Max Jones (u/max_jones)

Posts

Hung a shelf crooked 6 times before I learned about leveling the floor first

I was trying to install a floating shelf in my living room in Columbus and every time I leveled the bracket, the shelf ended up looking tilted. After 6 tries I finally tested the floor with a 4 foot level and realized it slopes a quarter inch over the wall. I was leveling to the floor instead of the ceiling. Drove me crazy for 2 hours. Has anyone else dealt with a floor that throws off your wall projects?

2 comments

c/backpacking-routes•

max_jones•4d ago

Talked with a thru-hiker at the diner last night and now I'm second guessing my whole setup

I was grabbing a late breakfast at this little place near the trailhead in Shenandoah and this grizzled guy sits down next to me. He's done the AT twice and the PCT once, so I figured I'd pick his brain about pack weight. He just laughed and said I was overthinking my gear list, that half the stuff I was carrying he ditched after his first 50 miles. He pointed at my 4 season tent and said 'you bring a house to a hostel, you know?' I've been trimming grams for months now, watching all these YouTube ultralight videos, and this dude just cleared it with a single sentence. Made me wonder if I've been wasting time on the wrong details while missing the big picture. How do you guys know when to stop tweaking and just go already?

2 comments

c/fermentation-station•

max_jones•5d ago

Question about plastic vs glass weights for brine ferments

I kept getting kahm yeast on my hot sauce ferments until I switched to those glass fermentation weights instead of the cheap plastic ones from amazon. The plastic ones had tiny grooves that trapped gunk even after boiling, anyone else notice this?

2 comments

c/cnc-operators•

max_jones•9d ago

Hot take: I used to run my Haimer probe at the wrong speed for months

I kept getting inconsistent probe readings on my Haas VF-2 and blamed the machine. Finally a guy from the Haas service center in Toledo told me to slow down the probe feed from 50 IPM to 20 IPM. Fixed every false touch reading I had. Anyone else had better luck with slower probe speeds?

2 comments

c/concrete-finishers•

max_jones•10d ago

Blew out a walkway pour last Tuesday because I ignored the humidity

I was doing a small walkway for a guy in Edmonton, maybe 25 feet long. The mix felt fine when I started, but by the time I got to the far end the surface was already setting up hard. I ended up with a rough finish and some shallow cracking near the edge. Anyone else have the weather sneak up on them like that and mess up a simple job?

2 comments

c/career-advice•

max_jones•11d ago

Appreciation post: the little notebook trick that fixed my interview jitters

I used to go into job interviews just winging it with a mental list of talking points. Last year I bombed a panel interview for a project coordinator role at a local nonprofit because I forgot to mention a key accomplishment. After that I started carrying a small spiral notebook into interviews with three bullet points written down: one win from my last job, one question about the role, and one thing I liked about the company. Now I glance at it before answering and it keeps me from rambling or freezing up. I landed a solid offer at a construction firm three months ago using this method. Has anyone else tried something like this or do you have a different prep trick that actually works?

2 comments

c/flooring-installers•

max_jones•14d ago

Old timer in Edmonton told me to back butter every tile. I thought he was crazy.

Back in 2012 I was doing a bathroom floor in Edmonton and this guy Ted, must have been 70, watched me put thinset down and said 'son you need to back butter every single tile or you'll be back in 3 years.' I ignored him and used a 1/2 inch notch trowel only. 3 years later I was pulling up 40 loose tiles in that same bathroom. He was right. Anyone else get advice from an older installer that you brushed off at first?

2 comments

c/cable-installers•

max_jones•1mo ago

Talked to a homeowner about his "temporary" coax splice from 2008

I was out on a service call last week in a town called Oakridge, pulling a new line for a guy who kept losing signal. He shows me in his crawlspace this splice held together with electrical tape and a zip tie, said he did it "just for the weekend" back in 2008. He was proud it lasted 16 years but I had to explain how much signal loss that thing was causing. Has anyone else run into crazy old temp fixes that really make you wonder how people think?

2 comments

c/easy-weeknight-dinners•

max_jones•1mo ago

Had to pick between fresh garlic and jarred minced garlic for a 20 minute dinner

I was trying to make a quick pasta aglio e olio last night and realized I only had 20 mins total to cook. Fresh garlic takes time to peel and chop and I hate when it sticks to my knife. But jarred minced garlic always tastes kinda flat and watery to me. I went with fresh anyway and just smashed the cloves with the flat of my knife to peel them faster. It still took me like 4 extra minutes but the flavor was way better and my kid even said it smelled amazing. Now I'm thinking about buying one of those garlic rocker tools to chop faster. Has anyone tried those for speeding up weeknight dinners?

3 comments

c/arborists•

max_jones•1mo ago

Can we talk about how crane work changed in 20 years

Talking to a old timer from Vermont at a conference last month and he said he still hand climbs everything, doesn't trust a bucket truck. Made me wonder how many of us are still doing things the old way just because that's how we learned.

2 comments