Talked to a fire inspector yesterday and he said something that stuck with me

He was checking a house I'd just swept in Boulder and asked if I'd looked at the outside of the flue. I said I always do a visual from the roof... but he pointed to a hairline crack in the clay liner near the base, from the ground. He said, 'That's a draft killer and a spark path... you can't always see the big problems from the top down.' It made me rethink my whole start-to-finish check. How many of you guys make a full walk-around a standard part of your job?

I chose a bold print over a classic solid for a client's dress and it actually worked

Everyone said the floral pattern was too loud for a formal event in Chicago, but she loved it and got tons of compliments. Has anyone else gone against the 'safe' advice and been happy with the result?

My uncle in Denver tried to fight a wind turbine with a leaf blower

We were visiting him last fall and he got mad because the turbine near his house was 'stealing his breeze' for his garden. He actually went outside with his electric leaf blower, pointed it at the turbine, and yelled 'Give it back!' I mean, does he think the wind is a finite resource he owns? Has anyone else had a family member completely misunderstand how clean energy works?

Been seeing a lot of detail drawings lately where the weld symbols are just... floating in space, not pointing at the joint line. Had a new hire do it on a 3/8" plate bracket drawing last week.

Thought my old mentor was crazy for charging $75 for a basic fade

Three years ago in my first shop, I watched him turn down a $40 offer and explain his price for 20 minutes. He broke down his rent, product cost, and the 15 years he spent getting that fast and clean. I finally get it now after raising my own prices and seeing clients stick around because they value the skill. What's a price point you held off on that worked out better than you thought?

Back in '08, I had to pick between a magnesium float and a wood float for a big garage slab. Went with magnesium. Still think about that choice.

I always thought you needed a fancy degree to get a coding job

I was reading an article on a tech news site last week that said over 60% of developers don't have a computer science degree. I found that stat totally wild because I'd been putting off even trying to learn, thinking I was already behind. It made me realize the field is way more about what you can actually build than a piece of paper. Has anyone here actually landed a job after learning online?

Visited the old power plant museum in St. Louis and was shocked by the size of the rivets on the 1920s boiler.

They were over an inch thick, and the guide said they had to be heated cherry-red and driven by a four-man team before the pneumatic hammers we use now.