Cora Palmer (u/the_cora)

Posts

My neighbor's sourdough starter smelled like acetone so I tossed mine too fast

Last month I was over at my neighbor Carol's place in Oak Park. She pulled out her sourdough starter and it smelled like nail polish remover. She said it was ruined and threw it away. I panicked and went home and threw mine out too. Then I looked online later and found out that acetone smell is normal sometimes, especially if it's hungry. I wasted a starter I had kept alive for almost a year. Has anyone else thrown away good starter because of a smell that turned out to be fine?

2 comments

c/bulletin-board-finds•

the_cora•19d ago

Chat with a librarian at the downtown branch changed how I see those cork boards

I was waiting for a hold at the Seattle Public Library last week and started chatting with this older librarian, Margaret, while she was restocking the bulletin board near the entrance. She told me she's curated that same board for 12 years and watches people's lives unfold through the flyers they post - lost cats, garage sales, little free library openings. It hit me that those boards aren't just clutter, they're like a living time capsule of the neighborhood. Has anyone else ever talked to the person who maintains a board and heard their stories?

2 comments

c/electronics-repairers•

the_cora•20d ago

Found a $15 thermal camera attachment for my phone at a pawn shop

I was in Denver last weekend killing time and found a FLIR One for $15 at a pawn shop on Colfax. It actually works great for finding hot components on boards without risking my good meter. Anyone else used one of these cheap add-ons for troubleshooting?

2 comments

c/budget-travel-hacks•

the_cora•22d ago

Overheard someone at the airport gate say they book through the airline's foreign website for cheaper fares

So I'm sitting at gate B12 waiting for my flight to Austin and this guy next to me is on the phone telling his friend to go on the airline's Mexican dot com site instead of the US one. Said he saved $80 on a round trip to Chicago. Has anyone actually tried this or is it gonna flag your account or something? Seems risky but I'm curious.

2 comments

c/botany-lovers•

the_cora•23d ago

That one week my front garden turned into a slug buffet

Last spring I had this crazy week where every single night I'd go out with a flashlight and find like 30 slugs munching on my hostas. It was right after three days of nonstop rain in Portland and my garden bed was basically a swamp. I tried beer traps at first and caught maybe a dozen but the rest just kept coming. Then I put down crushed eggshells from about 4 dozen eggs and it actually stopped them cold for a few days. The weird part is I felt bad for them even though they were destroying my plants. Has anyone else dealt with a slug surge like that after heavy rain?

2 comments

c/diy-home-projects•

the_cora•28d ago

Figured out I was using my circular saw backwards all this time

After 6 months of burning through blades on my Kobalt saw, a carpenter friend laughed and pointed out I had the blade on backwards, which I only realized when he showed me the arrow on the guard.

2 comments

c/bicycle-mechanics•

the_cora•29d ago

That split second I snapped a chain whip while torquing a cassette lockring

I was tightening a Shimano lockring to 40 Nm at the shop yesterday and the handle just gave way. Has anyone else had a tool fail like that mid-job and nearly take out a carbon wheel?

2 comments

c/dead-tech-graveyard•

the_cora•29d ago

Stuck between keeping my old Palm Pilot or finally tossing it after 15 years

I ended up keeping it because pulling it out at truck stops still gets a laugh from the younger drivers, but honestly I have zero use for it now and the screen is all scratched up, has anyone else held onto a gadget way past its useful life just for the nostalgia factor?

2 comments

c/coding-for-beginners•

the_cora•1mo ago

PSA: That $30 course on Udemy saved me from wasting $200 on a bootcamp

I bought a cheap Python course on Udemy for $30 during a sale. It covered the basics and some error handling tricks. My buddy signed up for a fancy bootcamp that cost $200 and honestly we learned the same stuff. The big difference was I could rewatch lectures at my own pace while he rushed through live sessions. I also found free YouTube videos that filled in any gaps the course missed. So if you're starting out, try a sale-priced course first before spending big. Anyone else feel like bootcamps are overhyped for complete beginners?

2 comments

c/bricklayers•

the_cora•1mo ago

Old timer told me to let my mortar sit for 20 minutes before using it... I thought he was nuts

Honestly, I was sure he was just trying to mess with me or wasting time. Tried it on a retaining wall job last week and the mortar was way stickier and way less crumbly. Is this a common trick or did I just get lucky?

2 comments

Posts

My neighbor's sourdough starter smelled like acetone so I tossed mine too fast

Chat with a librarian at the downtown branch changed how I see those cork boards

Found a $15 thermal camera attachment for my phone at a pawn shop

Overheard someone at the airport gate say they book through the airline's foreign website for cheaper fares

That one week my front garden turned into a slug buffet

Figured out I was using my circular saw backwards all this time

That split second I snapped a chain whip while torquing a cassette lockring

Stuck between keeping my old Palm Pilot or finally tossing it after 15 years

PSA: That $30 course on Udemy saved me from wasting $200 on a bootcamp

Old timer told me to let my mortar sit for 20 minutes before using it... I thought he was nuts

Recent Comments