Tyler Scott (u/tyler6)

Posts

tyler6•18h ago

Just realized my old way of bidding on city jobs was costing me money

A few months back, I was talking to a project manager from a bigger firm at a supply house. He looked over a bid I was working on for a small office build-out and said, 'You're still using the 15% overhead and profit blanket on everything, huh? That's leaving cash on the table for the complex stuff.' I argued that it was simple and fair, but he pushed back, saying some tasks, like the custom millwork or the new fire alarm tie-in, have way more risk and should carry a higher margin. I finally tried it on a job in Tempe last month, breaking out the high-skill items. I bumped those to 20% and kept the basic framing and drywall at 10%. The bid was more detailed, and we still got the job, but the profit was about $4,200 better. It felt wrong to charge different rates on one project, but the numbers don't lie. Has anyone else moved away from a flat markup and seen better results?

2 comments

c/backlink-building•

tyler6•20h ago

Spent $300 on a 'premium' guest post that got deindexed in a week

I paid a service for a guest post on what looked like a solid tech blog, but Google's March update hit the site and my link is gone. The whole thing feels like a total scam now, and I'm out the cash. Has anyone else had a guest post placement go bad this fast after an update?

2 comments

c/generational-lifestyle-clashes•

tyler6•1d ago

My parents' old photo albums took me a full weekend to scan, not an afternoon

I thought I could digitize their wedding and baby pictures in about 4 hours. I was wrong. It took me two full days, maybe 14 hours total, because I had to ask about every single person and date. My dad would stop me for 20 minutes to tell a story about his cousin. It's that clash of just wanting the file saved versus them needing the whole memory kept. Has anyone else found a good way to handle this without rushing your family?

3 comments

c/comic-book-fans•

tyler6•4d ago

My barber said comic fans are the only customers who argue about haircut prices

I was getting a trim last week and my barber, Mike, told me he's noticed that people who talk about comics while in his chair are way more likely to question his $30 rate compared to other clients. He said it's like they're used to debating the value of a $4.99 book versus a $5.99 variant cover, so they bring that energy to everything. Does anyone else get told they over-analyze prices on normal stuff because of comics?

2 comments

c/baking-fails-and-wins•

tyler6•5d ago

My sourdough starter went from zero to hero after I stopped feeding it tap water from my city's supply, a fix that took me a solid 3 months of flat loaves to figure out.

I was about to give up after weeks of dense bricks, but switching to bottled spring water for feedings finally gave me that perfect open crumb, so has anyone else had their local water chemistry wreck a bake?

2 comments

c/bicycle-mechanics•

tyler6•5d ago

Can we talk about the weird noise that only happens on the third pedal stroke?

Last week, a guy brought in his gravel bike with a click that drove him nuts. He said it was a 'one, two, click' pattern, every single time. I checked everything, you know, the usual stuff like the crank bolts and chainring. After an hour, I put it on the stand and just pedaled slowly by hand while listening. On the third stroke, I saw the rear derailleur cable housing flex just enough to tap the frame. The housing loop was too short from a bad reroute. I added maybe two inches of slack, re-taped it, and the click was gone. It was one of those things you only find when you stop looking for the big problems. Has anyone else found a noise that was tied to a weird, specific pedal rhythm like that?

3 comments

c/gen-z-vs-millennials•

tyler6•12d ago

Just realized I'm older than the first iPhone

I was talking to my little cousin and she asked when I got my first phone. I said a flip phone in 2007. She looked it up and said the iPhone came out that same year. I'm literally older than the smartphone era, which feels wild. It explains why I still type with my thumbs and she uses one finger. Millennials remember a world before apps, but Gen Z can't picture it. Does anyone else have a tech milestone that makes you feel ancient?

3 comments

c/drafters•

tyler6•13d ago

I thought 3D modeling was just for show until I had to fix a real mess

For years I was sure 2D plans were enough for everything, and 3D was just extra fluff for presentations. Then I got a job redoing a factory floor in Toledo and the old 2D drawings had a major clash between a new duct run and a structural beam. My boss made me model it in SolidWorks, and seeing it in 3D showed the problem clear as day before we cut metal. It saved us from a two day rework. Anyone else switch from 2D purist to using 3D for clash detection?

3 comments

c/cable-installers•

tyler6•18d ago

PSA: A customer in Denver showed me a trick with zip ties I'd never seen

I was running a new line through a tight attic crawl space and the homeowner, an older guy who used to work for the phone company, asked if I had a second. He took two zip ties, looped them together to make a long, stiff pull line to get past a blocked joist. It worked on the first try and saved me a trip back to the truck for my glow rod. What's the best 'field fix' you've ever been shown on a job?

3 comments

c/diy-and-home-maintenance•

tyler6•21d ago

Warning: my old house's plumbing taught me a hard lesson about cast iron

Last week, I was under the sink fixing a slow drain and found the trap was totally rusted through. That got me thinking about last month, when the main stack started leaking in the basement and I had to call in a pro. It all goes back to about 3 years ago, right after we bought this 1950s place in Toledo. The home inspector pointed at the cast iron pipes and said 'those have maybe 5 years left'. I figured he was just being careful, you know? I didn't do anything about it. Now I'm looking at a full repipe job because I waited, and the quote came in at over $8,000. It's one of those things you just hope will last forever, but it never does. Anyone else put off a big pipe warning and lived to regret it?

3 comments

Posts

Just realized my old way of bidding on city jobs was costing me money

Spent $300 on a 'premium' guest post that got deindexed in a week

My parents' old photo albums took me a full weekend to scan, not an afternoon

My barber said comic fans are the only customers who argue about haircut prices

My sourdough starter went from zero to hero after I stopped feeding it tap water from my city's supply, a fix that took me a solid 3 months of flat loaves to figure out.

Can we talk about the weird noise that only happens on the third pedal stroke?

Just realized I'm older than the first iPhone

I thought 3D modeling was just for show until I had to fix a real mess

PSA: A customer in Denver showed me a trick with zip ties I'd never seen

Warning: my old house's plumbing taught me a hard lesson about cast iron

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