Remember when we used to mix mortar by hand on a board?

I still do it that way for small jobs under 50 bricks, even though my partner keeps telling me to use the mixer. Has anyone else found the hand mix gives you better control over the consistency?

Am I the only one who spent 3 days fixing a simple internet issue in Bali?

I landed in Canggu last month and my Airbnb had TERRIBLE wifi. I thought it was just bad signal so I bought a local SIM card and tried hotspotting. That was even worse after 2 hours of fighting with activation. Then I realized the router was in a closet behind a metal door blocking everything. Took me 72 total hours of lost work time to figure out something that simple. Has anyone else wasted days on something dumb like this?

Learned the hard way about lens fungus in a humid basement shop

I had a guy bring in a Nikon 50mm 1.4 from the 70s last week, looked clean on the outside but the glass was foggy. Popped it open on my bench and found a whole colony of fungus eating the coating, looked like tiny spider webs between the elements. I was working out of my basement at the time and never ran a dehumidifier, just figured it was fine down there. Spent 4 hours carefully separating the groups and cleaning with peroxide and isopropyl, got maybe 80% of it off but the coating was already etched in spots. Customer was understanding, took a discount on the repair, but I had to order a replacement element from a donor lens to make it right. Now I keep a hygrometer on my bench and run a dehumidifier anytime it hits 60%. Any of you guys deal with fungus damage from your own workspace?

Question about those fancy silicone baking mats - are they worth it or a total scam?

I dropped $35 on a set of Silpat mats last month thinking they'd save me on parchment paper forever. First batch of cookies stuck to them so bad I had to soak the mats for an hour. My friend swears by hers but she only uses them for roasting veggies not cookies. Did I get a bad batch or am I just using them wrong? Has anyone else wasted money on kitchen gadgets that just dont work as advertised?

I finally finished building a deck... and it's 3 inches off the ground

So I decided to build a small deck off my back door last summer. I measured everything twice, leveled the posts, even rented a nail gun. Got the whole thing framed and decked in a weekend, feeling pretty good about myself. Then I stepped back to admire it and realized the entire thing is about 3 inches lower than my door threshold. Like the door opens and you basically step down onto the deck. Now water pools right there when it rains and I have to keep a rubber mat down. My neighbor walked over and just said "you know that's not how steps work right?" I spent about $400 on lumber and hardware for a glorified patio. Has anyone else built something that looked right until you actually tried to use it?

One bad week with a raccoon taught me a hard lesson about coop security.

Last spring, I had a raccoon get into my coop three nights in a row. The first night, I lost my best laying hen, a Barred Rock named Dottie. I thought I had everything locked up tight, but the raccoon found a weak spot where the hardware cloth met the wood frame. After the third night, I reinforced every single seam with extra screws and added a lock to the pop door. Has anyone else had a predator figure out a weak point you thought was secure?

The big debate: brining vs. dry-brining for poultry

I used to wet brine my turkeys for 24 hours in a huge bucket, but after a couple of soggy birds and a mess in the fridge, I switched to dry-brining with salt and herbs about 3 years ago. The skin gets way crispier and I don't need a cooler taking up space for a whole day. Has anyone else made the switch and found a big difference in texture?

I thought those new wireless comms for divers were just a gimmick until a job in Seattle harbor changed my mind

PSA: I saw a guy in Denver last week using a torch to heat his stock for a twist. Just stop it.

Three years ago I tried that shortcut on a gate hinge and the grain went all wrong. Use the forge. It heats the whole piece, not just the outside. Anyone else see this junk and want to yell?

My air fryer's basket handle snapped clean off last Tuesday, and I think the design is flawed.