and that reminds me of the time I spent a whole weekend binging a k-drama on 2x speed because I thought the subtitles were just slow. turns out the actors were actually saying something important and I just got the gist of it from context clues. by the time I realized my mistake I'd already finished the season and couldn't even remember half the plot points.

The 2003 historical novel about the American Revolution I picked up last month had a 2005 copyright date but the author's note mentioned he relied almost entirely on one modern historian's controversial take. That alone shut down the whole debate about whether the book was accurate or not - it was clearly slanted from page one. I started doing what that professor told you and its been a game changer for our mystery book club too. Checking the copyright date on a thriller from 1998 versus one from 2023 tells you right away what kind of research and technology the author had available. The author notes on the JonBenet Ramsey case books we read were especially telling, one guy admitted he never even talked to any of the key witnesses.

My buddy slapped ham with half the sugar once and it won a contest.

Heard my friend melted her fave brush handle doing this. Careful with the heat?

Man I feel your pain. I grabbed a $25 set of wire twist pliers from a harbor freight type place and they were garbage by the end of the first job. The grip slipped and the wire just bunched up on me. Ended up borrowing my buddy's Milwaukee pair that were like $80 and they worked perfect for years until I finally bought my own. Cheap tools can be okay for stuff you use once a month, but for safety wire pliers you're using every week it's just not worth the headache.