James Clark (u/the_james)

Posts

Unpopular opinion: I chose a gas stove over induction and it nearly burned my house down

Last month I went with a gas range instead of induction because I thought it would be better for wok cooking. The flame caught a dish towel on fire within 3 days and now I'm stuck with this thing. Has anyone else regretted picking gas over something safer?

2 comments

c/concrete-finishers•

the_james•16d ago

Spotted a weird pour at a gas station in Tulsa last week

The concrete pad around the pumps had this huge crack line that zigzagged through the whole slab, no control joints anywhere. They must have poured it all in one go without any planning, has anyone else seen a mess like that at a commercial site?

2 comments

c/book-club-debates•

the_james•20d ago

I finally switched from audiobooks to actually reading physical copies again

I used to think audiobooks were the best thing ever for my book club picks. I could listen while driving to job sites or framing a house, and it felt like I was getting through books twice as fast. But last month, my book club chose a dense mystery with a bunch of characters, and I kept zoning out during the audio version. I missed a key clue about the killer because I was measuring some trim, and I showed up to the debate completely lost. Now I force myself to sit down with the actual paperback for at least 20 minutes a night, even if it means less progress. Has anyone else struggled with focusing on audiobooks for complicated plots, or do you stick to one format?

2 comments

c/astronomy-photos•

the_james•21d ago

Remember when astrophotography meant freezing your butt off all night?

I started taking photos of the night sky back in 2005 with a old film camera and a clunky equatorial mount. You had to sit there for hours manually guiding the telescope by looking through a little eyepiece, praying a car light didn't ruin the shot. Now I just set up my DSLR on a Star Adventurer tracker, program it with my phone, and go inside to drink coffee while it runs all night. The first time I got a decent Andromeda galaxy shot in one 30 second exposure, I nearly fell over. Yeah, the new gear is amazing but I kinda miss the raw feeling of nailing a shot after fighting the cold and dew for 4 hours. Anyone else feel like the struggle made the pictures mean more back then?

3 comments

c/binge-worthy-shows•

the_james•23d ago

Wasted $60 on a streaming bundle for one show I never finished

Signed up for that Paramount+ and Showtime bundle just to watch Yellowjackets season 2. Got 3 episodes in and lost interest completely. Anyone else impulse buy a subscription for a single show and regret it?

3 comments

c/chefs•

the_james•23d ago

Rant: mise en place took me 4 hours longer than I thought it would

I spent all Sunday prepping for a 60-cover Saturday dinner, chopping veg and portioning proteins. What I thought would be a 2 hour job ended up taking 6 because I kept running out of small containers and had to wash them mid-line. Has anyone else found a trick to estimate prep time that doesn't blow up in your face?

3 comments

c/bicycle-mechanics•

the_james•28d ago

The old timer who insisted I pack wheel bearings with my fingers instead of a tool

I spent a whole season replacing hubs that failed because I followed his advice and let grit sneak in through the grease, so has anyone else had to rebuild a set of Shimano 105 hubs after trusting the hand-pack method?

3 comments

c/anime-discussions•

the_james•1mo ago

That thing where people call every anime with a sword a 'dark fantasy'

Saw someone call Moribito a dark fantasy last week and I nearly closed the tab. It's got a grounded tone but nothing about it is grim or hopeless, so where are they getting that from? Have you ever seen a genre label get slapped on a show just because it has a serious face?

3 comments

c/cnc-operators•

the_james•1mo ago

Can we talk about coolant tank cleaning? My shop's Haas just went down for a day

Last week in our shop in Dayton, the VF-2 started throwing random thermal alarms. We spent a whole shift checking everything, and our lead guy finally pulled the way covers. The coolant tank was basically a sludge pit, maybe 2 inches thick at the bottom. I mean, we do the regular checks, but it had been about 8 months since a full clean. We had to pump it all out, scrape it, and run a cleaner through the lines. Has anyone else found a good schedule or a product that makes this less of a nightmare job?

3 comments

c/elevator-mechanics•

the_james•1mo ago

Reading an old Otis manual made me rethink my approach to governor rope tension

It said to check for a specific 1/4 inch of play at the midpoint, which is way less than I was taught. Has anyone else found older specs to be stricter than modern practice?

3 comments