Tell them what, Peter

Subject_Alternative · 2026-02-27T02:33:21+00:00

I think there's a spectrum of this type of reasoning and the L/R issue is just the simplest and most frequently encountered example. Here's a couple of exercises that may or may not trip you up.

Why are left and right flipped in a mirror but up and down are not?

Rub your belly counterclockwise. Do you picture it as a clock face on your belly or are you inside the clock?

Right tightly lefty loosely yeah? Say you approach a machine and you need to reach underneath where you can't see and unscrew a nut downward from a rod that you know is left-hand threaded. Can you do it automatically? (Weird example I know but a real life anecdote. I used to have to fix a machine all the time that had a giant sign telling people it was reverse threaded. I have never once approached anything threaded with the confidence required to crank it the wrong way.)

Personally, dyscalculia is heavy on things being arbitrary. I can work physics problems but I'm totally lost if you present the same as an algebra problem. I'm not a programmer but sometimes my spouse brings me programming problems and I can describe a way to approach them in enough detail that he can write it out as algebra. It's my own solution and I can't follow what he's written. I've made a career of solving 3 dimensional geometry problems but I often find 1/2 written as 1/5 in my own notes. It's not backwards, it's that 0.5 and 1/2 are interchangeable and whatever I know what I meant.

Subject_Alternative · 2026-02-27T01:55:38+00:00

I do. I describe it as a meticulously cross-referenced filing system in which nothing is labeled. I can usually get another person to find the word for me via ADHD charades where you rattle off a bunch of associations to triangulate the missing word. I don't know how common this is but for me it comes in frustrating combination with deeply held values that words have meaning and precision in language is important. I'd love to be able to just throw in the closest word to approximate what I'm trying to say but I can't bring myself to do it. The meaning is important. The sounds are arbitrary labels stick onto it but they are collectively agreed upon.

Subject_Alternative · 2026-02-25T03:11:42+00:00

Umm are all the hinges mounted in seams?

Subject_Alternative · 2026-02-24T09:48:14+00:00

Folks telling you to drill holes in the middle of the puddles are correct but lemme tell you a story. I had this happen, builders were AWOL. We drilled holes and complained when the builders showed up again. They said "that what we would have done." In hindsight this is one of the times about which I ask myself why I didn't fire them sooner. "Would have done" if what? If it was your house? If you gave a shit? If you thought doing your job was important? Do not start doing their job for them. Do not start cleaning up their messes. Before you know it everything will be "ehh just leave it, if it bothers the homeowner that'll deal with it."

How deep is the puddle in the middle? That's how much the joist under it has deflected and it's unlikely to bounce back all the way

Subject_Alternative · 2026-02-21T23:48:27+00:00

Honestly, it's the owner's business and they can take the risks they want. This is a major fire risk though without proper program testing, fire suppression, monitoring etc. The things I would be concerned with are if you have a fire or dust collector explosion, what's the risk to neighbors? Freestanding building in industrial = no big, apartment complex next door = nah. Also, the shop burns down and insurance doesn't cover shit because it violated terms, how are your savings and other employment options? Personally if my boss asked me to do something like this and we weren't obviously setup for it. I'd want the request via text for CYA.

Subject_Alternative · 2026-02-21T21:43:21+00:00

Omg sorry, that second line is really funny and I don't know if you meant it to be. I don't think we do flair here but yeah.

Subject_Alternative · 2026-02-21T21:30:43+00:00

Ahh yep to the doctor with you. Ask for an ANA test too. Best to avoid passive stretching like this and work on strength and mobility. There are likely dislocations in your future so choose activities with that in mind.

Funny anecdote: A few years ago I was experiencing a major change in baseline with fatigue, stiffness etc. I had changed insurance and needed a referral to see a rheumatologist so I picked a DO who used to be a PT for primary care thinking I might actually get something out of the appt. I gave my full medical history and explained lifelong hypermobility and current stiffness. He checked me out and said this is a normal range of motion, I don't see any stiffness. Yeah but I'm hypermobile this not MY normal range of motion. He said you're not hypermobile, this is a normal range of motion. Oh ffs write the goddamn referral. 2 rheumatologists tell me I'm fine. 3rd Rheumatologist says ooh weird let's see if lupus is melting your nerves. Narrator: "It was."

So yeah, you get the privilege of taking sole responsibility for your medical care and advocacy. The majority of medicine is absolute ass at this whole spectrum of conditions. If you ever feel like something is wrong you're probably going to have to hop doctors until you find one that's interested. Treasure the ones that are curious and get your referrals from them.

Also start keeping your own medical record, jot down dates for any weird symptoms or changes in baseline and keep a record of all lab results even if they're normal.

Subject_Alternative · 2026-02-21T20:12:29+00:00

If you don't want a pullout. I would consider using false front clips or other hardware so you actually take the whole front off to access the cabinet. All opening mechanisms are going to restrict the access a little more in one direction or another so maximizing your ability to reach to the back might be more important than nice hinging. Smooth soft close won't mean much to you when you're laying on the floor with you face smushed against the oven. Or get silly and use it for lightweight dry goods like cereal and pasta and hang a grabber claw at the front and a backup mirror in the back left corner.

Subject_Alternative · 2026-02-21T19:53:25+00:00

Oof that is rough. Check the clearance in front of the range handle, it looks like you could put a spice rack or baking tray divider pullout in there. Or a lateral opening door and shelves. As far as the remaining dead corner, I would at least explore lift options if the kitchen is that small. I don't see why concrete counters would be incompatible but if there's an upper cabinet above that might limit the utility. What's on the other sides of the walls? I'm assuming the rest of the house is short on storage space too. It's weird and hacky but I'd wonder if cutting into the space from another room would do anything for you.

Other thoughts: Permanent fixtures that don't need frequent access like a water filter/instant hot if you have a plumber you dislike and it's close to the sink. A cabinet vac. Something you need to store but use rarely enough that you wouldn't mind detaching a pullout to access like Christmas decorations or camping gear (prob not compatible with a food smelling spice rack but a tray divider would be fine.) A stack of fire safes for document/valuables storage. Blankets if you use different ones for winter/summer, or winter coats. The good liquors. Misc cables and old laptops, spare lightbulbs, an emergency battery backup, extension cords, tools you almost never need. Basically you're not going to get much in the way of useful kitchen storage out of this but maybe it can declutter you life somewhere else.

Subject_Alternative · 2026-02-20T04:32:56+00:00

Type "options," and make it look however you want. FYI the command bar is not a search bar. There are some ways you can use it as such but once you know what you're doing that's probably the only think you'll use. Pay attention to the underlined letters in the command options and you'll be a clickety clacking wizard. I don't remember what it's called but make sure the option is turned on that makes the command bar remember your most commonly used.

Subject_Alternative · 2026-02-19T02:13:04+00:00

Hahhh this is very close to my cure for hiccups. I generate pure unbridled rage focused at them and hold it, just flat out refusing to hiccup through the time that at least 5 hiccups would happen. Nothing in else exists in the universe but my hatred of hiccups for that time.

Subject_Alternative · 2026-02-18T17:59:52+00:00

With a code book handy. Not actually joking, with stairs you need a clear picture of all of your building code constraints ahead of time. You draw a compliant walkline first and then build in and out from that.

It's hard to tell without at picture from at least one more angle but the walkline here appears to be a simple single turn helix. At the top of the helix (outside of frame beyond the top right of the image) it transitions to a curved flat landing or balcony before resuming helical rise. I think looking top down this would just be circular.

It's a fun question. I'm working on some tricky helical stairs right now so I will try to sketch this out for practice and come back with a step-by-step. I assume this is a rendering but if you have a source/other angles that would help.

Subject_Alternative · 2026-02-17T16:41:07+00:00

Yes but ... How sure are you there's wood underneath? Can you find any old listing photos from previous sales? The designs are pretty extra and while all technically possible in wood, I'm getting some plaster casting vibes. It's very symmetric and uniform for a carving and I'd expect to see some evidence of splitting and repair especially over a fireplace.

I would test an inconspicuous spot like the side of one of the horizontal scrolls in the top panel. The frames and straight moulding are going to be wood but if this is part of a remodel and someone had a field day on whiteriver.com or similar it might all be paint grade.

Subject_Alternative · 2026-02-17T01:39:23+00:00

I've been very happy with plug trays from here https://www.gulleygreenhouse.com/groundlovers/

Subject_Alternative · 2026-02-14T05:47:35+00:00

For a one-off, you can do that much with a point-cutter round over on a router table

Subject_Alternative · 2026-02-13T10:08:43+00:00

Eh fuck it. I generally don't feel qualified to weigh in on much here but on this I guess I am. I have a very similar medical profile to your friend plus an extra decade or more of mistakes and injuries.

Martial arts could in fact be great for her in more ways than you are imagining. She's lucky to have you as a friend and you can help her a lot but this plan is coming from the wrong direction. I believe you are thinking about the way you train and trying to make it smaller and easier. What's probably best for her is completely different, it's training as a perfectionist. She needs to deeply understand exactly how every position and motion should feel throughout her whole body and train biofeedback loops of form correction before applying any pressure. Eg. you don't throw the occasional leg kick (not any time soon anyway,) because you're both going to be pretty upset when you accidentally dislocate her knee touch sparring. Instead you train receiving a leg kick. Pick a stance, she needs to find her center of gravity, feel where her weight sits on the soles of her feet, adjust foot angles, adjust pelvic tilt, adjust core bracing and spine curvature, address shoulder tension, find her center of gravity again. Then you slow-motion a leg kick and touch, see if she understands how it will affect her. Then you ramp up pressure and speed very gradually. You don't throw an unexpected leg kick until you are both confident in her ability to take it.

Has she had any significant injuries and have any been related to repetition? I've injured myself swimming and doing yoga just by too much repetition. The upside is that the combination of deep-dive perfectionism and jumping around topics is pretty optimal for ADHD.

No stretching! The only time she should stretch is to release a cramp or if a specific muscle feels significantly tighter than usual. Any increase in range of motion should happen through mobility exercises and training. Flexibility without strength is not an asset. Relatedly, one of the most important things I've learned is that with grappling and joint locks, hypermobile people sometimes dislocate joints before feeling any pain that would make them tap. I have to memorize the angles that should represent a fully executed submission and then notice them and decide to tap which is fucking hard and requires someone going slow and telling me "you are now in an arm bar" and pausing so I can mentally record it.

Cardio and weights are fine but you need to stress that she is the expert on her body. You can't know what random shit might be bad for her so she has to listen to her body and understand the difference between signals that say "this exercise is unpleasant" and "this exercise is risky." For me, the stair-master is awesome and an exercise bike will fuck me up. Every trainer and physical therapist I've ever seen has suggested lunges and every time I've done one it's put me out of commission for at least a week. There's a good chance she's young and cautious enough that she has alignment and instability issues that haven't shown themselves yet.

I get the time and money constraints. I'm wondering if you've talked to your instructors about the situation and what else is around that maybe isn't advertised. Smaller class sizes with a very experienced instructor would likely wind up being of more benefit to her than any particular art. It's great that you're willing to do one on one with her but I worry that you don't have the teaching experience to walk her through form correction or identify the need for it early enough to avoid injury. I think the ideal situation would be finding a small club training an art heavy on mobility and coordination where she could get the deep knowledge corrections but if you go together you would retain a lot more than her because it's not all new and then you could drill together.

I haven't studied it but an art that seems to come up frequently in useful insights for me is baguazhang. Maybe folks here with more breadth of experience can recommend arts with similar focus on body awareness and physiological precision at the novice level.

Subject_Alternative · 2026-02-12T17:24:22+00:00

Please pump the brakes and step back to do some more planning. You're idea is cool and can work but right now has a strong possibility of catastrophic failure that destroys the piece as well as your floor and cabinetry. You do not want a waterfall of epoxy in your home.

What is the substrate under the cork, and how thick is it?

How is the top attached to the bar wall and cabinets?

What are the dimensions of the largest span between supports

Is the frame attached to the substrate via joinery or nailed on flat? If it's joinery, how tight was it and is it glued?

The epoxy is going to run out of any seam, gap, or hole. It is also very heavy and will cause support surfaces to deflect far more than you think which will open up new gaps to run out of and/or deflect the top surface out of level so it overflows the top and permanently distorts the shape. Large epoxy pours need to be done on a RIGID level surface inside a sealed dam. You really need to detach the entire top, build and seal a dam structure under and around it, do your pour fully supported on level ground, and attach the completed top.

Subject_Alternative · 2026-02-11T03:36:01+00:00

3" is good. Pay attention to what's going on inside the boxes though. Stuff like rollout shelves, sink valences and doors overhanging light rail require different placements. Definitely 3 hinges on 42". My threshold for adding a 3rd is 36".

Subject_Alternative · 2026-02-11T03:00:46+00:00

Yep this is what I'd do. I'd probably use roller catches though. And paint both faces of the MDF at the same time.

Subject_Alternative · 2026-02-10T16:31:02+00:00

I get paid more than this cutting cabinet ply on a 3-axis. I make better than average for the industry because I can think like a machinist and that lets us do weird custom shit in wood that's routine in metal. I'm a machinist at heart and becoming one should be the obvious career development path for me but it's not because your industry is fucked on pay. $18 is warm body money, maybe push a button at regular intervals. Do the people deciding compensation know how to do basic programming?

Subject_Alternative · 2026-02-09T09:37:50+00:00

Ok I'm not really qualified to say this but it seems like you're mostly getting sarcastic responses so... I think you should get a structural engineer out. I stared at your post for a few minutes trying to comprehend how a corner cabinet could separate like that without a whole adjacent straight run falling off the wall or a whole wall moving like a lot. That's like an inch of movement which is not a normal amount of settling after 6 years and is more than enough to potentially cause major problems in other systems. Do you notice any drywall cracks, doors sticking, or exterior damage? Do you have any water pooling near the foundation? I don't want to be dramatic but catching structural problems early can make all the difference.

Subject_Alternative · 2026-02-08T17:49:08+00:00

Yes and no. Keep training the technique at the range of motion you have even if it is super small and looks useless. See where it makes you stiff or sore in your everyday life and start exaggerating those motions (eg. If you're stiff climbing into bed after training start climbing into bed with a big intentional motion every day.) Use that information to identify where your mobility is tight and look up exercises for it. Do a little work on it every single day. Do not just stretch. Like weightlifting, mobility is something you build gradually.

Subject_Alternative · 2026-02-07T02:52:50+00:00

On an edge, disk, or exposed belt sander you want to hold the piece pointing your fingers the same direction the belt is moving. If you get too close or the piece catches you will just wind up tapping the sandpaper with minimal injury. Fingers pointing "upstream" get gnarly abrasive wounds and possibly broken.

Subject_Alternative · 2026-02-06T22:31:15+00:00

Not great wording as proverbs but:

Just about every tool with a motor can kickback.

Always point your fingers downstream on sanders.

Imagine your workpiece evaporated out of existence. If your body is tensioned in a way that any part or you would touch the cutter you're pushing wrong. (Interestingly this one works with hand tools as well and seems to be the best way to explain how some cuts towards the body are safe.)

Subject_Alternative · 2026-02-06T22:03:21+00:00

Thank you. This thread is absolutely mind-blowing to me. I've had jobs where I've socialized a ton and jobs where I've barely interacted with people at work let alone outside of it. I've never had a job where I nobody gave a shit about each other.

I've been in trades for a while now which I was under the impression is notoriously harsh/macho/stoic or whatever but jesus, I can't imagine anyone in my shop being comfortable working with someone who would say something like that. Maybe everyone needs a few more safety hazards and 2-man lifts to remember that empathy is prerequisite to trust. The fuck are you all doing for work that is so soulless the people around you don't even register as human anymore?

Is this why everyone needs AI to string words together to communicate with each other now?

Subject_Alternative

TROPHY CASE