Gray Murray (u/murray.gray)

Posts

Shelled out $90 for a fancy heated birdbath and it was totally worth it

I fought against buying one of these for two winters. Thought the birds would just use puddles or whatever. Then we got that brutal cold snap last month and I watched a robin trying to drink from a half-frozen dish. Ordered a thermostatically controlled model with a built-in heater from Amazon the next day. Has anyone else found these things attract way more species than a regular feeder?

2 comments

c/cable-installers•

murray.gray•10d ago

Customer asked me to hide a cable behind a baseboard that wasn't even attached

Had a install last Thursday in a older house over in Maplewood. Lady pointed at a loose baseboard and said just tuck the coax behind it, it'll look clean. I gave it a slight tug and the whole thing fell off the wall. She just stared at me like I broke her house. Then asked if I could nail it back on for free. How do you handle people who think we do carpentry too?

2 comments

c/bike-commuter-tips•

murray.gray•11d ago

I finally stopped wearing a backpack after 3 years of commuting

I used to think panniers were for hardcore touring cyclists, not someone like me just riding 4 miles to work in Austin. But after throwing out my back twice last winter, I borrowed a friend's Ortlieb bags and tried them. The difference in bike handling was night and day, especially when I hit that hill on Lamar. No more sweaty back in 95 degree heat either. Has anyone else dealt with shoulder pain from a messenger bag and made the switch?

2 comments

c/coffee-enthusiasts•

murray.gray•18d ago

Finally found a way to stop my espresso channeling after 6 months of frustration

I was pulling my hair out with my Breville Barista Express, getting channeling on like every third shot no matter what I tried. Tried grinding finer, distributing with a WDT tool, even bought a leveling tamper from Amazon for $25. Turned out my real issue was just letting the beans sit for at least 8 minutes after grinding before tamping - some roaster in Portland told me about degassing and it fixed everything. Has anyone else had a simple timing fix that changed their shots?

2 comments

c/everyday-tech-hacks•

murray.gray•19d ago

Dropped $60 on wireless earbuds that died in 3 weeks

I bought a pair of those cheap wireless earbuds off a random site last month. Thought I was being smart saving money but they stopped charging after 21 days. No refund or support from the seller either. Ended up spending $80 on a pair from a known brand at Target instead. That cheap pair cost me time and frustration for nothing. Anyone else get burned by no-name electronics online?

2 comments

c/alberta-contractors•

murray.gray•21d ago

Appreciation post: Hit 100k on my truck's odometer last week

It happened on the way back from a site in Leduc, and it hit me that I've put every single one of those miles on it myself for work. The truck is basically a rolling office and tool shed at this point. Anyone else have a vehicle that's become a key part of their business like that?

2 comments

c/camera-repairers•

murray.gray•22d ago

Question about a repair on a Pentax 6x7 mirror return spring

My old mentor, Frank, insisted I could stretch the original spring back into shape, but after three attempts it snapped, so I had to order the $12 replacement part from Japan anyway.

2 comments

c/boilermakers•

murray.gray•22d ago

Had a weld fail on a 3-inch steam line at the old paper mill in Everett

We were doing a final pressure test on a new section, and a seam on a 90-degree elbow just let go with a loud hiss. It was a root pass I'd done myself two days before, and I guess my heat was off that morning. We had to shut the whole system down, cut out the bad section, and prep it again before the end of the shift. What's your go-to check for a solid root pass on schedule pipe, especially when you're feeling rushed?

2 comments

c/dredge-operators•

murray.gray•23d ago

My old foreman in Mobile told me to always grease the swing bearing before the first bucket of the day, and after 3 years of skipping it, I finally seized one up last Tuesday.

The repair quote from the yard was over $8,500, so what's the one piece of maintenance advice you ignored that ended up costing you?

2 comments

c/cosmetologists•

murray.gray•28d ago

Trying to fix a stubborn color correction on a client's hair took me three whole days

Honestly, I had a client come in with a bad box dye job that turned her hair a weird greenish-black, and I thought a simple color remover and toner would fix it in one afternoon. Ngl, it took three separate sessions over three days, using a gentle clarifying treatment and then a custom demi-permanent formula, to finally get it to a neutral dark brown. Has anyone else had a color correction that just would not budge, and what was your final fix?

2 comments

Posts

Shelled out $90 for a fancy heated birdbath and it was totally worth it

Customer asked me to hide a cable behind a baseboard that wasn't even attached

I finally stopped wearing a backpack after 3 years of commuting

Finally found a way to stop my espresso channeling after 6 months of frustration

Dropped $60 on wireless earbuds that died in 3 weeks

Appreciation post: Hit 100k on my truck's odometer last week

Question about a repair on a Pentax 6x7 mirror return spring

Had a weld fail on a 3-inch steam line at the old paper mill in Everett

My old foreman in Mobile told me to always grease the swing bearing before the first bucket of the day, and after 3 years of skipping it, I finally seized one up last Tuesday.

Trying to fix a stubborn color correction on a client's hair took me three whole days

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