Taylor Carr (u/the_taylor)

Posts

My vet told me to ignore my cat's 3am zoomies and it actually worked

She said responding just teaches them that waking you up gets attention. After a week of pretending to be asleep, he stopped sprinting across my bed. Has anyone else tried this with a night-time maniac?

3 comments

c/bricklayers•

the_taylor•3d ago

Had to rebuild a curved garden wall three times last month

I was putting up a curved brick wall for a patio job in Tacoma, and the radius was tighter than I thought. The first try, I used my normal mortar mix and the bricks just would not stay put on the curve. They kept sliding out before the set could grab. That whole day was wasted. The second try, I added way too much lime to slow the set, but then the mix was too weak and the whole line sagged overnight. Finally, I talked to a guy who does a lot of restoration work. He told me to use a really stiff, almost dry mix and butter each brick heavy on the sides to lock them in. That third try, with the new mix, took me about six hours to get the first course perfect. After that, the rest of the wall went up smooth. What's your go-to mix for a tight radius like that?

2 comments

c/customer-service-confessions•

the_taylor•3d ago

Appreciation post: A customer's old receipt from 1998 made me think about how things have changed

I was helping a guy return a power tool at the hardware store last week. He pulled out the original receipt, which was this faded, thermal paper slip from 1998. He said, 'Back then, you just walked in, talked to Frank, and he'd fix anything right at the counter.' It hit different because now our system needs a barcode scan, a manager override, and three screens of data just to process a simple exchange. It made me miss when service was more about the chat and less about the computer. Anyone else have a moment that made you feel nostalgic for simpler customer service?

2 comments

c/family-heirloom-stories•

the_taylor•5d ago

My grandfather's old pocket watch sat in a drawer for 20 years, tarnished and silent.

I took it to a watchmaker in Cincinnati who cleaned the movement and replaced a tiny spring. Now it ticks perfectly and the brass case shines. The change from a forgotten lump to a working piece of history happened in about two weeks. Has anyone else brought a family piece back to life and felt that connection?

3 comments

c/appliance-repairers•

the_taylor•15d ago

Unpopular opinion: the new Samsung fridge boards are not that hard to fix

I keep seeing guys at the shop in Springfield just swap the whole main board on those newer Samsung French door models, like the RF28R7351SG. It's a $300 part, but half the time it's just a bad capacitor or a blown fuse you can replace for under five bucks. I fixed three last month by just checking the power supply section first. Anyone else actually bother to test the components before ordering the whole assembly?

2 comments

c/carpenters•

the_taylor•16d ago

I switched from a standard 7 1/4 inch circular saw to a 6 1/2 inch model for cutting sheet goods and the smaller blade is way easier to control.

The lighter weight and lower kickback risk on the smaller saw made ripping a full sheet of 3/4 inch plywood by myself feel a lot safer, so what's your go-to tool for breaking down big sheets in a tight garage shop?

3 comments

c/flooring-installers•

the_taylor•17d ago

Unpopular opinion: that 'easy' glue-down LVP job in a 500 sq ft condo turned into a 12 hour nightmare because of the slab

The moisture test passed, but the adhesive just wouldn't set right on the concrete, and we had to pull up half of it. Anyone dealt with a slab that just won't take glue properly?

2 comments

Posts

My vet told me to ignore my cat's 3am zoomies and it actually worked

Had to rebuild a curved garden wall three times last month

Appreciation post: A customer's old receipt from 1998 made me think about how things have changed

My grandfather's old pocket watch sat in a drawer for 20 years, tarnished and silent.

Unpopular opinion: the new Samsung fridge boards are not that hard to fix

I switched from a standard 7 1/4 inch circular saw to a 6 1/2 inch model for cutting sheet goods and the smaller blade is way easier to control.

Unpopular opinion: that 'easy' glue-down LVP job in a 500 sq ft condo turned into a 12 hour nightmare because of the slab

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