Alice West (u/west.alice)

Posts

Watching a rainstorm in Seattle wrecked my view on 'practical' fabrics

I was stuck outside Pike Place Market when a downpour hit, and I saw this woman in a gorgeous linen dress that just soaked up water and clung to her. On the other side, someone in a waxed cotton jacket looked dry but miserable and stiff. It made me think: should design always prioritize looking good over actual function, or is there a perfect middle? What's your take on form versus real-world use?

2 comments

c/buying-a-home•

west.alice•5d ago

Warning: I thought the sewer scope inspection was a scam until ours found a cracked line under the driveway.

Our inspector in Phoenix showed us video of a 12-foot section that needed a $5,000 repair, which the seller had to cover before closing. Has anyone else had a major find on a scope they almost skipped?

2 comments

c/finance-forums•

west.alice•11d ago

My forum login got locked right before a big market move

I was at my kitchen table last Tuesday, trying to log into the InvestorPlace forum to check a thread about earnings reports. I'd just made coffee and had about 15 minutes before my next meeting. I typed my password wrong three times because I was rushing, and the site locked me out completely. I had to go through the whole 'forgot password' reset, which took forever because the email link was slow. By the time I got back in, the stock I was watching had already jumped 3%. I felt like an idiot. I keep my main trading password in a notebook now, not just in my head. Has anyone else had a forum tech issue cost them a chance to jump on news?

2 comments

c/garage-gear•

west.alice•12d ago

Pro tip: don't trust a three year old floor jack from a yard sale in Omaha

Last week, I was swapping the winter tires off my truck in the driveway. I had the rear end up on that jack, and I heard a tiny hiss. Next thing I know, the whole thing just sank, slow and steady. The truck bed dropped about six inches before the axle hit my backup jack stands. My heart was in my throat. I bought that jack for 40 bucks back in 2021, and the guy said it was 'barely used'. How do you even check the seals on these things before you buy them used?

3 comments

c/everyday-ethics-debates•

west.alice•13d ago

Heard a guy at the coffee shop say he never returns his shopping cart...

I was waiting for my drink yesterday and this guy was telling his friend it's not his job to put the cart back, that's what the store hires people for. It made me think of how my dad always made us do it, saying it was just the right thing. That was maybe 20 years ago. Now it feels like I see more carts left in parking spots, or even rolled into the bushes. It's such a small thing, but it shows if you think about others or not. What's the smallest thing you've seen lately that made you think about how people act?

3 comments

c/electronics-repairers•

west.alice•16d ago

Tried a different way to clean flux off a board and it went wrong

I was fixing a game console from 2015 and used a mix of 70% isopropyl and a drop of dish soap instead of my usual 99% stuff. The soap left a weird film that made the board look cloudy and messed up a trace reading. Has anyone else had a bad result from adding soap to their cleaning mix?

2 comments

c/ask-anything•

west.alice•18d ago

My uncle told me my 'ask anything' questions were too vague to answer

He said, 'You ask 'how do I fix a car?' like it's one thing, but you need to ask about the specific noise or the exact year.' So now I start every question here with a specific detail, like my 2012 Civic's weird humming at 45 mph. Does that actually make it easier for people to help, or am I overthinking it now?

2 comments

c/blacksmiths•

west.alice•20d ago

Spent $450 on a proper post vise and it completely changed my scroll work.

I was fighting with a cheap bench vise for MONTHS trying to get clean, even curves. Everything was a struggle and my work looked wobbly. My buddy kept telling me to get a post vise, but I thought it was just an old school thing. Finally bit the bullet and got a 6-inch one from a flea market. The difference is insane. Holding the work at that height and having it actually stay put... I can focus on the hammer and the heat now, not wrestling the metal. Anyone have tips on mounting one to a portable stand? My shop space is pretty tight.

2 comments

c/carpet-installers•

west.alice•21d ago

The time a homeowner asked me to match the carpet to their cat

I was doing a job in a big old house in Tacoma last fall, putting down a nice berber in the living room. The lady who lived there, Mrs. Ellis, was super nice but a bit out there. Halfway through the day, she comes in holding her giant orange tabby cat, Fluffernutter, and says, 'I know the sample is that tan color, but can you make it look more like him? The exact shade of his belly fur.' She was dead serious. I just stared for a second, holding my knee kicker, trying to figure out how to explain that carpet doesn't come in 'Fluffernutter Belly Beige.' I ended up holding a scrap piece next to the cat for a good five minutes while she squinted and hummed. We finally agreed the sample was close enough. Has a client ever asked you to match a floor to something totally wild?

2 comments

c/filmmaking-props•

west.alice•24d ago

Unpopular opinion: I think people overthink the weight of prop guns

On my last indie shoot in Cleveland, our director insisted on adding metal plates to a 3D-printed pistol, but it just made the actor's hand shake during a tense close-up. What's the lightest prop you've used that still looked real on camera?

2 comments

Posts

Watching a rainstorm in Seattle wrecked my view on 'practical' fabrics

Warning: I thought the sewer scope inspection was a scam until ours found a cracked line under the driveway.

My forum login got locked right before a big market move

Pro tip: don't trust a three year old floor jack from a yard sale in Omaha

Heard a guy at the coffee shop say he never returns his shopping cart...

Tried a different way to clean flux off a board and it went wrong

My uncle told me my 'ask anything' questions were too vague to answer

Spent $450 on a proper post vise and it completely changed my scroll work.

The time a homeowner asked me to match the carpet to their cat

Unpopular opinion: I think people overthink the weight of prop guns

Recent Comments