Barbara Schmidt (u/barbaraschmidt)

Posts

Found a hidden gem in a small town diner last weekend

I was driving through Elkins, West Virginia on Saturday and stopped at a place called The Rusty Nail for lunch. It was this tiny spot with only 8 tables, but they had a TV playing the entire first season of "The Bear" on a loop. I ended up sitting there for 2 hours watching two episodes while eating their famous meatloaf sandwich. The owner told me he discovered the show 6 months ago and hasn't changed the channel since. Has anyone else stumbled on a show in a random public place like a diner or bar?

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c/bakers•

barbaraschmidt•2d ago

Found the secret to better sourdough crust

I baked sourdough for 2 years with decent results. Then I started spritzing water in the oven during the first 10 minutes of bake time. My crust went from sad and pale to golden and crackly. The oven spring improved too. I use a cheap spray bottle, nothing fancy. It made a huge difference for me. Has anyone else tried this over using a steam pan?

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c/concrete-finishers•

barbaraschmidt•2d ago

My trowel handle snapped mid-pour on a 40 yard driveway job last Thursday

I was floating a big residential driveway in Wichita, about 40 yards total, and right as I got to the second panel my wood handle trowel just cracked right at the ferrule. The blade flopped sideways and I almost fell into the wet concrete. Had to grab my old beat-up spare from the truck that I forgot I even had, which messed up my rhythm for the rest of the pour. Anyone else ever have a handle fail on them during a critical moment? What brand did you switch to that held up better?

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c/botany-lovers•

barbaraschmidt•6d ago

That comment about my jade plant pruning changed everything

My neighbor Margaret walked by my porch last month and said "you know, you're cutting those branches way too close to the leaf nodes." I had been trimming my jade plant for three years the same way and wondered why it always looked stubby. She showed me how leaving a little bit of stem above each node lets the plant push out TWO new branches instead of one. I tried her method on just one branch back in June and now it has 4 new growth points while the rest still look bare. Started doing it to all my succulents and the difference is night and day. Has anyone else gotten pruning advice from a random neighbor that turned out to be completely right?

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c/enterprise-isp-discussions•

barbaraschmidt•6d ago

Debate: Do enterprise ISPs really need static IPs for most business setups?

I see everyone in this community insisting static IPs are essential for any serious business, but I run a small logistics company in Austin with 50 employees and we've used dynamic DNS for 3 years without a single issue. Am I missing something obvious or are people just overcomplicating things? Has anyone else tried cutting static costs and regretted it?

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c/camera-repairers•

barbaraschmidt•6d ago

Hit 200 shutter repairs on vintage Minoltas and realized I had a pattern

Just finished my 200th shutter curtain replacement on an old Minolta this afternoon. I started keeping count two years ago when I got into this as a side gig. The number surprised me because I never thought I'd see that many SRT bodies with the same exact light seal decay and curtain fraying. It's always the same spot on the right edge. Has anyone else noticed a specific camera model that just keeps showing up with the same failure over and over?

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c/conspiracy-debates•

barbaraschmidt•8d ago

The moon landing faked claims always miss one key detail about the flag

People say the flag waving proves it was staged, but the flag had a horizontal rod to hold it out - you can see the astronauts twisting it to plant it. I checked the Apollo 11 footage frame by frame and the ripple only moves when they physically touch the pole. Why do debunkers never mention that rod?

2 comments

c/book-club-debates•

barbaraschmidt•9d ago

My book club nearly fell apart over a single chapter last month

We were reading 'Project Hail Mary' for our March meetup at the library in Boulder. One member argued the science was too fake while another said it was the best part, and it turned into a 45 minute debate about hard vs soft sci-fi. Has anyone else had a book club fight that almost ruined the whole discussion?

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c/commercial-divers•

barbaraschmidt•9d ago

The dive supervisor who told me I was too old for this work

I was 42 and working a bridge job in Portland, Oregon back in 2017. This supervisor, must have been about 28, pulls me aside after my first dive and says I should think about a desk job because guys my age get hurt more. I asked him how many dives he had logged. He said around 400. I told him I had over 3,000 and had been doing this since he was in middle school. He didn't say much after that. I get that safety matters, but experience counts for something too. Anyone else have a younger supervisor pull something like that?

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c/commercial-divers•

barbaraschmidt•11d ago

Just saw a stat that 80% of diver accidents happen in water less than 30 feet deep

I was reading through the latest diving safety report from the IMCA and that number floored me. I always figured the real danger was way down deep where the bends can sneak up on you. But it turns out most of the serious stuff happens right near the surface, mostly from entanglement and poor communication. The report said 60% of those incidents involved gear that wasn't checked before the dive. Has anyone else noticed a shift in how your crew handles shallow water work after hearing something like this?

2 comments