Betty Foster (u/betty126)

Posts

I switched to a cash envelope for takeout and saved $120 this month

I got tired of seeing food delivery charges on my card, so I put $80 cash in an envelope for the whole month. I thought I'd blow through it in two weeks. Instead, I found myself cooking more and only ordering pizza once. I still have $20 left with three days to go. I learned that seeing the actual money makes me think twice before spending. Has anyone else had luck with a cash system for a specific spending leak?

2 comments

c/diy-home-projects•

betty126•6d ago

Tried to strip the paint off my 1920s fireplace mantle with a citrus gel. It turned the wood PINK.

I found this old bottle of 'eco friendly' paint remover in my garage from like 2016. The label said it was safe for antique wood. I slathered it on the detailed carving, waited an hour, and started scraping. Instead of bare oak, the wood underneath had this weird, blotchy pink stain. My husband walked in and said it looked like a candy cane factory exploded. I think the gel reacted with some old shellac or stain underneath the paint. Had to sand for HOURS to fix it. Has anyone else had a vintage wood project go totally sideways with a modern product?

2 comments

c/carpet-installers•

betty126•9d ago

Walked into a new hotel in Boise and the carpet seams were already lifting

I was there for a friend's thing last weekend and couldn't stop staring at the floor. The install was maybe six months old, tops, but the seams in the main hallway were puckering up like tiny mountain ranges. It was a commercial grade loop pile, and you could see the backing peeking through in spots. They clearly didn't stretch it right, probably rushed the job to meet an opening date. It's a total waste of good material and it's gonna be a nightmare to fix. Makes our whole trade look bad when a high traffic place looks that rough so fast. Has anyone else seen a job fail that quickly in a public spot?

3 comments

c/diesel-mechanics•

betty126•9d ago

Update: I was overtorquing injector hold-down bolts for years

A tech from the Detroit Diesel training session pointed out I was using the wrong torque sequence, which explained the recurring blow-by on my 6.7 Powerstroke rebuilds. He showed me the factory spec sheet that lists a specific criss-cross pattern I'd missed. What's the one torque procedure you had to unlearn?

2 comments

c/auto-body-repairers•

betty126•10d ago

Started waiting for body filler to cure all the way before sanding

I always rushed sanding to get jobs done faster. A comeback repair showed me the filler wasn't set right and cracked later. Now I give it the full time it needs, no shortcuts. My panels come out way smoother with no shrink-back issues. It's a basic step that really ups my work quality.

2 comments

c/farriers•

betty126•11d ago

The way we used to learn this trade feels like a whole other world now

Honestly, when I started out, my boss would have me tag along on calls just to watch how he handled each horse. Tbh, we'd share a truck and talk through every trim or shoe while driving to the next farm. Now, it seems like many new farriers study from online videos before they ever hold a hoof. I miss the simple way we'd all meet up at the supply store and swap fixes for tough cases. Ngl, managing jobs through phone apps saves time, but it cuts out those chance meetings that solved problems. Even the dynamic with horse owners has shifted, with more texts and less face-to-face trust building. The work itself is still good, but the everyday connections that made it special are thinner. Makes you appreciate how much we learned from just being around each other.

2 comments