Hot take: I skipped the sewer scope on a house in Denver and it cost me $12,000

I was buying a place last fall and the inspection went fine, so I figured the main line was probably okay. I mean, the house was only 25 years old. A month after moving in, the basement drain backed up and the plumber found the main line was completely collapsed under the driveway. The repair bill was huge and not covered by insurance. Has anyone else had a sewer scope find a major problem they didn't expect?

My bullet journal fell in a puddle last week and I had to start over from scratch

I was walking to my car in the rain in Seattle and my whole bag, journal inside, went right into a big puddle. The pages were a total mess, all my trackers and the monthly log I just set up were gone. I had to buy a new Leuchtturm1917 notebook and spend a whole evening trying to remember what I had written down. Has anyone else had to recover from losing their journal and found a good way to do it?

That time we had to pour a 500-pound bronze eagle in 90-degree heat last August

The humidity made the sand so sticky we had to re-mull the whole batch twice, but the venting trick my old foreman taught me saved the piece from blowing out, so has anyone else had a crazy weather day mess with your mold prep?

I used to think you needed to be a math genius to code until a barista in Seattle changed my mind

I was working on a simple Python script at a coffee shop last Tuesday, and I must have looked stuck. The barista, who was wiping down the counter, just said, 'You know, I started learning by making a program that tells me when my sourdough is ready. It's just a timer with some if statements.' That one comment, about baking bread, made it click for me. I realized coding is just about breaking down everyday tasks into steps a computer can follow. Has anyone else had a moment where a totally normal example made programming seem way less scary?

Why does nobody talk about the daily sync mess in construction software?

Every project manager I know just hits 'sync' and prays, but that's how you get three different RFI lists floating around. I saw a $15k change order get missed because two tablets were on different versions of the same plan set. How do you guys actually make sure field data is talking to the office?

Dropped $400 on a new infrared paint curing system and it's been a total headache.

Watching a documentary and learned some pitmasters go through 200 lbs of wood for a single brisket cook

Found that in a Texas Monthly piece, which seems crazy efficient versus my usual pile. Is that a normal amount for the big competition rigs?

That week in October when every horse seemed to need a full set of bar shoes

I had three clients in a row, all with different lameness issues, where the vets and I agreed bar shoes were the best call. It made for long, tough days shaping and fitting them, but seeing those horses move comfortably by Friday was worth it. Do you think we're seeing more bar shoe prescriptions now, or was that just a weird coincidence?

Vent: Had to pick between a new hoist rope or a full sheave replacement on a 15-year-old Otis unit.

Went with the rope to save the client money, but now the old sheave is chewing it up after just 3 months. Anyone got a good source for a 10-inch traction sheave that won't cost an arm and a leg?

A 2018 MacBook Pro board repair just ate my entire Saturday

Had a clean looking A1989 come in with no power, thought it was just a simple short on the main rail. Three hours in with the hot air station, I found a tiny capacitor under the CPU that was cracked and leaking. The whole board flexed when I tried to remove it, and now I have a new dead short somewhere else. Anyone have a good source for these newer board schematics that doesn't cost a fortune?