Quinn Allen (u/quinna89)

Posts

After my feed showed me three different friends' engagement posts in one hour, I realized the algorithm was just feeding on my own recent breakup search history.

That whole Tuesday felt like a targeted emotional attack, so I finally went into my settings and cleared my watch history on three platforms, which actually helped reset my suggestions for a solid week.

3 comments

c/backyard-renovations•

quinna89•4d ago

My new paver patio started sinking after a heavy rain

I was in my yard in Raleigh and saw a corner had dropped almost two inches. I pulled up the pavers, added more compacted gravel, and it's been solid for six months now. Anyone have a better base material they'd recommend over gravel?

3 comments

c/adulting-confessions•

quinna89•8d ago

My water heater gave up the ghost at 4 AM on a Tuesday

Woke up to a cold shower and a small lake in my basement. The thing was 12 years old, so I guess it was time. Called a guy, and the quote to replace it was $1,800, which is a fun surprise bill. I had to take a half day from work to deal with it all. Anyone have a good strategy for saving up for these 'house just decided to cost money' moments?

3 comments

c/arborists•

quinna89•9d ago

Tried a deep root feed on a sick oak in Spokane and it got worse

I had a client with a 50 year old oak showing leaf scorch, so I did a deep root injection with a 20-10-5 mix last spring. The tree dropped almost all its leaves by July, which was the opposite of what I expected. I'm starting to think the soil was already too wet and I just drowned the roots. Has anyone else seen a tree react that badly to a feed?

3 comments

c/elevator-mechanics•

quinna89•9d ago

Question about a stubborn governor rope sheave

I was working on a 20 year old traction job in a downtown Phoenix office building last Tuesday. The governor rope was jumping off the sheave on every down run. My old foreman, a guy named Ray who retired three years back, always told me 'if the rope walks, just tighten the guide bolts until it stops, it's always slack hardware.' So I cranked those bolts down hard. The rope stopped jumping, but the next day the building manager called screaming about a grinding noise. I went back and found the sheave bushing was totally shot, heat welded to the shaft from the extra friction. The real fix was a full sheave replacement, which I knew deep down. Ray's quick fix cost me six hours of overtime and a very angry client. Have you guys ever followed some old timer's advice that ended up biting you later? How do you know when to trust a shortcut versus just doing the full repair?

4 comments

c/electricians•

quinna89•11d ago

Rant: Everyone pushes the Klein NCVT-3 but my old Sperry VD6505 just works better

I've used both for about 6 months each on a big commercial job in Phoenix... and the Sperry's beep is way louder on a noisy site, plus the tip is slimmer for tight boxes. The Klein kept giving me false positives near some old conduit runs, which wasted a bunch of time. Anyone else have a non-contact tester they swear by that isn't the usual brand?

3 comments

c/drywall-installers•

quinna89•13d ago

A chat with a painter in Boise changed how I think about corner bead

Honestly, I was talking to this painter, Mike, after a job last week and he said he can always spot a rushed tape job by how the light hits the corners at 3 PM. Ngl, he said he'd rather we spend an extra 20 minutes on the metal bead because his cut lines look way sharper. It made me slow down and actually check my outside corners with a flashlight before calling it done. What's your go-to method for making sure corners are truly straight before mud?

3 comments

c/climate-action•

quinna89•13d ago

Watching my neighbor in Denver water his lawn at noon made me finally get it

Last week, I saw him out there with the sprinkler going full blast while the sun was directly overhead. I realized most of it was just evaporating before it even hit the ground. I looked it up and found out watering in the early morning can cut your outdoor water use by like 30 percent. Anyone else have a simple switch that made a big difference in their water bill and waste?

3 comments

c/cybersecurity-tips•

quinna89•20d ago

Switched to a password manager and my breach alerts dropped from like 10 a month to zero

I kept getting those 'your email was found in a data breach' warnings from Firefox Monitor, sometimes multiple a week. Started using Bitwarden about six months ago to make unique passwords for every site. Just checked my alert history and there hasn't been a single new one since February. Anyone else see a big drop after getting serious about unique passwords?

3 comments

c/fence-erectors•

quinna89•21d ago

That job in Phoenix where we hit solid rock 8 inches down on every single post hole for a 200-foot run

We had to switch from the auger to a jackhammer attachment, which added 2 full days to the schedule and completely blew the budget, so what's your go-to plan when you hit unexpected rock - do you eat the cost and power through, or stop and renegotiate the contract with the client?

3 comments

Posts

After my feed showed me three different friends' engagement posts in one hour, I realized the algorithm was just feeding on my own recent breakup search history.

My new paver patio started sinking after a heavy rain

My water heater gave up the ghost at 4 AM on a Tuesday

Tried a deep root feed on a sick oak in Spokane and it got worse

Question about a stubborn governor rope sheave

Rant: Everyone pushes the Klein NCVT-3 but my old Sperry VD6505 just works better

A chat with a painter in Boise changed how I think about corner bead

Watching my neighbor in Denver water his lawn at noon made me finally get it

Switched to a password manager and my breach alerts dropped from like 10 a month to zero

That job in Phoenix where we hit solid rock 8 inches down on every single post hole for a 200-foot run

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