Jennifer Murphy (u/jennifer_murphy53)

Posts

Neighbor Ted showed me how to level a floor with a 6ft level and shims

Last month I was trying to get my living room subfloor flat for laminate and kept getting gaps. My neighbor Ted came over, saw me struggling, and handed me a 6ft level. He said “stop using that 2ft one, you’re chasing bumps that don’t matter.” We spent an hour shimming the low spots with cedar shims and checking every 3 feet. Has anyone else found a bigger level makes a huge difference for floor prep?

2 comments

c/easy-weeknight-dinners•

jennifer_murphy53•6d ago

That cheap nonstick pan started flaking after 3 months

I bought a $12 nonstick skillet from the discount store and it worked great until little black flakes started showing up in my scrambled eggs. Had to toss dinner and order pizza instead of dealing with it. Anyone else have a pan just fall apart on them like that?

2 comments

c/chefs•

jennifer_murphy53•6d ago

Warning: that expensive olive oil I bought went bad in 6 weeks

Last fall I splurged on a $25 bottle of single estate olive oil from a nice shop near me. Thought I was treating myself and my cooking would level up. Stored it right by the stove like I always do with my cheap stuff. After about 6 weeks I noticed my salads tasted kind of off, almost like wet cardboard. Looked it up and realized heat and light destroy good olive oil fast. I basically poured $25 down the drain because I didn't keep it in a cool dark cabinet. Anybody else learn this the hard way or have a system for storing expensive oils?

2 comments

c/computer-technicians•

jennifer_murphy53•8d ago

Hit 1,000 service calls this week - never thought I'd get there

I'm a solo tech in a small town outside Columbus, Ohio, and this past Tuesday I logged my 1,000th computer repair job. I started fixing PCs out of my garage four years ago after getting laid off from a factory job. Never figured I'd stick with it this long or handle that many machines. The milestone hit me when I was replacing a power supply on an old Dell optiplex for a local dentist office. Something about that number made me realize how many sticky keyboards, dead hard drives, and virus-ridden laptops I've seen. It's not glamorous work, but it's steady. I'm curious how long it took other independent techs to rack up that many calls. Did you keep count or just let it slide?

3 comments

c/elevator-mechanics•

jennifer_murphy53•10d ago

Wasted $300 on a cheap hydraulic jack for the shop

Bought a no-name hydraulic jack off Amazon for $300. Thought I was saving money. Leaked oil everywhere after three weeks. Lost a whole day cleaning it up and waiting for a replacement that never came. Anyone else get burned by those bargain jacks on freight elevators?

3 comments

c/carpenters•

jennifer_murphy53•12d ago

Old timer showed me a better way to layout stair stringers last weekend

I was working on a basement remodel in Portland and an older carpenter named Dave saw my layout marks. He pointed out I was measuring from the wrong side of the tread depth. He said I should always measure from the rise line not the tread edge. I tried his method on the next set and saved myself from ripping out a whole flight. Has anyone else learned a simple trick from an old timer that changed how you do basic math on site?

2 comments

c/cheap-eats-showdown•

jennifer_murphy53•13d ago

Hot take: Meal prepping on Sundays is a waste of time

I tried it for three weeks straight last month and ended up throwing out half the food because I got sick of eating the same chicken and rice by Wednesday, so now I just cook fresh each night and spend less than $35 a week total, anyone else find meal prep overrated?

3 comments

c/budgeting-wins•

jennifer_murphy53•16d ago

That $200 "envelope system" experiment backfired hard

I heard all the hype about cash stuffing for budgeting so I made 6 envelopes for groceries, gas, fun money etc. First week I felt super in control. Second week I lost the "misc" envelope with $60 in it somewhere in my car. Took me 3 days to find it under the passenger seat. Then at the end of the month my rent envelope was short by $40 because I grabbed from it without writing it down. So I ended up overdrafting my checking account by accident. That $35 fee ate up any savings I thought I had. Has anyone else had cash go missing or get mixed up like this? What do you do instead?

2 comments

Posts

Neighbor Ted showed me how to level a floor with a 6ft level and shims

That cheap nonstick pan started flaking after 3 months

Warning: that expensive olive oil I bought went bad in 6 weeks

Hit 1,000 service calls this week - never thought I'd get there

Wasted $300 on a cheap hydraulic jack for the shop

Old timer showed me a better way to layout stair stringers last weekend

Hot take: Meal prepping on Sundays is a waste of time

That $200 "envelope system" experiment backfired hard

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