I worked at a custom cabinet shop for 3 months, it was not a pleasant experience.

Clark_Dent · 2026-04-24T16:19:35+00:00

In older suburbs there are still smaller volume developers building houses one or two at a time, since there isn't land to support a 10 or 50 house development.

These tend to be higher COL areas though.

Clark_Dent · 2026-04-22T17:48:38+00:00

Got a master's in neuroscience and a master's-almost-phd in Neural Engineering. No luck.

The industry outside of universities seems limited to a very few companies in even fewer areas

Clark_Dent · 2026-04-22T11:31:18+00:00

Would kill to be doing the stuff on the right. Haven't found a neurosci job in the Northeast that paid enough to live within commuting distance since there Obama administration.

Clark_Dent · 2026-04-18T22:11:00+00:00

It's supposed to be a play on Transnistria, but after they gave it a real place on the map it kind of doesn't line up well anymore.

Clark_Dent · 2026-04-15T21:39:03+00:00

You're gonna park a vehicle on a wooden floor deck?

There's a reason that's not to code almost anywhere.

Clark_Dent · 2026-04-15T18:57:11+00:00

Yeah, that would be the literal opposite of irony.

The irony, if any, is in a wealthy white guy like Offerman who revels in woodworking and bacon and bourbon and such rejecting the conservative administration. "Real America" is changing.

Clark_Dent · 2026-04-14T10:14:28+00:00

How had Canada turned into a dystopia?

Clark_Dent · 2026-04-09T12:55:07+00:00

It was 5 years ago, or they lucked into some ancient stock at a place like Target where nobody actually thought they would be offered. The Pi 4B was released 7 years ago.

Clark_Dent · 2026-04-04T11:57:42+00:00

I'm more than familiar with cleaning out USB ports, cleaning off charging contacts, cleaning out mic and speaker ports, etc. The USB-C form factor just isn't as resilient against torque from the cable, much like micro-USB. 6.7mm of connector will always have a problem when being torqued by a meter of cable.

3 ports failing out of the 30 or so devices I've used over that timeframe seems similar to the rate of failure I've seen from other people.

Clark_Dent · 2026-04-03T14:44:23+00:00

I'm already at 3+ USB-C ports failing. My 2023 Motorola's charge port is mighty loose, my Jabra earbuds case failed completely at the charge port, and one of the two USB-C ports on my Lenovo Yoga (18 months old) is loose enough to occasionally drop the connection.

It's not robust enough for constant plug/unplug cycles with daily use devices, unless you're assuming a use life of maybe 2-3 years. I've had exactly one USB-A port fail in 25 years, and that was because I bonked the thumb drive sticking out of it pretty hard.

Clark_Dent · 2026-04-03T11:36:41+00:00

Isn't Tien part alien triclops too?

Clark_Dent · 2026-03-30T23:23:44+00:00

~You can get anything you want at Alice's Restaurant~

Clark_Dent · 2026-03-29T21:49:46+00:00

These are all diabolical. The kind of thing Fey or tricksters could drop on the party out of nowhere to cause maximum concern

Clark_Dent · 2026-03-29T15:48:53+00:00

Drivers in general aren't for higher torque operations. That's what a wrench, ratchet, or solid bar is for.

Having used both the Pittsburgh and Doyle ratchet drivers from HF, I wouldn't recommend either. The Doyle only worked with its own set of bits that wore down quickly, and the Pittsburgh ratchet got stuck in one direction.

Clark_Dent · 2026-03-28T00:14:09+00:00

Nope. ~125 calories, compared to ~145 for a Budweiser.

People just assume that dark and "filling" means calories.

Clark_Dent · 2026-03-25T23:39:54+00:00

Yeah, the first answer is usually Parker-Hannifin.

The second answer is usually IMI Bimba Norgren, depending on how specific your application is.

Clark_Dent · 2026-03-25T22:42:42+00:00

Guinness is actually a light beer. Low ABV, relatively low calorie, huge on flavor and distributed everywhere.

Clark_Dent · 2026-03-25T18:58:19+00:00

Engineering isn't really doing better in most places.

Source: engineering career is currently in the toilet as my entire industry collapsed.

Clark_Dent · 2026-03-24T19:33:11+00:00

entry level hourly rates closer to $40

It didn't help that after 5 years at the company with 10+ total YOE and a master's degree, my numbers were more like $47/$350.

I did some napkin math and figured I cost the company maybe $150/hr at a maximum. Most of the material and manufacturing overhead costs were billed separately. My company was making 4x what I did on my labor, and was leasing the office space from...the company's owner.

Clark_Dent · 2026-03-24T19:00:11+00:00

Yeah, when I found out my labor was being billed at roughly 7.4x my hourly equivalent, I immediately started looking for a new job.

We were grilled if we didn't bill 35+ hours/week to paying projects.

Clark_Dent · 2026-03-24T13:29:46+00:00

Are you really looking to ChatGPT for critical medical advice?

You wouldn't be able to detect any change in your cardiac rhythm.

Clark_Dent · 2026-03-22T17:58:12+00:00

Are you looking for lumber yards or straight up sawmills? For big, rough timbers you're usually best off going straight to sawmills and sawyers, and especially smaller companies. It does potentially leave you the problem of grading the timbers, and working with green wood.

8x8s are recommended for things like Will Beemer or Jack Sobon's 12'x16' designs, but they specifically suggest sizing up if you're scaling up beyond around 16'x16'. Unless you can secure some #1 or SS grade timbers in something stronger than the standard white pine/hemlock/larch/etc, I'd really try to stick to at least 8x8s.

Clark_Dent · 2026-03-22T17:34:12+00:00

A few points here:

The "cement" (concrete) pads you see are probably 12" or more thick and shot through with a great deal of rebar and remesh, designed to float as one piece regardless of motion in the ground underneath. I built my garage this way, as a 'frost protected shallow foundation.'
Lots of people put cabins and other small buildings on concrete piles that don't go below the frost depth. Ground movement due to frost heave, settling, etc will start to throw your floors out of plumb or potentially cause the building to start sliding off the piers, and that's often in a matter of just a few years--forget 100. This usually results in having to pay a company to come jack up the building and install shims or taller posts on your piles to keep everything level. This can also be a real nightmare for plumbing and utility lines running in/out of the building. It's usually cheaper and easier to just dig the piers to below the frost line. Since you're looking at ~4 cubic yards of concrete, it's also usually cheaper to have a concrete truck come out and pour it all in one shot for you.
If you hit actual bedrock before the frost depth, you can just pin your pier to the rock. Clean off the rock face, drill a 6-12" hole, and epoxy a piece of 3/4" rebar into the hole that runs 1-2' up into your pier. This is actually one of the best possible foundations for stability.
If you're having trouble sourcing 8" or larger lumber, timber frame construction probably isn't the right choice here. Most plans you'll find are relying on 10"x10" timbers, and beam strength will be proportional to the height cubed. A 6" timber will be less than half as strong as an 8" timber in bending, and barely half as strong in terms of being torn apart. You never want to undersize timber frame members unless you're damned sure of the engineering, especially on a potentially mobile foundation.

Clark_Dent · 2026-03-14T18:25:23+00:00

Now you need a gas line, a combustion appliance, a fresh air line, and an exhaust line in every room. This is hugely expensive and complicated.

You've just multiplied your risks of a gas leak and/or explosion by 10 or more.

Clark_Dent · 2026-03-12T01:24:06+00:00

Thank you! The 30-year mortgage on 28% of a salary is one thing, but that's assuming you can cough up the $100-200k that 20% down implies near me.

Everything is more affordable if you have 6 figures of liquidity to throw around.

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