Chose the bus over my car for a month straight

I live in Phoenix and normally drive everywhere. Switched to the bus for my daily commute 4 weeks ago. Saved like $60 on gas and felt less stressed not fighting traffic. Anyone else try ditching their car for a set time?

Found out last week that a single loose injector can cost you 2 mpg on a Cummins ISX

I was digging through some old fleet maintenance reports from a shop in Nebraska and saw a pattern I'd never noticed before - they tracked fuel economy before and after injector replacement and the gain was almost exactly 2 mpg every time. Has anyone else seen that kind of jump or was this just a freak case?

Showerthought: Rambo First Blood's original ending vs the theatrical one is a total mood shift

I watched First Blood again last night, and I looked up the original ending where Rambo actually dies by suicide. The theatrical ending where he breaks down crying and gets talked down by Trautman feels way more emotional and real to me. The novel ending just felt like a downer for no reason, like they wanted to punish him harder. But the movie ending makes you actually feel for the guy and see his trauma. Has anyone else read the book and compared the two? Which one hits harder for you?

Just realized everyone's setting posts wrong on slopes

I was on a job last week in Greenville and noticed three different crews sinking their line posts straight down on a 15 degree grade. That leaves a huge gap under the bottom rail and the whole fence looks crooked. I watched an old timer show me you gotta step the posts down the slope, keeping the tops level but letting the bottom follow the ground. Has anyone else caught this mistake on their own sites?

PSA: My wax pot almost caught fire - I changed my mind about cheap equipment

I was waxing a client's brows in my home studio in Austin last Tuesday when I smelled something burning... turned out my budget wax pot from Amazon was overheating bad. The plastic base started melting right on my counter. I had always thought expensive equipment was a scam but after that close call I switched to a $120 professional model from Salon Essentials. Has anyone else had a cheap tool nearly cost them their business?

I read that overnight oats can be made in a slow cooker and now I have a question

I was browsing through an old issue of Cook's Country from last October and found a stat that surprised me - they said 63% of people who own a slow cooker have never made oatmeal or grains in it. I always thought of my Crock-Pot as a meat and bean machine, but now I'm wondering if I have been missing out on a whole category of breakfast meals. On one hand, steel-cut oats cook beautifully overnight with no stirring and take just 7 hours on low. But on the other hand, I have read complaints about the oats getting mushy or sticking to the sides of the ceramic pot. Has anyone here tried making oatmeal in a slow cooker, and do you think the convenience is worth the potential cleanup hassle?

The day my spindle bearings screamed at me in a job shop in Toledo

Tbh I spent the first 3 years running machines thinking a little chatter was just part of the deal. I'd push feeds and speeds way past what the tooling could handle and just live with the noise. Then last month an old timer walked past my machine while I was cutting some 4140 and said 'you know your spindle bearings are crying right now right?' That got me thinking. I checked my speeds and realized I was running 40% faster than the insert manufacturer recommended on that material. So I backed off, and the finish came out way better and the machine got quieter. Has anyone else had a moment where you found out you were just abusing your machine because you thought it was normal?

Honestly, I compared my grandma's handwritten recipe for pickled beets to the one my aunt typed up and 'modernized' a few years back. The original, with its specific 'two cups of white vinegar from the jug in the cellar' and 'let sit for a full six weeks' made a world of difference in flavor and crunch.

DAE see people mixing up true position and concentricity on drawings all the time?

In my experience, I've caught three different junior drafters in the last month calling for concentricity on a simple bore when true position with a diameter symbol is the correct, and way simpler, callout for the machinist to actually work with.

Had to choose between a full weld or a patch on a 3/4 inch steam line at the old mill in Gary.

The foreman wanted a quick patch, but I insisted on cutting out the whole 8-foot section and doing a full replacement. It took us two extra days and cost about $1200 more in materials, but the inspection passed with zero notes. Who else has fought for the right fix over the easy one?