Vent: Saw a 6.7 Powerstroke with a homemade EGR delete at a truck stop near Boise

Stopped for fuel at the Flying J off I-84 and spotted a 2015 F-250 with the hood up. The owner was showing off his work to another guy. He'd bypassed the EGR cooler with a piece of heater hose and two hose clamps, just looped it right there in the engine bay. I didn't say anything, but that's a fire hazard waiting to happen, not to mention the codes it must be throwing. Has anyone else run into this kind of backyard fix on the road, and what did you say?

Figured out my seam gaps after a job in Springfield

I was finishing a 15 by 20 foot room and the seams kept showing a tiny line. My helper, Mark, pointed out I was holding the knee kicker at a slight angle instead of straight on. I tried it his way on the last strip and the seam just vanished. Anyone else have a simple trick that fixed a long-running problem?

I finally stopped paying for hostels after a night in a Lisbon park

Got stuck with no cash and a full hostel in the Bairro Alto area, so I just slept on a bench in the Jardim da Estrela. Woke up fine, saved 30 euros, and realized half the 'budget' travel industry sells fear. Has anyone else tried just finding a safe public spot instead of always booking ahead?

Heard a guy at the lumber yard say he always buys an extra 15% for his cuts

I was picking up some pine for a simple shelf and this older guy in line was telling the cashier about a project that went wrong because he ran short. He said 'I just add 15% to my list now, saves a second trip.' I've always just bought the exact board feet on my sketch. Has that extra buffer actually saved you guys time on a build?

Finally got a 20 year old dryer to stop squealing like a banshee

I was in this old apartment building downtown yesterday, working on a dryer that the super said had been making a horrible noise for months. The thing sounded like a dying animal every time it spun. I pulled the drum, checked the rollers, the belt, everything looked okay. Then I noticed the felt seal around the front of the drum was completely gone, just a few crusty bits left. The metal rim of the drum was grinding directly on the metal front panel. I didn't have the exact part on my truck, but I had a roll of that thin adhesive backed felt tape, the kind you use for cabinet doors. I cleaned the surface really well, cut a strip to fit the whole channel, and pressed it in. Put it all back together and it ran silent as a whisper. The super was so happy he gave me an extra $20 on the spot. Has anyone else had to MacGyver a seal like that in a pinch? What did you use?

Just lost a full day trying to make a free scheduling app work for my crew

I tried using a free app I found online to manage my team's site schedule last week. Spent hours putting in all the jobs and worker names for the month. Went to print it out Monday morning and the whole thing had reset to a blank page. I had to call everyone to figure out who was where, which wasted about 8 hours of paid work time. Has anyone else had a scheduling app just eat their data like that?

Unpopular opinion: We spend too much time on solar panels and not enough on upgrading outdated home circuits for efficiency. Your take?

Showerthought: I learned to break down loan costs, but my friend says rate is all that matters.

Do you pore over every fee or just go for the lowest rate when picking a mortgage?

A trend I'm seeing: online pressure to give away baking secrets

More bakers are getting direct messages asking for detailed recipes. It feels wrong to ignore, but giving them out can hurt your business. I'm still trying to find a good way to respond.

Chasing a ghost in a sound system led to a silly find

Spent hours tracing a fault, sure it was a bad part. The volume knob was just stuck on mute the whole time. Do you check the easy stuff first?