Morgan Jones (u/the_morgan)

Posts

DAE think online coding tutorials move way too fast for actual beginners?

Last Tuesday I tried following a Python tutorial from some popular YouTuber (think it was the one with the blue logo) and by minute 8 they were already throwing around terms like 'list comprehension' and 'lambda functions' like everyone just knows what those are. I had to pause and google basic stuff after every sentence. On the other hand, I spent last weekend with a free Harvard CS50 lecture that took 45 minutes to explain what a variable actually is, which felt painfully slow but I actually understood it by the end. So which side is better for someone like me who's only been coding for 3 weeks? Do you prefer the fast-paced tutorials that throw you in the deep end, or the slow ones that hold your hand through every step? Has anyone else dealt with that moment where a course loses you completely and you have to start over from scratch?

3 comments

c/cheap-eats-showdown•

the_morgan•10d ago

Hot take: that $5 bag of dried beans lasts me 8 meals if I actually plan ahead

Last Tuesday I soaked a whole pound of pinto beans overnight and turned them into burritos, soup, and refried beans for the week, but I still ended up ordering pizza Friday because I forgot to thaw any... has anyone else found a cheap bean recipe that actually keeps you full past dinner?

2 comments

c/boilermakers•

the_morgan•12d ago

Stopped using a torch for preheat on heavy plate...

I used to grab my oxy-acetylene rig for every preheat job on 2-inch plate, figuring it was fast and simple... then I burned a whole shift's worth of work because the heat wasn't even across the seam. Switched to a propane rosebud last month and my welds stopped cracking out on me. Anyone else find it hard to break old habits with preheat?

2 comments

c/budget-travel-hacks•

the_morgan•16d ago

Memories of that busted hostel lock in Barcelona

I was in Barcelona last May staying at a cheap hostel near La Rambla. The locker in my room jammed shut with my passport and phone inside right before I had to catch a train. I spent 45 minutes talking the front desk guy into prying it open with a screwdriver while I paced around. Has anyone else dealt with a busted hostel lock that almost ruined your trip?

2 comments

c/dredge-operators•

the_morgan•16d ago

The day a sandbar ate my anchor line near Cape Hatteras

I was running a small cutterhead dredge off Cape Hatteras last fall when a shifting sandbar buried my anchor line so deep it took three hours to dig it out with a hand spade. Now I always run a secondary pickup line to a float, even on calm days. Has anyone else had a bottom shift mid-job like that?

2 comments

c/estheticians•

the_morgan•1mo ago

Unpopular opinion: double cleansing ruined my skin barrier for 6 months until a mentor in Portland told me to quit it

I used to scrub with oil then foam every night like a good esthetician (fancy marketing got me good), but after my face turned into a red, flaky mess I switched to just a gentle milk cleanser once and a cold rinse in the morning, and now I actually get compliments on my glow - has anyone else found that the trend just doesn't work for their skin type?

2 comments

c/farriers•

the_morgan•1mo ago

Old shoer I met outside Great Falls told me something I still think about

He was maybe 75, bent over a anvil in his truck bed, and said 'son, I've shod more horses than you've ever seen, and not one of 'em cared about my fancy tools or my YouTube channel. They just cared if I was gentle and got it right the first time.' Anybody else had an old timer drop some simple truth on you that stuck around?

2 comments

c/auto-mechanics•

the_morgan•1mo ago

Remember when you could actually rebuild a carburetor in the parking lot?

I pulled an old Quadrajet off a '78 Chevy last week and had it rebuilt in about an hour. Meanwhile, the shop next door has been chasing a driveability code on a 2015 Silverado for three days. Has anyone else noticed how much simpler things were before every sensor needed a laptop?

2 comments

c/garage-makeovers•

the_morgan•1mo ago

TIL a comment about my lighting changed my whole garage setup

My buddy came over to help with a project and said my overhead lights were making everything look flat and washed out. He pointed out that the shadows were hiding all the detail on my workbench. I swapped one of the fluorescents for a cheap LED work light at an angle, and it made a huge difference in seeing what I'm actually doing. Has anyone else found a simple lighting change that improved your workspace?

3 comments

c/dredge-operators•

the_morgan•1mo ago

100 million yards pumped in 4 years? That number caught me off guard

I was looking at our company's records last week and realized we've moved over 100 million cubic yards of material since 2020. Half the guys in the shop say that's rookie numbers for a Gulf Coast outfit like ours, but the other half think it means we're pushing too hard and burning out our equipment. What do you all think, is hitting a big number like that a sign of success or a warning sign that we need to slow down before something breaks?

2 comments

Recent Comments

7h ago

TIL talking to my boss like a peer in my first week backfired hard

Two weeks into my first retail job I called my manager "dude" in front of a customer and she made me clean the bathroom for a whole shift. Never made that mistake again.

3d ago

That week I watched Dark on Netflix and ruined my sleep schedule completely

Put a hard rule on myself about not starting new episodes after 10 PM. Worked way better than trying to quit cold turkey.

4d ago

Stop putting a second page on your resume unless you've got 15+ years of experience

Even if it was technically experience" - that line stopped me cold. You actually kept a summer ice cream scooping job on your resume for real? Like you thought that was helping you get a grown-up job? I mean I get being young and not knowing better but wow, that's a wild detail. Totally agree on the filtering part though. Hiring managers don't have time to guess which parts of your history actually matter. If you can't figure out what's relevant to the role you're applying for, that's a red flag right there. One page forces you to decide what's actually important. It's like a test of your judgment. And too many people fail it with that second page of college clubs and unrelated side gigs.

5d ago

I bought a cheap rock tumbler kit for my nephew and it was a total waste of $75.

A sad little appliance begging for mercy?" That's actually kind of brutal.

5d ago

My game group switched to a 90 second timer for moves. It broke us in interesting ways.

Wait you actually saw improvement after sticking with it? I was the same way. Hated the idea at first. Thought it would just make everything sloppy and random. But I tried it with my group for Terraforming Mars. Total mess the first two games. By week three we all started reading the board during other people's turns. Planning two moves ahead. The guy who always crushed us actually had to think for once.