$70 for a microderm tool that barely did anything

I got suckered into buying this at-home microdermabrasion wand off Instagram like 2 months ago. It was $70 and the suction was so weak it barely picked up dead skin. I followed the directions exactly, did 3 sessions over 2 weeks, and saw zero difference in my texture. Honestly I got better results just using a konjac sponge with my regular cleanser. Has anyone else wasted money on those handheld suction devices?

Hit 200 rolls of film through my old Pentax this month

Didn't even realize I'd burned through that much. Two hundred rolls just from a beat up Spotmatic I got for 20 bucks at a thrift store. Anybody else lose count of how much film they've actually shot?

Coffee talk got me thinking about house hacking vs. waiting for the perfect starter home

I was grabbing coffee at Central Coffee in Plaza Midwood last week with a guy I know who flips houses. He said he's bought 3 properties in the last 2 years by house hacking, just renting out rooms to cover the mortgage. I always thought it was better to save up 20% down and buy a place you actually want to live in long term. Which approach do you think makes more sense for someone in Charlotte right now with these prices?

Heard a zine-maker at the coffee shop say 'real zines are photocopied' and it got under my skin

I was at Cuppa Joe on Tuesday waiting for my order and this guy next to me was explaining zines to someone. He said if you print them at a proper print shop they stop being DIY. I've been making zines for about 4 years now and I use a local print shop because my home printer jams every 3 pages. Plus I can print 50 copies for around 40 bucks which is way cheaper than buying toner. Are we really gatekeeping based on how the ink gets on the paper now? Has anyone else run into this kind of purist attitude in the scene?

Wasted $150 on fancy end mills I didn't even need

I bought a set of those coated carbide end mills for aluminum because the forum said they last longer. Turns out my old HSS bits cut just fine for what I do at my shop in Cleveland, and the carbide ones chipped on the first pass when I hit a clamp I forgot to move. Anyone else buy expensive tooling only to go back to the cheap stuff?

Can we talk about how Durarara actually holds up on a rewatch

I was super skeptical when my friend told me Durarara was still good 10 years later because I remembered it being confusing and slow. Started a rewatch last month and the way all those side stories connect in the first 12 episodes is honestly way tighter than I gave it credit for. Has anyone else gone back to a show they wrote off and completely changed their mind?

Had to choose between a 15 year old espresso machine or a new one for $400

Picked the old one from a garage sale for 20 bucks after the guy said it just needed a cleaning. Spent 3 hours taking it apart and descaling it with vinegar and it works perfect now. The shots actually taste better than the breville I was gonna buy. Has anyone else fixed up an old machine and had it beat out the new stuff?

That moment a spoke snapped on a group ride in the rain

That time a 14.4k modem took 45 minutes to download a 3MB picture of a kitten

I sat there staring at the progress bar on Prodigy, convinced the whole thing froze, only to find out my buddy sent it from his college's T1 line and didn't warn me. Has anyone else ever sat through a download that long only to realize the file was corrupted at 99%?

Cracked a hellhole on a T56 tail cone by using a pick upside down

I was working on a T56 turbine engine tail cone at the base in Fort Worth last month and kept hitting a dead end with a stubborn crack that looked like a stress fracture. Tried dye penetrant three times and kept getting false positives from residue. Switched to using a dental pick backwards to scrape the area BEFORE applying the penetrant and it cleaned out enough old paint to show the true crack line. Anybody else have a weird trick like that for getting clean inspections on old parts?