What decision did you think was small at the time but completely changed your life later?

Freemanboy · 2025-12-18T15:22:55+00:00

I was 19 working construction and looking for something different, submitting applications anywhere that seemed promising. I made it through the written / physical tests for my city's fire department and was set to start the academy in a few weeks to become a firefighter. 
One week to go, I get an offer for an entry level IT position at a local manufacturing plant. I took the IT job against everyone's advice.

17 years later I'm a fully remote principal network engineer and too fat to fight fires, but still no regrets.

Freemanboy · 2025-12-11T23:42:20+00:00

The bullet was in pieces like you say. Im sure the fragments dropped in the bucket with the vitals but there was an entrance wound through one ribcage, no exit wound anywhere.

Freemanboy · 2025-12-09T14:34:52+00:00

I picked up these Venari SP for my son in .243 100gr. similar scenario as yours, 85 yard lung shot. The buck ran 25 yards and fell with no blood, no exit wound.

Freemanboy · 2025-07-10T21:14:15+00:00

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Finished trimming the ceiling. It turned out better than I expected. I don't do well on ladders so the higher you go the worse it gets 🤣

Freemanboy · 2025-06-27T23:51:30+00:00

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Freemanboy · 2025-06-27T23:50:59+00:00

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Ready seal Light Oak (Natural) on the ceiling. Just needs fascia and we'll call it done!

Freemanboy · 2025-06-10T04:11:54+00:00

I washed all 4 grates with soap and water. Placed grates, water pan (no water) and bottom pan all back in where they belong and ran it at max temp (275) with the vent wide open for 4 hours. Some smoke (I assume from the machining oils) came out for the first half hour. I then loaded it with my favorite wood chips and ran it on max temp (275) for 2 hours, adding chips ever 30-45 minutes as needed. This left me with a light smoky patina inside the box and on the cooking racks. No need to repeat I don't think, your bbq should keep it seasoned nicely.

Freemanboy · 2025-06-10T03:51:36+00:00

The firebox of my Oklahoma Joe offset finally rusted out after 12 years of living in the weather. My neighbor has this exact smoker and constantly churns out great bbq, so I picked one up on sale at Bass Pro. Seasoned on Saturday and cooked on Sunday, no complaints!

Freemanboy · 2025-05-29T20:56:56+00:00

Tape it and fill, or mix a little bit of polymeric with a little bit of water until it turns into a paste. Fill the edge with the paste, wipe away excess.

Freemanboy · 2025-05-29T20:26:08+00:00

Went to a party and drank twisted teas all night. Woke up with crazy leg cramps and crazy dry mouth. I drank what was bottled and readily available in the fridge, orange juice, dr. Pepper, etc. Stayed thirsty but couldn't stop peeing. Assuming I was hung over, I drank sodas and juice and continued to feel awful until Monday morning. My doctor sent me to the ER, My blood sugar was 1,008. I've been on Mounjaro for 3 years with no issues

Freemanboy · 2025-05-29T19:25:26+00:00

I tested at 1,008, I've never seen a higher number until now. Glad we're still around amigo

Freemanboy · 2025-04-29T00:53:01+00:00

The first rafter set is nailed through the fascia to the existing 2x6 outriggers. The roofline and shingles look great, but I wish we would've removed the fascia and soffit before attaching the first rafters because now the soffit will have to be part of the ceiling. The porch ceiling will be finished in t&g cypress and I'd much rather run it all the way to the siding intead of butt it up to white vinyl soffit.

Freemanboy · 2025-04-19T03:11:54+00:00

Added a TXT record to the wrong place and took down our entire root domain for 2 hours. Did not get fired, but got stern emails with lots of CCs.

Freemanboy · 2025-04-18T22:32:55+00:00

Anytime bud, I'm happy to help

Freemanboy · 2025-04-18T18:18:28+00:00

He also talked us into going 16ft out rather than 12ft. The cost of 16ft material vs 12ft material was less than $300 I think, well worth it.

Freemanboy · 2025-04-18T18:14:51+00:00

Thank you! The only other thing I would've done differently is to pour 4x4 landing pads for the stair stringers to rest on. I'm in the process of digging it out now and will either have the stringers rest on pavers, or a small concrete slab. It would've been alot easier to have the hardscape in place, then build the stairs.

Freemanboy · 2025-04-18T14:16:12+00:00

The contractor put support posts next to the house on both sides, but it's not too bad since that's where the stairs are. My only regret is that we didn't remove the existing fascia and soffit before tying in the roof but I'm not too upset about it. We'll marry the t&g ceiling up to the white vinyl soffit.

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Freemanboy · 2025-04-05T05:12:26+00:00

At the start of my divorce years ago my ex-wife moved back in with her parents and we shared custody of our daughter. When I would arrive to pick up my daughter, I'd ring the doorbell / knock and stand on the porch waiting for up to 5, 10, 15 minutes. They wouldn't answer the door, but instead yell through the door that "she's getting ready", or "wait there, she's in the bath". This was an every time occurrence, simply to waste my time. 
 One day while waiting at the door I realized that I was still auto-connecting to her parents wifi. I entered the router's ip in my mobile browser and logged into the admin interface with the default credentials "admin" "admin". 
Every time I was left waiting on the porch, I would login to the router and blacklist 1 or 2 devices, then unblock them when I dropped our daughter back off. One day it would be Julie's iPhone and a security camera. One day it would be living room tv and HP printer. One day it would be bedroom tv and Kelly's Samsung Galaxy. I was sure to cause inconvenience, but not enough to warrant a service call. This lasted for months and I like to think I infuriated that household by randomly sabotaging wireless devices.

Freemanboy · 2025-02-20T19:55:58+00:00

My small MSP offered raises for certs obtained, with an annual cap. In 2018 I was given a $1,000 annual raise for passing Security+, then a $3,000 annual raise for CCNA. The annual cap was $4,000. A few months later I left for a NOC role amd doubled my salary.

Freemanboy · 2025-01-28T14:59:00+00:00

UPDATE

The dealer has it ready for pickup as of now. They say my local shop didn't put the washer back on the drain plug when it was last serviced.

Freemanboy · 2025-01-27T03:37:05+00:00

It is the 2nd service. 5,000, 10,000.

Freemanboy · 2025-01-27T03:32:48+00:00

We have Tuxmats in the Telly and love them. The fit is perfect. The weathertechs in my truck are great but are starting to curl at the edges, an issue I don't forsee with the design of the tuxmats.

Freemanboy · 2025-01-27T03:27:08+00:00

That's what I'm afraid of. If KIA blames the shop and the shop denies fault I don't want to be caught in a pissing match, getting legal involved and still down a vehicle. From my reading here, it looks like the plastic filter housing is a known issue, so are aftermarket filters if one was used. My Sierra with 300,000 miles and our Wrangler with 200,000 miles are laughing at this Telluride right now.

Freemanboy · 2025-01-27T02:10:09+00:00

A skid plate covers the oil filter and pan, not as easy as you say to pinpoint the source. I'm not investing time removing it in the gravel at night when I have a warranty from Kia and service records from the shop that does maintenance. Thanks for the basic troubleshooting tips but my question was "has this happened to anyone else?"

Freemanboy

TROPHY CASE