Unpopular opinion: I miss the old hardwired motion sensors

Five years ago I would spend half a day fishing wire for a single PIR. Now everything is wireless and I can do three zones in an hour. But I swear the old hardwired ones in my first installs from 2010 are still running without a single battery change. Anyone still running into buildings where you can actually use conduit?

I was at the new auto parts store in Springfield yesterday and their 'tech help' desk is just a guy with a tablet reading Google results.

TIL a veteran farrier in Boise told me my clinch block was too small for the nails I was using.

Switched to a 3/4 inch block and my clinches are way more consistent now. Anyone else find a simple tool change made a big difference?

Honestly, I've seen three different crews in my town try to prune a live oak in the middle of summer and it's painful to watch.

Vent: I tried two ways to fix a squeaky floorboard in my apartment and one actually worked.

The 'squirt some oil in the crack' advice from a neighbor just made a mess, but lifting the board and putting a shim in stopped the noise for good. Anyone know a better fix for old hardwood?

Had a close call with a power line on a site in Tacoma last month

We were setting steel for a new warehouse, and I was swinging a 40-foot beam into place. The spotter was giving me the all clear, but I caught a flicker of something in my cab mirror. I looked up and saw the main load line was maybe 10 feet from a 7,200 volt line I hadn't even seen when I set up. My old boss always said 'you're the last check,' so I stopped the swing right there. Turns out the site plans were wrong about where that line ran. I had to shut the whole lift down for two hours while the power company came out to confirm the clearance. It rattled me pretty good. Has anyone else had a site plan be that wrong about something so big?

PSA: The new DEF fluid from the local NAPA seems to cut injector carbon by half in our fleet trucks.

We used to pull and clean injectors on our 6.7 Powerstrokes every 18 months, but after switching 8 months ago, they're still spotless. Anyone else seeing this kind of result with a specific brand?

Had a stubborn bolt on a Cessna 172's exhaust flange yesterday

It was on a plane that came in from a coastal operation, so I'm guessing salt air played a part. I soaked it with penetrating oil for an hour, used a six-point socket and a breaker bar, and it still wouldn't budge without feeling like it was going to shear. What's your go-to method for a seized exhaust bolt before you bring out the heat?

Heard a guy at the Micro Center in Denver call a CPU the 'computer's brain box' to a customer

I was grabbing some thermal paste and this older guy was helping someone pick parts. He pointed at the CPU and said, 'This right here is the brain box, it does all the thinking.' The customer just nodded like it made perfect sense. It made me think about how we explain things to people who don't know tech. Do you guys have any funny or simple ways you describe parts to clients?

PSA: Overheard a GC talking about a new fire code change for multi-family units

I was grabbing coffee yesterday and heard a general contractor talking to his crew about a job in the new Riverwalk complex. He said the city inspectors are now failing any drywall job in the common hallways if the joint compound isn't a specific fire-rated type, not just the board. I checked with my supplier this morning, and he confirmed it. Has anyone else run into this with the new 2024 code cycle in their area?