Finally bought a big bag of rice and it's a game changer

I spent $12 on a 20 pound bag of jasmine rice at the Asian market last month. It felt like a lot at the time, but we've used it as a base for like 15 meals already. Just had it with some cheap black beans and salsa for lunch. Has anyone else found a single cheap ingredient that stretches your food budget like crazy?

Hot take: I tried a 'cooling' shampoo on a client with oily scalp and it backfired completely.

It was supposed to reduce oil production, but after two washes, her scalp was flaking like crazy and she called me upset. I learned the hard way that 'cooling' formulas can sometimes be too drying for certain skin types. Anyone have a gentler product they like for managing oil without causing dryness?

Overheard a new guy at the site talking about his rig's swing radius

I was grabbing coffee this morning and heard a young operator telling his spotter he never really checks the swing radius chart for his 80-ton Grove anymore, he just 'feels it out'. That made me stop cold. We were setting steel on a tight downtown block in Cleveland, and feeling it out is a fast way to clip a building or, worse, a person. I pulled him aside after and showed him the worn chart in my own cab. Has anyone else had to step in when you heard a coworker skipping a basic safety step?

The day my kindergarten teacher gave me a single red block when I was five

Unpopular opinion: I think the whole 'no oil' air fryer rule is a myth

I read a study from the University of Nebraska's food science department that tested different cooking methods. They found that using a light spray of oil on vegetables in an air fryer can actually help your body absorb more vitamins. I tried it with broccoli last night, just a quick mist, and it came out way more tender and flavorful than my usual dry method. Has anyone else found that a tiny bit of oil makes a real difference?

Found a way to keep my mud pan cleaner on a big ceiling job

Started putting a strip of duct tape along the inside edge to catch the drips, and it saved me from constantly wiping it down. Anyone got other tricks for keeping things tidy when you're working overhead?

Honestly, I used to think you had to be a total expert to have an opinion on anything. Then I tried to explain my own job to my nephew last year and realized I was wrong about half of it.

Just read that the original 'Neon Genesis Evangelion' TV ending was made for about $100,000 because they ran out of budget.

Found that wild fact in a deep-dive article on Anime News Network, and it really explains a lot about those final two episodes, doesn't it?

Rant: I used to write blog posts for a client in Phoenix that were 800 words minimum, no matter what.

The agency I worked for insisted on that length for SEO, so we'd just pad them out... it felt pointless. About 18 months ago, I saw their traffic drop and switched to making posts that actually answered the question, even if it was only 400 words. Now their organic clicks are up 30% from last quarter. Has anyone else moved away from that strict word count rule?

I was wrong about wrapping brisket after seeing a guy in Memphis

I was at the Memphis in May contest last spring, watching a pitmaster from Texas. He pulled his brisket after 5 hours, right when the bark looked set, and just left it unwrapped in his offset smoker. I always wrapped mine in butcher paper at that point. His came out with bark so dark and crunchy it looked like meteorite, but the meat was still crazy juicy. I tried his no-wrap method on my Weber Smokey Mountain the next weekend, and it totally changed my game. Anyone else skip the wrap for a heavier bark?