Picked up a tip from a competition pitmaster about wrapping brisket

Caught a quick chat with a guy who placed 5th at the American Royal last year, and he said he stops wrapping brisket once the stall hits 170 instead of waiting. Tried it on my last cook with a 14lb prime packer and the bark came out way crunchier. Anyone else adjust their wrap temp based on the cut?

I finally saw the light on the envelope system after years of hating it

I used to think cash stuffing was outdated nonsense until I ran my debit card over by $140 last month on takeout alone. The moment I saw those empty envelopes staring back at me, I knew the digital tracking just wasn't doing it for me. Has anyone else found a hybrid approach that works better than pure cash? I'm trying half digital half cash now and curious what others do.

Vent: Stop using drywall screws on baseboard returns - I see it every damn job now

I swear I've been called back to three different houses this month alone because somebody used 1-5/8 drywall screws to fasten baseboard returns. The heads just pop right through the mdf after a couple seasons of humidity changes. I pulled one out last Tuesday in a house near Springfield where the homeowner was furious about gaps showing up. Use trim screws or at least some 16 gauge finish nails like we all know works. How are so many guys skipping this basic step and making me clean up their mess?

Bought Catan 3 years ago but just now realized my group was playing the robber rule wrong

I was at a game store in Austin last weekend and overheard two guys arguing about the robber placement after a 7 roll. One guy said you have to put it on a hex not connected to the rolled number's vertex, and my jaw dropped because my group has been just slapping it on any hex with a player's settlement for three years. We've probably played 40 games wrong and I don't know if I should tell them or just keep winning easier. Has anyone else had a rule realization that far into a game that made you rethink everything?

Gear failure on the John Muir Trail - do you pack backups or just hope?

I was about 50 miles into a 7 day section on the JMT last month when one of my trekking poles just snapped in half. No warning, just a clean break right above the lower lock. I had to finish the next 4 miles using a stick I found on the trail, which was slow and honestly kinda sketchy on the rocky parts. That got me thinking - do you guys carry spare poles or repair stuff for gear that could fail, or do you just trust your equipment and deal with it if something breaks? I mean, I get that packing extras adds weight, but limping down the trail with a random branch made me reconsider. What's your take on this?

Appreciation post: the old Canon PowerShot SD400 that still takes better close-ups than my phone.

Overheard some kid at a coffee shop last week say their phone camera is just as good as a real camera, but my SD400 from 2005 still catches details on a coin that my iPhone blurs out - anyone else still bust out their old point-and-shoot for specific shots?

Can we talk about IKEA desks and that foil edge banding?

I was just at the IKEA in Austin helping a friend pick out a desk, and I noticed all the Linnmon tops have this thin foil edge that peels off super easy. If you don't seal it with something like iron-on edge banding from Home Depot within a week, it'll curl up and trap dust. Has anyone else had theirs fail after a few months?

Old timer told me to grease the hook block every single day no matter what

Garage floor epoxy didn't stick in one spot - here's what I missed

I did my whole garage floor last weekend. Two car garage, about 400 square feet. Thought I prepped everything right. But there's this one patch near the water heater that's peeling up already. Turns out I forgot to degrease that spot. Oil drips from the old heater soaked in. Now I gotta grind that section down and redo it. Anyone else have a hidden grease spot ruin their floor job?

Finally stopped applying to jobs online and just called a company I wanted to work for instead

After sending out 40 applications with zero callbacks over 3 months in Austin, I cold-called a small marketing firm and got an interview scheduled the same day, has anyone else skipped the online apps and gone straight to the source with decent results?