I finally understood why the old guy at the swap meet was so picky about his solder

He was selling off his shop's old gear and wouldn't let me buy a spool without asking if I had a proper fume extractor. Said, 'You can fix the board, but you can't fix your lungs.' I'd never really thought about it past opening a window. Anyone else have a simple piece of advice that stuck with you like that?

Just got back from Lisbon and their tap water is totally fine to drink

Ngl, I was buying bottled water for two days before a local told me to just use the tap and saved me like 40 euros. Anyone else find a simple money saver like that in a city?

Had a weird silt cloud issue on a bridge piling job in Tampa last month

We were doing a routine inspection on some old concrete supports in the Hillsborough River, visibility was decent at first. About 20 minutes in, my jetting hose kicked up this massive cloud of fine silt that just would not clear, like zero viz for over an hour. My dive partner on comms said it looked like a brownout from the surface camera. Anyone else run into silt that just hangs around forever, and what's your go-to move?

Overheard a neighbor in Phoenix call slow cooker chicken 'bland' and it got me thinking

She was telling someone that all her chicken dishes turn out dry and flavorless, but she only cooks them on high for 4 hours with no liquid. I've always done a whole 3-pound bird on low for 8 hours with a cup of broth and it's never failed me. Is the 'high and fast' method really the problem people have with texture?

Bought a cheap anvil stand from an online auction, lost $200 when it cracked after six weeks

Serious question, a weird power supply issue ate up my whole afternoon yesterday.

Had a custom build that would only boot sometimes, spent 4 hours swapping parts before I found a single bent pin on the 24-pin connector. Anyone else run into something like that where the fix was stupid simple but took forever to find?