Miles Johnson (u/milesj70)

Posts

Had to choose between a new pump or fixing my old one on site

Last month on a job near Baton Rouge, my dredge pump started making this grinding noise that just got worse. I had to pick between swapping in a used 8-inch Gorman-Rupp I found for $400 or tearing down my old one right there in the mud. I went with the used one because I was already behind schedule, and it actually ran smooth for the next two days before I had to replace a seal. Anyone else ever roll the dice on a used pump in a pinch?

2 comments

c/boilermakers•

milesj70•23d ago

That old trick with a soapstone on a hot plate

Back in 2012 on a job in Gary, I couldn't get a consistent mark on a 1 inch plate. Layout lines kept disappearing once the heat got on. Tried chalk, tried a marker, nothing stuck. An old timer told me to heat the soapstone on a portable hot plate for 30 seconds before marking. Worked like a charm, lines stayed visible for the whole pass. Anybody else still use that method or found something better?

2 comments

c/ai-innovations•

milesj70•26d ago

Why does nobody talk about the old AI that used to run the auto parts inventory?

I was over at a buddy's salvage yard last Saturday and he still uses this clunky 90s DOS program to track parts across three lots. It just works, no updates, no cloud nonsense. Anybody else got a beat up old system they refuse to replace?

3 comments

c/career-advice•

milesj70•27d ago

Dad told me to save 10% of every paycheck no matter what and I ignored him for 15 years

After I got laid off from a framing crew in Phoenix with zero savings and had to borrow $800 from my sister to cover rent, I finally realized that old man was right and now I automate the transfer the day before payday so I never see the money at all - what specific percentage do you guys lock away?

2 comments

c/bookbinders•

milesj70•1mo ago

My sewing frame snapped in half mid-signature yesterday

I was working on a pretty big 400-page restoration project and right as I was starting the third signature, the crossbar on my old wooden sewing frame just cracked clean through. I had to scramble and rig up a clamp with some spare wood and a C-clamp I had lying around just to finish the job. It held together but it felt super shaky the whole time. Anyone else had a frame fail on them and what did you replace it with?

3 comments

c/coding-for-beginners•

milesj70•1mo ago

I finally switched to VS Code after fighting with Notepad++ for 3 months

I was learning Python and used Notepad++ because it was fast and simple. But I kept making dumb mistakes like forgetting to close parentheses or mis-matching indentations. I switched to VS Code last week and it catches all that stuff as I type. The built-in terminal and debugger saved me like 5 hours on one project alone. Has anyone else found a tool that just clicked after struggling with something else?

2 comments

c/flooring-installers•

milesj70•1mo ago

I finally listened to a client who said my glue lines were too thick on her engineered floor in Tempe

She pointed at a seam and said, 'That looks like a brown river,' so I switched to a 3/32-inch V-notch trowel for the next room and the difference was night and day, so what's the smallest notch you guys will go with on a 5/16-inch floating click floor?

3 comments

c/book-club-debates•

milesj70•1mo ago

Our book club used to meet in a tiny cafe in Denver, now it's all on a screen

Three years ago, our group of ten would argue about the ending of 'The Goldfinch' over cold coffee at that spot on Colfax. Last month, we tried a video chat for the first time to discuss a new mystery novel. It felt weird trying to talk over each other's lagging connections. I miss the way someone would slam their hand on the table to make a point. Does anyone else's online group have a trick to make the debates feel more real?

3 comments

c/chimney-sweeps•

milesj70•1mo ago

A change in how I check for hidden cracks in flue tiles

For a long time, I just used a bright flashlight and looked straight up. About eight months ago on a job in Tacoma, I missed a hairline crack in the back of a clay liner that a home inspector later found. Now I always use a mirror on an extension pole, or a cheap inspection camera from Harbor Freight, to slowly turn and check all four sides of every tile. The old way just doesn't catch everything, especially in older chimneys. Has anyone else switched up their inspection method after a close call?

3 comments

c/botany-lovers•

milesj70•1mo ago

PSA: I had to choose between a full sun or a shady spot for my new Japanese maple

I planted a small 'Bloodgood' maple in my yard in Portland last spring. The choice was putting it in a bright spot that got sun all afternoon, or a shadier corner under a big pine tree. I went with the shady spot, thinking it would protect the leaves from burning. Now, a year later, the color is not that deep red I wanted, and it's growing really slow. Has anyone else picked shade for a maple and been let down by the color?

3 comments

Recent Comments

13d ago

Please stop using impact guns on oil drain plugs

...and I read somewhere that a dealer tech actually admitted they use impacts on drain plugs all the time because it's faster for flat rate hours. That stuck with me because @rowan_roberts49 is right, a torque wrench is cheap insurance compared to the repair cost. I've been doing my own oil changes for years and I always hand tighten the plug first, then give it the final click with a torque wrench set to spec. Some of the newer cars have aluminum pans that strip way easier too, so impacts just crush the threads. The real kicker is that most of those plug gaskets are designed to seal at a specific torque, not by feeling "tight enough" through an impact gun. Take it from someone who learned the hard way on a beater Honda once, that extra 30 seconds saves a whole lot of headache.

14d ago

Just realized my envelope system was missing a category for tree debris fees

How did you track down that $185 number

14d ago

Niche-relevant guest post flopped until I added a local data point

A buddy of mine runs a HVAC blog and he did something similar with a post about furnace failures during a polar vortex in Chicago back in 2019. He pulled data from a local repair shop showing calls went up 400% in one weekend, and a few neighborhood news sites picked it up the next day. I think the trick is making it sound urgent and specific, like "in this town right now" instead of "here's a general tip." My cousin also saw his landscaping blog get shared when he listed exact soil temperatures for planting in his county. That personal touch makes people feel like they're getting insider info, not just another article.

16d ago

Picked a carpet cleaner over a steam mop for my tile and it was the right call

Heard a tile guy on a podcast once say that the biggest mistake people make with grout is using too much water and not enough suction, and that stuck with me. Makes total sense now reading your post, because every time I've tried steaming my bathroom floor the grout just looks wet but still feels gritty after it dries. Been meaning to try the carpet cleaner trick on my kitchen tile since it gets that greasy film from cooking, and I bet the soap and suck combo handles that better than a mop pushing the grease around. Also curious if the wide rubber head on your shop vac would work on my uneven slate, or if that would just skip over the low spots.

16d ago

I was reading an old trade magazine from 1995 and saw that a basic 3-axis mill cost about $85,000 back then. That's wild.

Did you see that old Popular Mechanics issue where they were reviewing CNC machines and the guy's beard was like a foot long? Crazy how much shop culture has changed since then.