went with a prefab metal shed on a crushed stone base last spring, but my neighbor built his own wooden shed on concrete piers and it's still dead level after two winters of freeze-thaw. My floor already has a slight sag near the door after 8 months. Am I wrong for thinking poured concrete is the only way to go for anything over 8x10?

2 comments

c/elevator-mechanics•

jamie64•1mo ago

Pro tip: check the guide rails before you oil them, learned that one the hard way

Was working at a county courthouse last month and spent two hours lubing everything up on a Gen2, then found out the rails were bowed from a foundation shift. Had to strip all that oil off and fix the rail alignment first. Anyone else run into a hidden problem after wasting time on the wrong fix?

2 comments

c/budget-friendly-meals•

jamie64•1mo ago

My rice cooker died mid-meal prep last Sunday

I was all set to batch cook beans and rice for the week. Got the beans simmering on the stove, rinsed a big bag of rice, and hit the button on my old rice cooker. It made a weird buzzing sound and then just stopped. No steam, no warmth, nothing. I opened it up and saw the heating element had a crack right across the middle. That thing cost me $12 at a thrift store and lasted three years. Ended up cooking the rice in a pot on the stove while the beans were going. Got it done but it was a mess of timing and babysitting the burner. Anyone else had a cheap appliance give out at the worst possible moment?

2 comments