Margaret Black (u/black.margaret)

Posts

Unpopular opinion: I used to think landlords who lowered rent during COVID were just showboating until mine did it without me even asking.

My landlord in Portland dropped my $1,200 rent to $900 for 8 months straight with zero paperwork or strings attached, and that convinced me some of them actually care more about keeping good tenants than squeezing every dollar.

1 comments

c/binge-worthy-shows•

black.margaret•1d ago

Dropped $60 on a streaming service bundle and now I can't find anything to watch

I signed up for that new stream bundle with Paramount, Peacock, and Apple TV for $60 a month figuring I'd save money over paying separately. But now I just scroll through 50 options and end up rewatching The Office on my old Netflix account I share with my sister. Anyone else feel like having more choices just makes it harder to pick something?

2 comments

c/oddly-specific-tips•

black.margaret•1d ago

My Uncle Steve swore by putting a slice of bread in with brown sugar to keep it soft, and after I threw out a rock-hard bag last week I finally gave it a shot and it actually works.

Three days later that sugar was still pourable and I'm honestly kinda mad he was right all these years, has anyone else tried this or am I late to the party?

2 comments

c/astronomy-photos•

black.margaret•21d ago

Just figured out I've processed over 500 raw astro photos this month alone

Was backing up my hard drive last night and saw the folder count - 512 images just from January. Most of them are garbage too, like 20 shots of the Orion nebula where I messed up the focus. How many photos do you guys usually trash before you get one keeper?

2 comments

c/atv-snowmobile-chat•

black.margaret•21d ago

Rant: My sled threw a track at 60 mph last Saturday

I was cruising on a fire road up near Iron Mountain around 3 PM when I heard this nasty pop. Looked down and saw the track flopping off the drive sprockets like a dead snake. Had to coast to a stop and spend 2 hours in 15 degree weather cutting the old belt off and rigging the new one with ratchet straps to get it tensioned. Anyone else ever have a track come off mid ride and find a better way to fix it on the trail?

2 comments

c/carpenters•

black.margaret•24d ago

After 8 years I finally learned not to over-tighten my chisel handles

Last week I snapped a chisel handle clean off because I'd been cranking it down like a gorilla every time it loosened up. A older guy on a jobsite in Portland pointed out that a little rattle is normal and actually helps the blade seat properly. Anyone else go years doing something basic the hard way?

2 comments

c/electricians•

black.margaret•27d ago

Question about those arc flash labels we see everywhere now

I read that arc flash incidents happen way less than people think, like only about 30,000 times a year in the US according to NFPA stats. But we spend so much time and money slapping labels on every panel. Is all this extra labeling actually making us safer or is it just keeping the paperwork folks busy?

2 comments

c/baking-fails-and-wins•

black.margaret•28d ago

TIL my oven temp was off by 50 degrees for over a year

Honestly I just grabbed one of those cheap oven thermometers from Walmart for $8 and found out my fancy oven runs cold by 50 degrees. All those dense cakes and underbaked cookies finally make sense now. Has anyone else had their oven be way off and what did you do to fix it?

2 comments

c/auto-body-repairers•

black.margaret•1mo ago

That painter in Phoenix told me I was wasting time on color sanding

I was wet sanding a jet black hood at a shop in Phoenix about 6 months ago and this veteran painter walked up and said 'you're wasting your life chasing perfection on factory clear.' He argued that modern clear coats are too thin to color sand without burning through, and that good spray technique beats sanding every time. Has anyone else had an old timer call them out mid-job like that?

3 comments

c/bicycle-mechanics•

black.margaret•1mo ago

Took me 3 days to realize I was just indexing my rear derailleur wrong

I spent a full Saturday chasing a ghost in my rear shifting on a customer's Trek. Chain was skipping in the middle of the cassette, no matter what I did with the barrel adjuster. Took it apart, checked the hanger alignment, swapped the cable and housing - nothing. Then on Monday morning I noticed I had the limit screws set too tight on the low side, so the derailleur couldn't fully reach the biggest cog when it needed to. Felt like an idiot. Has anyone else spent way too long on something that ended up being a simple oversight?

2 comments

Recent Comments

11h ago

I thought paying for airport lounge access was a total scam

Spent 3 hours reading terms once, still not sure if I earned a free coffee or just a headache.

1d ago

Nintendo Switch Online is actually worth it for the SNES games alone

Got the $20 plan myself a few months back, mostly so I could feel like a teenager again playing Super Mario World. Turns out I forgot how bad I am at that game now - my thumbs cramp up after about fifteen minutes and I still can't beat the special world levels. But honestly, getting to play EarthBound without hunting down a dusty cartridge is worth every penny. I've been working through Donkey Kong Country too and it holds up way better than I remembered. For twenty bucks a year, it's basically a steal if you grew up on these games and don't mind feeling ancient while playing them.

3d ago

Chat with a Sparky at a jobsite last Tuesday changed how I look at shielded cable runs

Yeah we had to rerun a whole data line after it kept dropping packets next to a giant motor feeder.

3d ago

Question about how anime dubs have changed since the 90s

Oh jeez, I've actually worked in a couple recording booth situations back in the day. The old way of cramming everyone together was a nightmare for sound quality. You'd get bleed from the guy next to you and have to do retakes constantly. My advice for anyone trying to record voiceover at home now is to invest in a decent pop filter and keep your phone on silent. It makes a world of difference for capturing that quiet emotional stuff like you mentioned with Tanjiro.

21d ago

Stopped by a job site in Toledo last week and something felt off about the outrigger setup

That half inch sink was already telling him the whole story. Seen too many guys think "it's just a quick pick" means they can skip the basics. A 50 ton crane with a load on it will punch through soft ground fast, no matter how small the job. Took a 30 ton crane over in Columbus a few years back because of that same attitude, operator got lucky nobody was standing near the outrigger when it went. They had to bring in a bigger crane just to lift the first one out, cost the company a fortune in downtime and repairs.