That coding bootcamp meetup in Austin almost cost me my project

I went to a free coding workshop downtown Austin last month. The instructor told everyone to blindly copy-paste a huge block of jQuery from a shared drive. Two days later my whole portfolio site froze because it had a hidden loop that ate up memory. Has anyone else had a bad experience using code from random meetup groups?

The library wifi incident that made me ditch public hotspots for good

Dropped $2,500 on a new sonar unit for the old cutterhead and I'm ready to throw it in the river

Showerthought: I used to think shellac was a pain until a job in Asheville

I had to match a 1920s dresser for a client there, and the original finish was shellac over stain. My usual lacquer just looked WRONG, too plastic-y. After three failed attempts, I mixed a 2-pound cut of dewaxed shellac and the way it melted into the old finish was MAGIC. Has anyone else had a finish that just clicked on a tough job?

Pro tip: the old 'kick the door' test versus actually checking the guide shoes

I was working on a 90s Otis in a downtown office building last Thursday, and the super swore the issue was the door operator because 'it just sounds wrong'. I spent an hour on that before I finally popped the cart and found the rear guide shoes were completely shot, with maybe 2mm of lining left. The door was fine, the track was just rattling like crazy. Anyone else ever get sent on a wild goose chase by a building guy's hunch?

My kraut went fizzy after I left it in the garage for a month

I forgot a jar of my usual cabbage mix out there when it got cold, and when I opened it, it was super carbonated like soda. Anyone know if that's safe to eat or what causes that much fizz?

Had a customer tell me they were having the worst day of their life, and it wasn't about the coffee.

I work at a drive-thru, and a lady came through yesterday looking really upset. She snapped at me about her order being wrong, which it was, my bad. When I apologized and handed her the new drink, she just sighed and said, 'Sorry, my dog died this morning.' I froze for a second. I just said, 'I'm so sorry, that's awful. The coffee's on me today.' She started crying and thanked me. It made me realize a lot of the anger we get isn't about the product at all. It's just people having a bad time and we're the only person they see. Anyone else have a moment like that where the real problem was totally different?

I just trimmed my 500th hoof this morning and the number kind of blew my mind

I was cleaning up my truck after a full day and decided to count up my logbook entries from the last two years. I mean, I knew I was busy, but seeing that exact 500 written down felt different. It's not just a number, it's all those horses and all that trust from their owners. Has anyone else hit a personal milestone that made you stop and think about the work?

Finally fixed that squeaky floorboard in the upstairs hall

I had to choose between pulling up the carpet to shim the joist or just driving a screw down through the floor from above. I went with the screw method using a 3 inch deck screw and it worked perfectly. No more noise when I walk to the bathroom at night. Has anyone else tried this on an old house in Portland?

Unpopular opinion: you should always test the backup battery with a full system load

I keep seeing guys just check the battery voltage and call it good. Last month in a Cincinnati apartment job, a battery read 13 volts but died in 4 minutes when the sirens were going. The spec sheet said it should last 48 hours. I test every battery now by pulling the main power and letting the whole system run on backup for an hour. Who else does this, or is it a waste of time?