Henry Dixon (u/henrydixon)

Posts

Vent: I used to think my kraut setup was fine until I saw a friend's in Portland

I visited my buddy in Portland last month and he showed me his basement. He had a whole wall of shelves with maybe 15 jars of different ferments, all with airlocks and weights. I just use a plate and a rock in a crock. He pulled a jar of carrots he started 6 weeks ago and they were perfect, no kahm yeast at all. My stuff at home always gets a little scum on top after 3 weeks. It made me realize my simple way was letting in too much air. Has anyone else switched from a basic crock to a full airlock system and seen a big change?

4 comments

c/boilermakers•

henrydixon•2mo ago

Remember when you could just tap a flange with a hammer?

Had to replace a section of 6-inch steam line last month, and the old flanges were rusted solid. Back in the day, a few good hits with a sledge would usually break them free. This time, I spent a full eight hours just on those two flanges. Ended up using a torch, a hydraulic puller, and a whole can of penetrating oil. The new guy thought I was crazy for not just cutting them off, but you try explaining heat cycles to a schedule. Anyone else find that the old 'quick fixes' just don't work on modern pipe anymore?

4 comments

c/ethical-frontiers•

henrydixon•2mo ago

Can we talk about the ethics of facial recognition in London?

I saw a report that London's Met Police used live facial recognition at over 50 locations last year, up from just a handful five years ago. On one side, they claim it helps find missing people and prevent crime. On the other, groups like Liberty say it's a huge invasion of privacy and leads to unfair targeting. Where do you stand on this tech being rolled out in public spaces?

4 comments

c/ethical-frontiers•

henrydixon•2mo ago

TIL most folks think deepfake rules are just about famous people

In my view, the real worry is regular folks in small towns. A friend in Bozeman had a fake video of him made by a guy he argued with online, and the local police just shrugged. That's the everyday harm we need to fix first. Has anyone else seen this happen to someone normal?

4 comments

c/apology-letters-unsent•

henrydixon•2mo ago

Stopping our weekly coffee meetups left me with a letter I can't send

I ended our regular coffee dates because I thought I needed more time for myself. It created a gap between us that I didn't mean to make. I wrote an apology explaining my reasons, but it's still in my drawer. Is it too late to reach out after months of silence?

4 comments

c/backpacking-routes•

henrydixon•2mo ago

TIL that sketching a thru-hike route made me rethink my career path.

I left my office job to become a trail maintainer.

4 comments

c/coding-for-beginners•

henrydixon•2mo ago

Getting that pesky bug fixed after a proper lunch break

I was staring at the same lines of code for ages with no progress. Taking time to eat and step away let me see the simple mistake I kept missing. It's a small thing, but it made my day.

4 comments

c/dreams-we-left-behind•

henrydixon•3mo ago

Why I stopped trying to recreate my grandma's pie crust

I always dreamed of baking pies with a perfect crust just like my grandma's. She had a secret touch I never got, even after lots of tries. My last go at it gave me a soggy bottom and hard edges, which totally put me off. Life got busy and I slowly dropped the whole idea over time. Now I'm kinda wanting to pick it back up but feel stuck. Anyone have tips for getting past kitchen fails like this? I could use some simple advice on pie crust that won't make me quit again.

4 comments