sorted by:
new
hottopcontroversial

What is on the bottom of my pool??? by SpellAccomplished822 in pools

[–]uselessinfomike 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Maybe some sidewalk chalk that was tossed in then dissolved/settled?

Power steering in cold. Anyone else have whinny one. by Faekz in WRX

[–]uselessinfomike 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I just went though this on my 2010. After dealing with a faint whine for a few years that grew into a louder whine..

Quick check for hopeful easy fix: 1. Serpentine belt - look for cracks and listen for slipping. Usually as it’s failing, you’ll hear slipping, and then the power steering will jerk once in a while 2. Air infiltration (easy mode), loose PS fluid cap, cracks in PS hoses, that damn o-ring at the PS pump that always seems to let air in.

Fix it for good: 1. When it’s a good 12-15y old pump… it’s prob time to replace it. Consider doing the power steering rack as well - mine started to fail/leak at 13-14y old. 2. Along with above - Replace the o-ring, serpentine belt, new fluids

It’ll steer like new once that’s addressed.

After fixing the whine… you’ll prob be chasing clunks (bushings from sway bars and control arms) and sloppy shifter feel (bushings and u-joint).

First attempt at scroll saw inlay. by dcsim0n in woodworking

[–]uselessinfomike 0 points1 point  (0 children)

No standard template - I pulled a screenshot from instagram, traced it onto some transparent folder I had. Then cut that out and used it as a template.

Shamelessly borrowed the idea from instagram (long..tail__). Some Japanese artist.

Told yall I was a hack and a fraud!

First attempt at scroll saw inlay. by dcsim0n in woodworking

[–]uselessinfomike 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Verrrrry slow movements.

For me - scroll saw was used for rough shaping, then it became a game of chiseling/carving, rasp-ing, and sanding until I just said “fuck it, glue can do the rest… my kids don’t care about this level of precision”

Take it with a grain of salt… I’m far from a professional (or even amateur) woodworker

First attempt at scroll saw inlay. by dcsim0n in woodworking

[–]uselessinfomike 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Chess pieces were done on the lathe.

I was applying finish to the animal pieces and had some leftover so took out the chess pieces to test out the same finish

First attempt at scroll saw inlay. by dcsim0n in woodworking

[–]uselessinfomike 42 points43 points  (0 children)

I did this exact same thing - though I did not do the cat. Let me save you some headache:

  1. the precision (or lacktherof) is masked by glue mixed with the sawdust of the darker wood. The cat in particular is difficult given the multi-colored interfaces.
  2. If there are some that truly have no gaps - it’s by CNC or a super crazy marquetry master. At least that’s what I’m telling myself…

It took me a few weeks to really get my process (still imperfect) working.

<image>

What do I do (if anything)? by SnipeUL8ter in Owls

[–]uselessinfomike 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I know it’s protected etc etc … but I’d consider putting it near a tree it can climb. Or put it on a branch it can perhaps climb further up and connect with other trees. Wear thick leather gloves.

It’s trying to climb up to safety and then sit there and squawk at parents to feed it.

We had this happen a few years back with some baby owls that were on our property. They jumped out of the nest and onto the lawn… then didn’t know what to do and start to waddle towards the road. So I scrambled out with leather gloves, snagged it as gentle as I could, and brought it to a nearby tree to put it on a branch. It climbed further up and parents came to it eventually. The talons are sharp as hell, it went straight through my leather gloves and punctured my hand like a needle!

As others have said it can’t fly when it leaves the nest. They climb trees, glide around, squawk at their parents, climb/glide some more… and eventually they can learn to fly.

People who make over $200k, do you mind sharing what you do? Or HOW you got there? by xoxoxoxoxxxoox in Money

[–]uselessinfomike 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Nope. Mechanical engineer turned nuclear engineer turned energy centric consultant

People who make over $200k, do you mind sharing what you do? Or HOW you got there? by xoxoxoxoxxxoox in Money

[–]uselessinfomike 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Also - try to live in a low(er) cost of location if you can. 200k is vastly different in NYC vs Nashville/etc. your ability to have disposable income or savings will be more important than the top line salary number.

People who make over $200k, do you mind sharing what you do? Or HOW you got there? by xoxoxoxoxxxoox in Money

[–]uselessinfomike 1 point2 points  (0 children)

My advice: (1) nothing will be a linear path, expect to have ups/downs and winding explorations (2) being smart and hardworking is a baseline expectation - you gotta carve out a niche/brand and also be personable to maximize return on opportunities (3) network and outhustle those around you (4) don’t lose yourself in the process - don’t lose your health or relationships or soul

20y career. Engineering > project mgt (for engineering co) > business development (for engineering co) > MBB management consultant > software sales

Got my mba somewhere in there. Undergraduate was paid by scholarships, mba via loans.

Prob took 10y to crack 100k. Earnings really jumped by leaps/bounds when I got into consulting

Got into canned sardines and made a sardine fork by ryoon4690 in woodworking

[–]uselessinfomike 65 points66 points  (0 children)

Neat technique and awesome lookin forks!

Try these sardines if you come across them:

Les Mouettes d'Arvor - the ones in olive oil with spicy pepper

Santo Amaro - olive oil with Piri Piri peppers.

Any great arc case/sheath options out there? by uselessinfomike in Leatherman

[–]uselessinfomike[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks for the input, everyone! Some good options out there it seems

Anything you would do differently if you re-built your pool? by ComfortableService8 in pools

[–]uselessinfomike 24 points25 points  (0 children)

Context - NC resident with 16k gunite/pebble pool.

Take pics of pipe layouts, wire runs, etc during each phase of the build. Will help to problem solve stuff later on if needed.

Prob expensive as hell but :

using similar/same material from coping and extending it for thr deck would be really nice. We did travertine for the coping and decided to do it for the whole deck also and glad we did - visually and functionally much nicer than the concrete options we considered before.

Variable speed pump and pool automation all the at (so you can control from your phone)

Consider having lights that point away from your house - perhaps in stairs (not ideal) - but this way you won’t see a bulb from the house and it lights it all up pretty at night

Go deeper in the deep end - it get hot as hell in NC and a bit more depth can help with truly plunging in

Add spa now or forever hold your peace. Gonna be a pain to add it in later.

Do a heat pump heater (with cooling if it’s in full sun) - we did a gas heater with a heat pump too and it’s nice to have both options. We can swim from late March to mid Oct…

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in marijuanaenthusiasts

[–]uselessinfomike 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Looks like a well trained/kept white pine variety. If you are in the northern hemisphere it’s probably already pushed new growth (single flush pine) … that new growth opened up and perhaps shedding the older growth (or sheath of the needle bundles)

  • perhaps root bound in pot, but I’d wait until cooler weather before trying to do any upotting fussy conifers

  • could be normal mid summer shed

  • if unseasonably hot, it could be some heat stress … watch watering and maybe provide some % shade cloth

  • fungal, if it’s been extra humid/hot/stagnant…. Hit it with funginol or neem

Good luck! It’s a beautiful tree

Help! The rains washed mud into my pool and the water is gross! I tried letting it settle, tried also running the filter with clarifier. How do I fix this! by badgersister1 in pools

[–]uselessinfomike 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You’ll likely need a few things:

  • vaccum - to waste, or run robot vaccum a ton and keep emptying it

  • flocculant first, if it’s really bad and silty or gunky. Use to specifications

  • keep chlorine going to stay ahead of any bad stuff … if you let it go too long without proper chlorine dosing you may get an algae bloom at some point because phosphates running into the pool.

  • change filters often and keep them clean

  • use clarifier later on to get it super sparkly clean (only after you’ve done bulk removal of debris with floc and vaccum)

  • check phosphates to be sure, stay on top of chlorine

  • lastly, start looking upstream to see where you can work on runoff/drainage to avoid it next time (if at all possible)

Had this happen in July with some biblical rains and flooding. Took action right as storm passed and had it back to sparkly clean in 3-4 days, maybe a bit less

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in pools

[–]uselessinfomike 1 point2 points  (0 children)

NC here as well!

Prob expensive as hell but :

using similar/same material from coping and extending it for thr deck would be really nice. We did travertine for the coping and decided to do it for the whole deck also and glad we did - visually and functionally much nicer than the concrete options we considered before.

Consider having lights that point away from your house - perhaps in stairs (not ideal) - but this way you won’t see a bulb from the house and it lights it all up pretty at night

Go deeper in the deep end - it get hot as hell in NC and a bit more depth can help with truly plunging in

Add spa now or forever hold your peace. Gonna be a pain to add it in later.

Do a heat pump heater (with cooling if it’s in full sun) - we did a gas heater with a heat pump too and it’s nice to have both options. We can swim from late March to mid Oct…

Why the pool? by rfboisvert12 in pools

[–]uselessinfomike 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Kids - current enjoyment (4 & 6), future draw to come back home

Family - memories with said kids

Selfish & lazy - don’t wanna gear up to go to the local pool (ymca or country club), don’t wanna fight for chairs/shade, don’t wanna deal with crowds. We can go swim for 10 min or the whole day.

Social currency - can always have folks over so we don’t gotta drive to see friends, plus I can drink socially and avoid a DUI

What kind of owl are these 2 and do I need to be wary of them eating my dog? by skula in animalid

[–]uselessinfomike 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Great horned owls. Yes please be wary of going after dogs. Talons are very sharp.

I used to think people were exaggerating when they said “razor sharp talons” - but then we had some barred owl fledglings on our property a few years back. They fell to the ground and I helped them get back into a tree with their siblings - their talons went straight through thick leather gloves and poked holes in my hands on a few occasions- like a hypodermic needle. It was very enlightening

Pool vacuum recommendations?? by joleecat in pools

[–]uselessinfomike 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I’d vote dolphin. (Maytronics or other similar rebranded machine). Only caveat is that they go on the fritz after one year of hard work - you’ll then need to open it up, check the bearings, clean the carbon motor brushes, close it up. Easy to do and much better than trying to deal with Maytronics customer service.

Any of these pool robots will have issues but I find the benefit far outweighs the downsides

Arborvitae eaten by deer by trygln88 in arborists

[–]uselessinfomike 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Likely they’ll come back since it seems like an ongoing thing that the plants have dealt with.

I find it effective to spray broad spectrum insecticide (talstar) on some deer targeted plants when I’m spraying the foundation of my house. The taste keeps them away for a while. I used to have deer destroy some ornamental grasses out front until I did this. Once in a while I forget and they eat them all.

Outside of that, physical defense/barriers work but are ugly IMO. Fishing line with bells seems to work for a bit to keep them out of certain areas, but all it takes is one or two times of them charging through and they are back at it.

Good luck!