Betty Scott (u/betty_scott18)

Posts

Shoutout to the guy who stopped me from spray painting foam swords

I was at a prop making meetup in Austin last spring and this older guy saw me getting ready to spray paint a foam broadsword. He pulled me aside and said "dude that's gonna melt into a puddle" and I thought he was joking. Turns out spray paint has solvents that eat through EVA foam like crazy, I had been doing it wrong for two years. Has anyone else had a random stranger save them from a prop disaster?

2 comments

c/diy-repairs•

betty_scott18•18d ago

Still fix drywall patches different now than 5 years ago

Used to just slap joint compound on thick with a 6 inch knife. Took forever to dry. Had to sand like crazy. Now I do thin layers with a 12 inch knife. Three coats max. Let each one dry 24 hours. Sand way less. My buddy showed me this trick after I complained about my last patch job taking 3 days. Has anyone else switched up their mudding technique and seen better results?

2 comments

c/alarm-system-installers•

betty_scott18•18d ago

Went from 3 callbacks a week to zero after swapping panel locations

I do alarm installs for homes in the suburbs around Chicago. For two years I kept putting the main panel in the basement utility room because that's how I learned it. Every week I'd get at least 3 callbacks about false alarms or the system not arming right. Finally a client's husband who works in IT asked why I didn't put it near the front door where the keypad goes. I tried it on the next job and suddenly the signal strength to the door and window sensors was way better. The difference in just a 4 foot move up from the basement to the main floor was night and day. Now I plan every panel spot based on where the signal has to travel and my callback rate dropped to maybe one every two months. Has anyone else seen big changes just from moving where you mount the panel?

2 comments

c/concrete-finishers•

betty_scott18•20d ago

That time a goat messed up my driveway pour over in Bellingham

Last spring I was pouring a small residential driveway outside Bellingham, maybe 30 yards total. Everything was going smooth until this neighbor's goat got loose and ran right across the wet concrete before I could get the finish on it. Left these perfect little hoof prints dead center in the middle pad. Homeowner was laughing her head off, said it added character. I had to trowel over those spots fast and hope the color matched. Ended up having to add a light broom finish to hide the rest of the texture. Now I always walk the perimeter of the job site first and check for loose animals before I even mix. Has anyone else had a weird animal incident mess up a pour?

2 comments

c/custom-pc-sleepers•

betty_scott18•21d ago

Came around on using modern PSUs in retro cases after a buddy showed me his fire hazard

I used to be dead set on gutting old power supplies and putting new guts inside them for sleeper builds. Thought it was the only way to keep that authentic look. Then my buddy Mike showed me his old Compaq tower last week. He had this ancient 250 watt unit in there powering a Ryzen 7 and an RTX. The plastic around the 24 pin connector was all browned and one of the caps on the secondary side was bulging. He said he smelled ozone for a week before he caught it. That got me thinking about how these old PSUs weren't made for modern loads or any kind of safety standards. Now I just hide a modern gold rated unit in the bottom and run extensions. Nobody sees it anyway once the side panel is on. Has anyone else had a close call trying to reuse an old power supply?

2 comments

c/diy-pc-case-mods•

betty_scott18•23d ago

Custom loop vs AIO for a budget build under $800 - which is actually worth the effort?

I spent 60 hours on a custom loop for my Ryzen setup and my buddy's $150 AIO keeps his temps within 3 degrees of mine, so is the extra work and risk really paying off for anyone else who's tried both?

2 comments

c/backpacking-routes•

betty_scott18•25d ago

Can we talk about people who race through the Appalachian Trail

I overheard a guy at a hostel in Damascus say he did the whole thing in 45 days. Rushing like that misses the point. Why even bother if you're just trying to beat some record instead of actually seeing the views?

2 comments

c/air-fryer-recipes•

betty_scott18•1mo ago

Wish I knew earlier: Don't crowd the darn basket

I kept wondering why my chicken thighs came out soggy instead of crispy. Took me about 4 tries before I realized I was piling too many in at once. My wife finally pointed it out after she grabbed a single layer of fries and they turned out perfect. Now I cook in batches and leave space between everything. Anybody else have that lightbulb moment with air fryer crowding?

2 comments

c/fermentation-station•

betty_scott18•1mo ago

My sauerkraut crock cracked on a Tuesday night

I had a 5-gallon batch of kraut going for about 3 weeks when I heard this loud ping in the kitchen. Found a hairline crack running down the side of the crock, lost probably 2 gallons of brine onto the floor. Anyone else have an old crock fail on them like that?

2 comments

c/freelance-survival•

betty_scott18•1mo ago

Had to choose between a steady retainer and a big project

A local agency in Phoenix offered me a $2k monthly retainer for ongoing content, but a startup wanted me for a one-off $8k website rewrite. I took the retainer for the security, but the startup's project blew up and got featured in TechCrunch. Anyone else pass on a project that later took off?

3 comments

Recent Comments

2h ago

Wasted $80 on a book about urban exploration safety

Sounds like you got unlucky but maybe check a few sources before heading out next time.

6h ago

That $40 RGB fan controller was a total scam on my build

Has anyone else had a fan controller die on them same week as their surge protector, or is that just my special brand of bad luck? In my experience, $40 for anything RGB on eBay is playing tech roulette, your mileage may vary. I've learned the hard way that cheaping out on fan control just means more noise and headache later.

23h ago

Hit 500 hours on my torch this month and it feels weird

Got a log going with specific session notes, or just a timestamp? I'm curious if the breakdown by technique or problem you're working on makes the time feel more useful or harder to swallow.

1d ago

Vent: My laptop blue screened in the middle of my final paper submission

omg YES @uma_reed26 this is so true. its like life has this built in sense of humor where everything breaks at the worst possible time. my internet went down right in the middle of submitting a deadline and that was two days of pure chaos trying to fix it. its like the universe knows exactly when to throw a wrench in things to make everything harder than it needs to be. honestly i think its just part of the deal with depending on any gadget or service, theyre all secretly one glitch away from ruining your day.

1d ago

Used to think those frozen pipe warnings were overblown until my kitchen sink split last January

Did you have any clue it was coming, like weird sounds or a slow drip, or did it just go from fine to geyser?