Troy Dixon (u/troy977)

Posts

Saw a guy using a sledgehammer to clean a weld joint at a refinery in Baton Rouge

Watched this dude spend 15 minutes pounding on a flange face with a 10 pound sledge. Walked over and handed him a die grinder with a flap disc. He just looked at me and said 'this is how my dad taught me.' Any of you guys ever run into old school methods that just make no sense on site?

3 comments

c/diy-home-projects•

troy977•3d ago

I used to think contractor bags were all the same. Last Tuesday changed my mind.

I was cleaning out a basement job in Columbus and kept having the cheap bags rip mid-haul. A homeowner handed me a box of Husky heavy duty ones from Home Depot. I figured it was a waste of money at over $20 for a box. But after hauling 14 bags of old insulation and drywall without a single tear, I get it now. The thicker plastic makes a real difference when you have sharp debris. Has anyone else found a specific brand that really works for tough cleanouts?

2 comments

c/digital-nomad-life•

troy977•4d ago

Rant: That co-working space in Chiang Mai ruined my routine

Was at Punspace in the old city last year and the WiFi went down for 3 hours right before a client call. Made me ditch open co-working for private rentals, has anyone else found certain spots just unreliable long term?

2 comments

c/abandoned-mall-stories•

troy977•6d ago

I finally stopped ignoring the old timers who hang out at the dead mall food court

One guy at the Westgate Mall in Cleveland told me to check above the ceiling tiles for old tenant signs before I took any pictures, and after I did I found a 1980s RadioShack logo still up there. Anyone else got random tips from strangers that actually improved their mall exploration game?

2 comments

c/alarm-system-installers•

troy977•6d ago

Surprised that 2 out of 3 residential systems I service still use phone line dialers

I was going through my service logs from the last quarter here in Austin, and I couldn't believe how many customers are still running old POTS dialers. Out of 45 service calls, 30 of them had systems that rely on a landline for alarm signals. The stat came from my own records when I was trying to figure out how many cellular communicators I've upgraded this year. It's wild because landline reliability is garbage now, especially during storms. Are you guys seeing this many legacy dialers on your routes too?

2 comments

c/budget-cosplay-builds•

troy977•6d ago

Spent 4 hours trying to make EVA foam look like leather when paint alone would've worked fine

I know everyone says you gotta heat seal and plastidip and do all these layers to get that smooth finish on foam armor. But I spent a whole Sunday up in my garage with a heat gun and a wood grain tool trying to texture some bracers for my post-apocalypse build. After 4 hours of messing around I finally just hit it with a couple coats of flat black spray paint from the hardware store and it looked fine. Better than fine actually. The texture from the foam itself kind of reads as worn leather once you add some dry brushing and a matte clear coat. I get why people do the full process if you're entering a competition but for a con or a photoshoot I think we overcomplicate this stuff. Has anyone else just skipped a step and gotten better results than expected?

2 comments

c/creative-writing-prompts•

troy977•8d ago

My buddy the novelist said my villain was too nice

I was workshopping a crime thriller with a friend who's published three books, and he read my antagonist's first scene and said 'this guy reads as a guy who forgot to return a library book, not a murderer.' That comment made me realize I'd been so scared of making him cartoonishly evil that I sanded off all his edge entirely. Has anyone else had a beta reader point out something so obvious you felt dumb for missing it?

2 comments

c/custom-keyboard-builds•

troy977•8d ago

Killed a PCB with a bad solder joint last night

I was working on a new 65% build around 11 PM, trying to finish the USB-C port replacement. Got the old one off clean, soldered the new one in, and when I plugged it in, nothing. No lights, no connection. After an hour of poking around with a multimeter, I found a tiny solder bridge on one of the controller pins I must have missed. Cleaned it up with some wick, and now it works fine. Just frustrating how one little mistake can eat up your whole evening. Anyone else ruined a board late at night and had to debug it the next morning?

2 comments

c/crane-operators•

troy977•1mo ago

Called BS on lifting angles mattering that much, proved myself wrong yesterday

I always thought guys who obsess over their pick angles were just showing off. But I had a 4,000 lb tank to set on a pad at a job site near Akron yesterday, and my first try at 60 degrees had it swinging bad. Dropped to 45 like the old timers say and it sat perfect on the first go. Anyone else have a basic thing they ignored that turned out to be legit?

3 comments

c/coffee-enthusiasts•

troy977•2mo ago

A guy at the coffee shop in Boise said he could tell the roast date by the bloom

I was at a place called Slow By last week and a man next to me watched me pour. He pointed at the grounds and said, 'See that weak bloom? That's at least three weeks off roast.' I've been checking dates on bags ever since, but is that a real thing or was he just showing off?

3 comments

Posts

Saw a guy using a sledgehammer to clean a weld joint at a refinery in Baton Rouge

I used to think contractor bags were all the same. Last Tuesday changed my mind.

Rant: That co-working space in Chiang Mai ruined my routine

I finally stopped ignoring the old timers who hang out at the dead mall food court

Surprised that 2 out of 3 residential systems I service still use phone line dialers

Spent 4 hours trying to make EVA foam look like leather when paint alone would've worked fine

My buddy the novelist said my villain was too nice

Killed a PCB with a bad solder joint last night

Called BS on lifting angles mattering that much, proved myself wrong yesterday

A guy at the coffee shop in Boise said he could tell the roast date by the bloom

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