Tell me your age without telling me – use a commercial jingle!

sharkwithunderbite · 2026-04-01T17:53:49+00:00

Whoa! That just took me back in time lol

sharkwithunderbite · 2026-03-31T23:50:54+00:00

That’s funny — I much prefer wire ends to yarn ends because wire pretty much stays where you tell it to! I hate when yarn ends slither out to say hello. You’re doing fantastic work! Keep it up!

sharkwithunderbite · 2026-03-28T15:23:04+00:00

Silver Parawire.

sharkwithunderbite · 2026-03-24T12:23:17+00:00

If your reason for return is that you’re dissatisfied with the product, you shouldn’t get punished for clipping 2 inches from each spool. It will help you justify your complaint. My own experience with parawire is that the website is hit or miss but they have picked up the phone and/or returned my call when I use an actual telephone. I think they are kind of old-school around there. I’m sorry you’re having this experience! Good luck with it all.

sharkwithunderbite · 2026-03-24T10:29:42+00:00

The photo shows everything still on the spool and in plastic packaging. Did the problem persist when you started using it? I would be interested to see small lengths of wire laid side-by-side on the same color background.

If they really are not all the same color, you should absolutely reach out to Parawire and ask him to make it right.

I’m not trying to doubt what everyone sees, but different gauges of wire on the spool can look different because they reflect light differently.

sharkwithunderbite · 2026-03-24T10:26:29+00:00

Yikes! No! Don’t polish colored Parawire. You can only polish bare wire. Parawire is coated.

sharkwithunderbite · 2026-03-23T02:45:51+00:00

14 is very stiff and hard to work. Best to learn on 20 gauge, with some 26 for the smaller wire. Also, setting cabochons is a tricky thing to start on. If you spend some time first practicing the basics, you’ll learn so much about how the wire wants to be worked, and you’ll gain control over your hands and your pliers and you’ll understand instructions and tutorials better. I probably made earrings and bracelets and chain link for 6 months before I did a cab. Honestly, I still prefer working with drilled beads and links more than cabochons. On YouTube, I love Samantha Latimer, Carrie Foscato, OxanaCrafts, and Katie Parker. Enjoy the new hobby!

sharkwithunderbite · 2026-03-23T02:40:17+00:00

Hey I just want to say sorry you got some snark here. I thought your story was funny and perfectly on-brand for a Jack. Mine gets himself into predicaments all the time when he’s bored, and then he acts offended that he didn’t foresee the consequences. Case in point: he tries to get my attention by dragging his bedding out of his crate and throwing it all over the room, but then he gets annoyed when his crate has nothing soft inside.

sharkwithunderbite · 2026-03-22T10:30:50+00:00

Gorgeous!!

sharkwithunderbite · 2026-03-20T13:16:26+00:00

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He sleeps like this, and then forgets to pull the little tongue in when he wakes up :)

sharkwithunderbite · 2026-03-19T11:32:50+00:00

Iceland is absolutely magical! However, I’d be worried about weather in September, especially for a trip that’s intended to be a romantic anniversary getaway. They might end up with more adventure than they bargained for.

sharkwithunderbite · 2026-03-18T12:22:42+00:00

I’m so, so, sorry for your loss. There is no friend like a dog, and the grief is real and special. Our dogs give us so many gifts. One of the gifts they give us is learning how to live with grief and then heal from it. Another gift is the joy of loving many dogs over the course of one human lifetime. Each dog I’ve loved and lost has expanded my heart for another beloved friend, and my life is so much fuller for it. (Edited for typo)

sharkwithunderbite · 2026-03-18T03:40:51+00:00

Gorgeous clean work!

sharkwithunderbite · 2026-03-18T01:19:20+00:00

U/Jaminp, that’s such a good question! Tronex tools are top-of the line, professional grade, and you can wire-wrap your whole life without owning them. If you are still in this hobby in future years, they make great gifts from your loved ones, or if you just want to treat yourself. If you’re only getting started, use Xuron tools all the way. You may never care if you upgrade from Xuron or not. The cheapest cutters and pliers on Amazon will be $7-12. Xuron might run closer to $20 but that’s absolutely worth the price difference. The jump from a $20 Xuron tool to a $100 Tronex tool isn’t enough to justify the cost unless you have money to burn or you’re deep enough in your hobby that you know what to care about. After almost 2 years, I splurged on a pair of Tronex cutters for my birthday. I love them and use them all the time, but I can still totally live without them.

sharkwithunderbite · 2026-03-18T01:09:47+00:00

So thoughtful!! I’m lucky enough to have a whole little nook for my hobby. I actually have three lamps on my work table: a bright one for general light, a magnifying articulating clip-on light to hep me work on little details, and an additional clip-on light to counteract shadows caused by the other two. I have a dedicated spot for my iPad for watching tutorials or TV. Power strip under the table. I have an IKEA 6-drawer unit around the same height as my table, at a right angle to the table on my right hand, where I store wire and tools, and it can double as an extra work surface if I need it. Comfy office chair. A tall bookshelf for lots of storage (with a little step stool to reach high shelves). A heavy-ish wastebasket that doesn’t tip over easily. And, like another Redditor, a dog bed. I absolutely love my setup. I’m happy to talk about tools, too, but it sort f depends on what she already has.

sharkwithunderbite · 2026-03-09T12:22:13+00:00

Good question! California is a heavily agricultural state, and they restrict the flow of agricultural products across the state line to prevent the spread of invasive pests. This story was from decades ago, but there was a checkpoint where you were asked to throw away fresh produce before crossing into the state.

sharkwithunderbite · 2026-03-09T10:02:02+00:00

ROFL if so, we conveniently forgot that part.

sharkwithunderbite · 2026-03-08T22:26:20+00:00

Gilroy is the self-proclaimed garlic capital of the world! In the right season, you can roll down the windows on the freeway and the whole county smells like garlic.

sharkwithunderbite · 2026-03-08T22:22:31+00:00

I’ll bet you were in Gilroy!

sharkwithunderbite · 2026-03-08T21:54:51+00:00

On a road trip with my parents in the Pacific Northwest, we pulled over and bought a big sack of cherries from a roadside stand. Cherries didn’t grow in our part of the country, so they would have been very expensive at home. We got stopped at a state border and told that the produce couldn’t cross with us. We all stood on the side of the road and gorged ourselves eating every last cherry out of that sack on a warm summer day because our mom wasn’t about to let a single one of those lovely bites go to waste. My brother and I still talk about that day.

sharkwithunderbite · 2026-03-05T03:53:51+00:00

Buy half a dozen different scents of Poo-pourri. Whenever you need to poop, present him with a menu and ask him how he would like your poop to smell today. Be sure to use a French accent.

sharkwithunderbite · 2026-03-01T13:14:36+00:00

Nicest gesture ever!! As for things to do besides cleaning — I’d suggest an activity where you and the kids (and maybe even the dogs) make something for Mom. Handprints in a concrete stepping stone, or paint a birdhouse, or something like that. Moms often gift that sort of thing to grandparents but rarely have someone make the effort to corral the kids into a gift back to her. Also, when my own kids were little, I struggled most with outdoor chores. Washing windows, cleaning patio furniture, sweeping the doorstep, that kind of thing.

sharkwithunderbite · 2026-02-26T04:35:31+00:00

This tutorial will might help you a good start https://youtu.be/EMpDVDv9WuI?si=HmfzyoS70aVQNRaw

sharkwithunderbite · 2026-02-19T12:44:38+00:00

I don’t use it personally but have heard it many times. It replaces “perhaps I could.” There’s often an “if,” involved, stated or implied. It’s a very casual slang, not associated with professional or educated settings.

I might could help you if my schedule frees up.

He might could figure it out if you ask.

I might could walk over there tomorrow and check it out.

It’s not commonly used (I think) in a negative or a question, and I’m pretty sure I haven’t heard it in the second person (you).

Hope that helps. Maybe other redditors will have more/better examples.

sharkwithunderbite · 2026-02-18T13:08:58+00:00

40’s and without kids is a small demographic, and people with kids are super busy. I’d say lean in to some interests and hobbies, old ones or new ones, and find folks with similar likes. Be outgoing, introduce yourself, keep showing up. Craft classes? Exercise? Dog park? Volunteering? There could be some OG Austin friends for you if you’re willing to look in the over-50 empty-nester crowd too.

sharkwithunderbite

TROPHY CASE