Chose a DMM with a microamp range over my old Fluke for troubleshooting

Been working avionics for about 8 years now and always used my trusty Fluke 87V for everything. Last week I had this weird ghost issue on a King KX 165 nav radio where the display would flicker but only sometimes. My buddy Mike from the shop next door told me to try a meter that can read microamps since these older radios draw tiny current on the backup circuits. I picked up a Brymen BM869s for around $170 and man it caught a 3.2 microamp drop on a corroded pin that my Fluke just couldn't see. Turned a 3 hour headache into a 20 minute fix. Anyone else run into a situation where a different meter saved you time on a tricky fault?

Unpopular opinion: letting your hens free range all day is actually worse for them

A neighbor told me her flock got picked off by hawks every year until she built a covered run, and I used to think that was cruel until I lost two of my best layers to a Cooper's hawk last month. Has anyone else found that supervised free ranging works better than full-time roaming?

Vent: Stopped by a shop in Bakersfield that had zero air filters in stock

I pulled into a diesel repair shop off the 99 last Tuesday needing a simple air filter swap for an old Cummins. They told me they hadn't stocked any in six months and just relied on customers bringing their own parts. That's a joke for a place that calls itself a full-service shop. How do you run a diesel shop without basic maintenance parts on hand?

My brother-in-law from Boise called my shed foundation a 'temporary solution' and he was right

He pointed out my cinder blocks on the dirt were already sinking after one rainy Oregon winter. I pulled them all up and poured a proper concrete pad, 8 by 10 feet. Has anyone else had to redo a foundation after thinking a shortcut would hold up?

My aunt said my great-grandma's gingerbread was too dry, so I tried something new

I made the old family recipe for my aunt last month. She took one bite and said, 'Honey, this is the texture of sawdust, just like hers always was.' I looked back at the card and saw it called for a full cup of milk. I swapped that for a half cup of milk and a half cup of applesauce. The next batch was so much softer and kept for days. Has anyone else fixed a dry old recipe like that?

Update: My friend in Seattle swore by packing cubes for years, but I finally tried them last month.

I borrowed a set for a 5-day work trip to Chicago and found they just added bulk and made it harder to see what I had. I ended up unpacking them into the main compartment on day two. Has anyone else ditched the cubes and found a simpler system that works?

So this guy at the Edmonton Chat meetup last month just started explaining the history of the High Level Bridge to me like I was a tourist

Ngl, he went on for a solid 10 minutes about the streetcar and the construction date, 1913. It was funny because I've lived here my whole life and was just trying to get a drink. Anyone else had a weirdly detailed chat with a stranger at one of these things?

Heard a guy at the Freightliner dealer in Springfield say he never flushes coolant systems

He was telling another tech he just drains and refills because it's faster, and that the flush machines are a waste of time. That's a fast track to silicate dropout and clogged heater cores, especially on those newer Detroit engines with extended life coolant. How many of you actually run a proper chemical flush and reverse flush with every coolant service?

Heard a guy in a Lisbon cafe say he's 'done with cheap countries'

He was telling his friend he spent 6 months in Thailand but felt like he was just saving money, not really living. Said he's moving to Barcelona next, even though it costs more, because the community and events are better. It made me think about how we pick places. Is chasing a low cost of living sometimes a trap that keeps you from a better experience? Anyone else made a move to a pricier city and been glad they did?

I always thought hot swap sockets were foolproof until one lifted clean off my PCB last night