A drywaller in Denver gave me a warning about lime mortar that I ignored

I was working a small garden wall job in Denver a few years back, and a drywaller unloading his truck next to me saw my bags of Portland cement. He said 'You use that for repointing old brick, you'll crack the face off in a year.' I brushed him off because I was in a hurry and figured he just worked with drywall, not masonry. Three months after I finished a job in Capitol Hill, the homeowner called me showing me hairline cracks in the bricks. He was right. The Portland was too hard for the soft old brick. I had to chip it all out and redo it with NHL lime. Has anyone else ran into trouble mixing modern cement with historic brick?

TIL I was cleaning my demand regulator wrong for 3 years

I used to just rinse my Poseidon demand reg under fresh water after every dive. Thought that was good enough. Then my buddy showed me his crusty second stage that failed at 90 feet last month on a pipeline job off Galveston. Now I soak mine in warm soapy water for 20 minutes, then blow it out with low pressure air. The manual actually says to do this after every shift. Who knew a little soap could save you from a freeflow 100 feet down? Has anyone else had a reg fail from poor cleaning?

Appreciation post: That hardware store return clerk who didn't make me feel stupid

Broke a brand new $60 shovel handle last Tuesday on a job up in Northampton. Was just digging in some heavy clay and heard that sickening crack. Took it back to the store expecting a fight since I'd clearly put it to use. The guy at the counter just looked at it, said "yeah that's a manufacturing defect, the grain runs wrong on this batch," and handed me a replacement no questions asked. No lecture about using it wrong, no asking for a receipt. Made me want to buy everything from them forever. Has anyone else had a return experience that completely turned around your opinion of a store?

That moment I realized my sprinkler system was watering the street for 3 months

So I just moved into a house in Decatur back in April and noticed my water bill was creeping up about $25 more each month. I blamed it on summer watering but finally checked my sprinkler heads last weekend. Turns out 3 of them were tilted wrong and spraying half the water onto the sidewalk and street. I spent Saturday adjusting all 12 heads and now I'm curious how much that waste actually cost me. Has anyone else found hidden water waste after moving into an older Atlanta home?

Found a 90s show guide from Blockbuster in an old book. Crazy how we used to pick based on the back cover.

Flipping through it and saw all these movies I'd forgotten about. No streaming, no recommendations. Just whatever cover art caught your eye. My picks were so random back then. Miss that feeling sometimes even if it was inefficient. Anyone else remember relying on those Box summaries?

Tried pocket screws for a face frame after years of biscuits, totally different feel

I always thought biscuits were the only way to keep things aligned, but I grabbed a Kreg jig on a whim last month for a cheap bathroom vanity. The frame held square way easier and I didn't have to wait for glue to tack up. Anyone else ditch traditional joinery for pocket holes on certain jobs?

Old timer in Louisiana told me to run my cutter at half speed in mud. Laughed at him. Got stuck for 3 hours.

Remember when we used to run clamshells without GPS?

Back in the 90s on the Mississippi we did everything by hand and eye. Now new guys come in with tablets and still manage to miss the mark. Am I the only one who thinks learning without the screens made us better operators?

I finally stopped using a rubber mallet after a job in Phoenix

Was on a commercial wall out in Phoenix last June, 110 degrees and I'm whacking bricks into place with my old rubber mallet. Guy from a crew next to me walks over and says 'you're gonna crack half those bricks before noon with that thing.' He handed me a deadblow hammer instead. I was pissed at first but he was right, I cracked way less that day. Anyone else switch from rubber to deadblow on hot jobs?

Unpopular opinion: my sled's belt blew 10 miles out on the trail near Skagway last week and I'm kinda glad it happened

Had to limp back on an older spare belt I keep stashed in the tunnel bag, and honestly it forced me to check my clutch alignment which was way off. Anyone else find that a breakdown saves them from a bigger repair later?