Got food poisoning from a $3 discount sushi platter at a gas station in Fresno, never again

I know we all look for deals but this was a bad call. I was running errands last Tuesday and figured hey it's wrapped up and marked down to $3 so why not. Within 4 hours I was hugging the toilet and missed a full day of work. The store credit they offered me was not worth it. Anyone else ever get burned by those grocery clearance sushi packs?

Saw a crew in Denver using mesh tape on inside corners and cringed hard

I was walking through a job site in Denver last Tuesday and noticed a crew putting up mesh tape on all their inside corners. That's just asking for trouble in my book. Paper tape gives way better mud adhesion and won't bubble up like mesh does on those tight angles. I've been doing this 12 years and tried mesh once back in 2018, had to cut half of it out after a month. Who else still swears by paper tape for corners or am I just old school?

Am I the only one who thinks fence inspections are a joke in new developments?

Drove past a new housing complex outside of Phoenix last week and saw a whole row of vinyl fences already bowing after maybe 3 months. The posts were set in dirt with a handful of gravel, no concrete whatsoever. Has anyone else noticed builders cutting corners like this on fresh installs?

I blew $400 on a cheap pocket hole jig and it ruined my whole kitchen job

Bought a no-name jig off Amazon for 40 bucks and after 50 holes the alignment was off by a solid 1/8 inch. Had to scrap three cabinet doors because the screws came through crooked. Anyone else had a cheap tool cost them way more than they saved?

Finally bit the bullet on a $35 fountain pen at Kinokuniya in Chicago

I mean I always thought cheap pens were fine for my bujo but this one actually makes me look forward to writing my dailies. Anyone else find a single tool that totally changed their journaling habit?

Tried planting butterfly bushes last spring in my backyard near Lakewood...

I put in three butterfly bushes last May along my fence line hoping for some color, but they grew to over 10 feet tall in just one season and flopped over onto my neighbor's side. Now I have to dig them out and start over with something shorter. Anyone else have bushes get out of control like that around here?

Chat with a guy at a star party made me rethink my telescope

I was at a local star party last Saturday and this older dude let me look through his 6 inch dob. He said he had it for 15 years and never felt the need to upgrade. It hit me that I've been obsessing over specs and gear when I should just be enjoying the views. Any of you ever get humbled by a simple setup like that?

Pro tip: Check your crimp tool calibration before a big job

Last month I was working on a 737-800 at McCarran and kept getting intermittent readings on a pitot-static test. Spent like 3 hours chasing the problem until a senior guy looked at my crimps and said they looked loose. Took my tool to the cal lab and it was off by 0.3mm, which is just enough to cause bad connections. Anyone else ever had a crimper drift out of spec without realizing it?

A customer at the Portland market asked me why I don't use linen thread

I was selling my handbound journals at a craft fair last fall. A woman picked one up, ran her finger along the spine, and said 'The work is beautiful, but that polyester thread is going to outlive the paper.' She explained she'd repaired 50 year old family books sewn with linen, and the thread aged with the pages. I switched to linen on my next project, a poetry book, and the difference in feel was huge. Has anyone else made a switch like that after a simple comment?

Went to the county fair in Boise and saw a 'Future Moms' booth next to the funnel cake stand. The lady running it gave me a pamphlet on 'choosing life' before I could even say I was just there for the corn dogs.