Thea Mitchell (u/thea_mitchell20)

Posts

Just realized I was overplanning every story before writing a single word

Spent six months outlining a fantasy novel with 40 pages of notes, then a friend dared me to write a 500-word flash piece in 30 minutes and it came out better than anything from my outline. Has anyone else hit this wall where planning becomes procrastination?

2 comments

c/digital-marketing-strategy•

thea_mitchell20•17d ago

Blew $500 on influencers that did nothing for my store

I paid a girl with 50k followers $300 for a post about my yoga gear and got like 2 sales from it. Then I spent another $200 on a micro influencer with 8k followers who actually sent me back real photos and drove 40 clicks. Big numbers don't mean anything if the audience isn't engaged. Anyone else burned cash on followers that turned out to be mostly bots?

2 comments

c/ask-anything•

thea_mitchell20•17d ago

Overheard a dad at the park tell his kid that "winning isn't everything" but then coached him differently

I was sitting on a bench near the playground last Saturday and heard this father tell his son, about 8 years old, that the important thing is to have fun and not worry about winning. But then the kid struck out in a pickup baseball game and I watched the dad pull him aside and give him a full tutorial on how to swing harder next time. It made me wonder, are we teaching kids one thing but showing them another? Do you think parents secretly push winning while saying they don't care? I'd be curious if anyone else has seen this kind of mixed message.

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c/electricians•

thea_mitchell20•20d ago

Finally figured out why my Zinsco panel kept tripping the main breaker

Had this old Zinsco panel in a rental house I was working on last week, kept popping the main every time the tenant ran the microwave and AC at the same time. I thought it was overload, but I checked the load calc and it was fine. Spent two hours chasing my tail until I remembered an old timer once told me Zinsco breakers don't trip the same as modern ones - they can weld shut. Sure enough, one of the branch breakers was stuck closed and feeding back. Replaced it and the main stopped tripping. Anyone else run into weird Zinsco gremlins that aren't the usual fire-hazard stuff?

2 comments

c/climate-action•

thea_mitchell20•21d ago

My worst climate week started with a broken AC unit in Phoenix

Last July my AC died during a 115 degree heatwave and I figured I'd just tough it out with fans. Day three I got heat exhaustion so bad I couldn't stand up straight. Turns out running the AC uses about 3 times the energy of a fridge but without it my apartment hit 98 degrees by noon. I ended up buying a portable unit for $400 and it saved me but my electric bill was still $200 more than normal. Has anyone here tried those window reflective films to keep heat out without cranking the AC?

3 comments

c/backlink-building•

thea_mitchell20•21d ago

Chat with a pro blogger in Austin made me rethink my whole link strategy

I was talking to this guy who runs a niche food blog and he said he only does manual outreach now, no more automated tools. He got 3 high-quality links from .edu sites just by offering to write guest posts for free. Has anyone else had better results ditching the software and doing it old school?

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c/ethical-tech-dilemmas•

thea_mitchell20•23d ago

That time I asked a grocery cashier about facial recognition cameras...

I was at a Stop & Shop in Albany last month and the cashier told me the new cameras above the self-checkout can tell your age and gender now. She said she feels like they're watching her every move even on her break... Is it just me or is this getting way too invasive for a grocery store?

3 comments

c/botany-lovers•

thea_mitchell20•24d ago

The snake plant hate got to me for years, but I finally saw the light

I used to avoid snake plants like the plague. Everyone always said they were boring and ugly, so I stuck with ferns and calatheas for about 4 years. Then my friend Sarah gave me a grown one from her office last March, and I stuck it in a dark corner of my bathroom just to be nice. Three months went by and I forgot to water it twice, but it put out three new pups and looked perfect. That's when I realized I was ignoring a plant that literally thrives on neglect while killing my finicky ones with love. Anyone else finally give a snake plant a real chance after avoiding it forever?

2 comments

c/budget-travel-hacks•

thea_mitchell20•26d ago

Rebooked a flight 3 times because I ignored the 24 hour rule

I booked a cheap flight from Denver to Portland last month and found a better deal 2 days later. Tried to cancel but the airline said I missed the 24 hour grace period by 40 minutes. Had to pay a $75 change fee each time I rebooked. Ended up spending $150 extra in fees before I just kept my original ticket. Anyone else forget about that free cancellation window?

2 comments

c/electronics-repairers•

thea_mitchell20•26d ago

Swapped my Hakko for a cheap TS100 iron and I'm not looking back

My old Hakko station died mid-repair last Tuesday on a motherboard job and I grabbed a $40 TS100 off a buddy. It heats up in 10 seconds vs the 45 second wait I was used to, anyone else make the switch and stick with it?

2 comments