My umbilical got a bad kink 80 feet down near Port Townsend

Last June I was doing a hull inspection on a barge out in the Salish Sea and my umbilical got twisted around a mooring chain. It took me and the tender nearly 45 minutes to sort it out while I was hanging there. Has anyone else had a tether get tangled like that and found a good way to prevent it?

Brisket trimming clicked for me after a year of messing it up

I watched this old timer at a shop in Austin trim a packer in like 4 minutes flat. He left a perfect quarter inch fat cap and shaped the whole thing into a football. I tried copying him the next day and ruined a $90 brisket at home. Three months later it finally started making sense after I slowed way down and stopped trying to shave off every little silver skin spot. Anyone else have a trimming style that took forever to get right?

That cheap Klein cable tester I almost returned actually saved a job

Last month I was out at a new build in a big apartment complex near Charlotte and kept getting intermittent signal drops on one run. I was about to just re-pull the whole thing and eat the time but grabbed my $40 Klein VDV501-851 that I bought on a whim and almost took back. Threw the remote on the far end and it caught a partial short at the staple gun damage I never would have spotted otherwise. Took me about 10 minutes to patch the jacket and the line passed perfect after that. Honestly figured those little testers were junk for anything beyond basic continuity checks but this one paid for itself on that single call. Has anyone else had a tool they nearly returned that ended up being a lifesaver on a tricky install?

Had a terrible dinner fail last Tuesday with my new instant pot

I tried making a simple chicken and rice dish and it came out as mush after I forgot to set the timer right. Has anyone else had a recipe totally flop on a busy night?

Had a rough week making meals from the clearance bin at Aldi

Last Monday I grabbed a bag of marked down chicken thighs for $2.87 and a dented can of black beans for like 50 cents. I stretched that chicken into three meals: tacos one night, a soup the next, and then I shredded the rest for a rice bowl with some frozen broccoli. The beans got mixed with rice and cheap salsa for a lunch that lasted two days. Anyone else ever try to build a whole week around clearance meat and random markdowns?

I was dead set against variable rate mortgages until my broker broke it down for me last Tuesday

I talked to my mortgage broker Steve from TD in Mississauga for like an hour. He explained how variable rates have actually outperformed fixed rates in 7 of the last 10 years if you can stomach the risk. He showed me a chart from 2016 to 2022 where someone with a variable saved over $12,000 compared to fixed. Now I'm thinking maybe I was too rigid about this whole thing. Has anyone else here actually run the numbers on variable vs fixed?

I finally gave that new Japanese pull saw a real shot on a maple cabinet job

Always thought they were too light for real work, but cutting some tricky joinery on a 3/4 inch thick piece, the thing just zipped through with zero tear-out. My old back saw would have needed a lot more muscle and left a rougher edge. Anyone else switch to pull saws for fine work and stick with them?

My car broke down in the rain outside a tiny diner in Ohio, and the waitress gave me a free slice of pie.

My buddy swore by those overnight bus rides to save on hotels, but I tried it once and it was a total disaster.

He told me, 'Just sleep on the bus, you save a whole night's stay.' So I booked a 10 hour trip from Chicago to Nashville. The seats didn't recline much, the lights stayed on half the night, and someone's kid cried for two hours straight. I got into town at 6 AM feeling like I'd been hit by a truck and had to pay for a hostel bed just to crash for a few hours anyway, which wiped out any savings. I was so tired I barely enjoyed my first day there. For me, that 'hack' cost more in lost time and comfort than it saved. Has anyone else found a cheap way to travel overnight that doesn't leave you wrecked?

Update: My kimchi experiment with a 2% brine actually worked

I was totally sure you needed at least a 3% salt ratio for cabbage kimchi to be safe. I tried a 2% brine on a small batch last week, just to see what would happen. After 5 days on the counter, it was perfectly tangy and crisp, with no weird smells or mold. I guess the chili paste and garlic do a lot more for preservation than I gave them credit for. Has anyone else pushed the salt lower and had it turn out okay?