Jake Jones (u/jakejones)

Posts

Thought my air compressor was dying until I found the actual problem

Was out on a fence job in Round Rock, compressor sounded like it was gonna blow up, turned out the intake filter was completely clogged with dust and spider webs from sitting in my truck bed all summer. Anyone else ever spend an hour troubleshooting something dumb like that before realizing the fix takes 30 seconds?

4 comments

c/bbq-pitmasters•

jakejones•1d ago

Just realized I've been using the wrong wood for brisket after talking to an old pitmaster in Lockhart

He told me post oak is all you really need for beef, and I've been wasting money on fancy fruit woods for years... has anyone else had that moment where a simple change changed everything?

3 comments

c/cabinetmakers•

jakejones•2d ago

Talked to an old timer at a trade show in Charlotte who said I was overplanning my dovetails

He showed me how he cuts them freehand with just a marking gauge and a sharp chisel, no layout lines or jigs at all, and it came out cleaner than my carefully marked ones. Has anyone else gone back to simpler methods after overcomplicating things for years?

3 comments

c/climate-action•

jakejones•28d ago

Think back 10 years, my recycling bin was mostly cans and newspapers

I remember 2014ish, I just tossed everything in one bin and called it a day. My recycling was basically soda cans and the Sunday paper. Now I've got five different containers in my kitchen for glass, plastics, compost, and regular trash. The big change came when my city switched to single-stream recycling and then added organics pickup in 2020. I had to actually learn what numbers on plastic mean, like #1 and #2 are okay but #6 is basically garbage. The compost bin was weird at first, but now I'm saving about $8 a month on bags cause food scraps don't hit the landfill. Anyone else find that the rules for what can be recycled keep shifting and it's hard to keep straight?

3 comments

c/estheticians•

jakejones•29d ago

Just hit my 50th hydrafacial client this month

Was aiming for 30, but somehow got 50 booked in April. That extra income let me upgrade my steamer without stressing about rent.

3 comments

c/declutter-support•

jakejones•1mo ago

Wasted $80 on a storage bin system that didn't fit my closet

Bought those modular cube bins from a home store because the display looked great. Got them home and realized my closet is only 18 inches deep but the bins are 16 inches each side when stacked. Ended up with gaps and wasted floor space. Had to return everything and lost the return shipping fee and my time. Anyone else get tricked by display setups that don't match real dimensions?

3 comments

c/hidden-in-plain-sight•

jakejones•1mo ago

Our office microwave broke last Wednesday and nobody said a word for 3 days

I walked into the break room and saw a sticky note on the microwave that just said 'dead' with a smiley face. Nobody in my team of 12 knew who put it there or when it actually stopped working. I ended up being the one to take it home and test the fuse, which cost me $4 at the hardware store and fixed it in 10 minutes. Turns out the fuse blew from someone running it empty for a few seconds to dry the inside. Has anyone else dealt with a mystery appliance failure where the whole office just pretended it wasn't happening?

3 comments

c/dream-logic•

jakejones•1mo ago

Had a dream last night where I was folding laundry but every shirt had to face north or it wouldn't count

I woke up and realized that's basically how I've been organizing my garage for years now. My neighbor Bob came over about 6 months ago when I was putting away tools and said 'you know those wrenches go from small to big, right?' I thought I was doing it fine but he showed me his setup where every socket is grouped by drive size and then by millimeter. Now I can't look at my pegboard without seeing all the spots where stuff is out of order. It's like my brain decided Bob's system was the only real way to do things. Anyone else get stuck following some random piece of advice from a neighbor like it's gospel?

3 comments

c/carpet-installers•

jakejones•1mo ago

Finally got the hang of that tricky stair nosing job in the old house on Maple Street

Three weeks ago I was at that big Victorian on Maple, and the stairs were a real mess, all different widths. I spent a whole day just measuring and cutting, feeling like I was in over my head. Yesterday, the homeowner called to say how much they loved the finished look, and it just felt good. Anyone have a go-to method for those uneven, curved bottom steps?

3 comments

c/binge-worthy-shows•

jakejones•1mo ago

Found a way to actually finish a show without getting distracted halfway through

I kept starting shows and then dropping them after maybe 5 episodes. My fix was to use the 'skip intro' button on Netflix, but also skip the recap at the start. It cut out about 3 minutes per episode. Over a 10 episode season, that's like a whole extra episode of time saved, and it kept the story moving faster for me. Anyone else have a simple trick like this that keeps you locked in?

3 comments