TIL a frozen bag of peas is the best way to find a stud when you lose your detector

After my stud finder vanished into the void of my garage, I pressed a frozen bag of peas against the wall and the cold spot showed exactly where the wood was, which my buddy in Denver said was the dumbest genius thing he's ever seen.

Warning: My garage floor paint job took a full week, not the two days I planned.

I prepped the floor with a rented grinder for a day, which went fine. Then I applied the epoxy primer and waited the 24 hours it said on the can. The problem was the humidity in my Atlanta garage spiked right when I tried to put the top coat on, and it started to get cloudy and sticky. I had to stop, wait two more days for the weather to dry out, sand the messed up section back down, and start that part over. Has anyone else had a floor coating totally derailed by the weather?

Just flushed $60 on a cheap bottom bracket tool that stripped immediately

I grabbed a no-name BB tool from the discount bin to save time on a repair, and the splines gave out halfway through the install. Had to buy the proper Park Tool version anyway. Anyone have a go-to brand for these that actually holds up?

Just realized I was charging way too little for rush jobs after a client told me 'this is cheaper than my normal guy'

A retired mechanic in a Flagstaff parts store told me to always check the simple stuff first

This was about 15 years ago. I was chasing a no-start on a Ford Ranger, convinced it was the fuel pump. He saw me grabbing a pump off the shelf and just said, 'Kid, did you check the inertia switch?' I hadn't. He walked me back to my bay, popped the passenger footwell panel, and sure enough, the button was tripped. Truck started right up. He said he'd seen guys replace whole systems over a $5 fuse or a loose ground. That stuck with me. How often do you guys still see techs skip the basics and go straight for the computer or the big part?

TIL a trick for straightening long stock from an old guy at a swap meet in Ohio

I was at the Ashland swap meet last fall, watching this old timer work on a piece of 1/2 inch square bar about 4 feet long. He didn't use a press or a straightening jig. He just heated a small section in the middle, laid it flat on the anvil, and tapped the high spots on the cool ends with a cross-peen hammer. The heat in the middle let the whole piece flex without kinking. I tried it on a fence rail last week and it came out perfect. Anyone have other tricks for straightening without a lot of gear?

Went to the new library downtown and their traction elevator sounded off

Heard a faint grinding on the up cycle, like a sheave issue. Building is only two years old. Anyone dealt with a similar noise on a newer Otis unit?

My compost bin lid snapped clean off in a windstorm last Tuesday

It was a cheap plastic thing from a big box store, maybe five years old. The hinge just gave out, and the lid went flying into my neighbor's yard. I was pretty annoyed because I use that bin for all our kitchen scraps, and I didn't want critters getting in. Instead of buying a new one, I spent the weekend building a new lid from some old fence pickets and a scrap of wire mesh I had in the garage. It's not pretty, but it's solid and lets air in. Felt good to fix something instead of tossing it. Anyone else had to MacGyver a fix for their garden setup after something broke?

My sister said she keeps a 'done list' instead of a to-do list in her journal

I was at her place last weekend and saw her bullet journal open on the table. She told me she stopped writing tasks for the day and just logs what she actually finishes. She said, "It stops me from feeling bad about what I didn't do." I tried it for three days and it's way less stressful. I just write down small wins like 'paid the electric bill' or 'walked the dog.' Has anyone else tried something like this?

A client in Austin said my design was 'too wearable' and it's been stuck in my head for a week.