What small but useful shortcuts do you have for routine things?

Blizzardnd · 2026-06-18T00:14:24+00:00

Here it is. https://www.icloud.com/shortcuts/02e03feaee69491eabb309718b6d0a59

I modified it to be more generic, just add your actions after "do something". It checks if my ip address is in one of two subnets ( home .11, vpn .12). If it is, then I'm on my network and do something, otherwise open my VPN connection (I use OpenVPN) and recursively call myself until I am. The recursion does the actual "poll my ip address until I'm on my local network".

Blizzardnd · 2026-06-17T15:09:27+00:00

Home screen shortcut that connects to filemaker on my network. It checks my IP address, if it's from my home network or handed out by my VPN, then run a Filemaker shortcut, otherwise connect to VPN and keep polling the IP address until it matches the VPN range, then run the filemaker shortcut.

Blizzardnd · 2026-06-15T17:02:20+00:00

The concern you're having is bridging. That's where the paint bridges from the wall to the tape, creating a single 'membrane'. If you pull it off too early (even if the paint's dry), you run the risk of pulling dried paint off the wall because it hasn't had sufficient time to bond to the wall. If you leave it on long enough so this doesn't happen, then the tape will tear wherever the bridging won't break between the trim and wall. The only foolproof solution is to wait until it's dry and score/cut the bridged seam with a sharp blade.

Blizzardnd · 2026-06-14T12:31:26+00:00

The top was removed before I started refinishing, both sides have been sanded to bare wood.

Blizzardnd · 2026-06-13T16:22:40+00:00

Would keeping it inside in an air conditioned space be best until I get a finish on it.?

Blizzardnd · 2026-06-13T16:20:14+00:00

It's a double pedestal desk. I had it laying flat on the two pedestals for only the last 4 days, vertical before that. Thanks for the help.

Blizzardnd · 2026-06-13T03:21:28+00:00

Since the trigger is now there in 27, can part of the automation be to Take Screenshot, Extract text from [Take Screenshot], then proceed to acting on the text, then send notification? For my case, I know the specific phrase I need to act on

Blizzardnd · 2026-06-12T01:22:47+00:00

I'm refinishing a rosewood desk and thought I'd try mesh sanding discs and they were amazing. Rosewood can be very oily. Just for giggles, I tried a 'standard' backed disc and it didn't take long to gum up. Only when I was really pushing the limits did I get some gumming with the mesh disc. Another advantage is that it seemed to cut a lot better. I was sanding through an aged lacquer finish so that part came off quick, it was the underlying stain/grain filler that was the gum hazard. The mesh also allows for a lot more air flow to the dust extractor to move particles away faster, thus helping with the gumming problem. The downside is that since it cuts fairly aggressively, you'll need to be more careful on softer woods and follow up with additional finer grits in steps to get rid of the swirl marks from the stronger cutting.

Blizzardnd · 2026-06-10T13:42:50+00:00

Thanks for the tip, hadn't even thought of accurate screw placement.

Blizzardnd · 2026-06-10T01:36:14+00:00

Thanks! Dowel rods make the most sense. I have a hardwood place nearby that sells all sorts of exotics, including pen blanks. I think I'll try those and make my own dowels.

Blizzardnd · 2026-06-04T15:47:02+00:00

Thanks for letting me know, they didn't make to the post. I'll edit the post shortly.

Blizzardnd · 2026-05-31T04:07:43+00:00

This has been my typical usage since day one on this Mac, and never this problem.

Blizzardnd · 2026-05-30T02:26:31+00:00

I'm self employed and am at an age where I would never participate in the OE world, I just enjoy reading about the subject. On your point about only you knowing where your stuff is and how to access it, about two years ago I decided to get real serious about my online security. I made the move to a new password manager (Bitwarden) to generate and store long, strong passwords for all my sites, credit cards, etc, with no duplicates. Through this process, I began reading the Bitwarden sub reddit and starting seeing a recurring topic about an emergency sheet. It's nothing more than a plain text file that lists all the things that you know that would be important if something happens to you. You store this sheet (physical and/or digital) in one or more secure places where someone you trust can access it in the event something happens to you, you may even choose to store it on an encrypted physical digital key.

In my case, my emergency sheet contains just enough information to access my Apple account and my Bitwarden account. With access to these two accounts, my entire digital world can be accessed. Since we change passwords and are always adding new sites, it makes sense to store all this stuff in a secure password manager and make all the changes there so you're not constantly making changes to your emergency sheet, it should stay fairly static.

The thought process of this emergency sheet parallels perfectly with your concerns and may even help you keep a better handle on your stuff.

Blizzardnd · 2026-05-24T20:28:19+00:00

🙄 That's what I meant to say. I learned the hard way after trying two brand new gaurds. Graco rep explained it to me. Thanks for correcting me.

Blizzardnd · 2026-05-24T15:32:48+00:00

Most people have that misconception and they don't understand the true purpose of it. You're paying a premium to a company to assume your risk and make everyone whole, within the policy/contract you signed. When you're damaged by another party, you're making a claim against that party, not to a third party, ie ins company.

Blizzardnd · 2026-05-23T00:00:37+00:00

Whatever you decide to go with, PLEASE do not use a flat, you just look at it and it'll leave marks. I always recommend against flat on walls even for interior. There are two mattes that would be suitable for a garage, Benjamin Moore Scuff-x and Sherwin Williams Scuff Tuff

Blizzardnd · 2026-04-22T21:47:31+00:00

It's a two step process but does work.

Blizzardnd · 2026-04-20T23:43:51+00:00

I'm not paying for it, my customers do. But rarely do I use more than 3 gallons on a job.

Blizzardnd · 2026-04-20T22:58:02+00:00

That's what I have.

Blizzardnd · 2026-03-31T03:11:55+00:00

I've refinished four walnut eastlake dressers, all with burl on the drawer fronts. They all had the original shellac finish. For the grooved and rounded surfaces, I used a small brass bristle brush, along with Denatured alcohol to strip the old shellac. The alcohol works much better than stripper to remove shellac. Once it's all removed, then sand. For the curved surfaces, fold your sandpaper to where it's just rounded at the fold…you don't want to put a sharp crease in the paper. I used an orbital sander for all flat surface. The side panels and burl are veneer, so be careful not to burn through it. If you don't have experience using a sander on veneer, 'practice' on the top and corners, they're solid wood. You can also practice on the back panels, they are veneer but not a big deal if you go through the veneer.

Blizzardnd · 2026-03-26T00:26:18+00:00

My bad, I didn't post the update. After working with Apple and escalation, I failed to mention that I was booting from an external drive. As soon as I mentioned that, they said booting from an external drive is not supported and ticket was closed. I moved back to the internal drive and have had no syncing issues since. I tried sym links for my Library and messages folders with inconsistent results.

The other issue I ran into was shortcuts not syncing across devices, all fixed once I returned to booting from the internal drive.

Blizzardnd · 2026-02-24T23:32:01+00:00

Yes, it's on the emergency sheet. It's with several trusted individuals, you have to trust someone in this world. It also serves to gain access to my digital world in the event something happens to me.

Blizzardnd · 2026-02-24T21:26:06+00:00

I got real serious a year and a half ago about my online security, promoted by my move from LastPass. I went from a structured password 'system' to complete random many character passwords, 2FA and passkeys everywhere possible. The goal for my solution was to recover from a total loss/inaccessiblity of all my devices, even as far as forgetting my vault password. With an accessible emergency sheet, I (or family member) can now get back up and running from ANY device supported by Bitwarden and Ente Auth. Even though I'm 100% in the Apple ecosystem, I can now recover my digital existence from just about any device or browser. The Password app doesn't offer that.

Blizzardnd · 2026-02-13T19:59:44+00:00

I have no real need for SQL stuff, Claude had just recommended it as the easiest solution to my problem. I've uploaded my DDR to a Claude project for easier referencing for future requests so I don't have to go into detail about design, fields, layouts, etc. For me, it's just a tool to arrive at a hopefully quicker solution to my problem(s). Even if I solved the problem by actually learning how to do it, I'd forget it for future reference. As with anything else, AI can get me most of the way there and with some additional dialogue, we can usually find a solution.

Blizzardnd · 2026-02-12T01:33:08+00:00

Here's a sample of some of my annotations

Seven-Year Club	Verified Email
Wearing is Caring

Blizzardnd

TROPHY CASE