Appreciation post: My shop's old truing stand was off by 2mm for months

I finally borrowed a Park Tool TS-2.2 from a friend's shop last week and re-checked every wheel I'd built on my old one. The difference in how smooth and quiet the bikes roll out the door now is huge. What's your go-to method for making sure your truing stand is actually true?

That one time a client's check bounced at the Denver coffee shop

I was meeting a new client at a spot on Colfax Avenue to go over a landscaping plan, and they paid me with a check for the deposit. Two days later, my bank called to say it bounced. I had already bought $500 worth of plants and materials. Now I make all new clients pay half upfront through a direct bank transfer or a card before I even order supplies. Has anyone else had to switch their whole payment system after one bad check?

I was reading an old blog post from Ryder Carroll and he said the original bullet journal only had four collections

I mean, I've been adding trackers and weekly spreads and mood charts for ages, thinking that was the whole point. Finding out the guy who made it basically just used an index, a future log, a monthly log, and a daily log kind of blew my mind. It was on his personal site from like 2013. Has anyone else tried going back to just the core four and did it actually work better?

I was stripping wire wrong for a decade until a guy in Tacoma called me out

I always used my lineman's pliers to strip 12/2 Romex, pinching and pulling the sheathing off. Last week, an old timer on a job site in Tacoma saw me do it and said, 'You're crushing the ground wire doing that.' He showed me how to use the cable ripper built into my strippers, just a quick slice and pull. I tried it and the ground wire stayed perfectly round. I've probably been weakening grounds in hundreds of houses without knowing. Anyone else have a basic tool trick they missed for way too long?

Had to pick between a 4 hour game of Twilight Imperium or a 2 hour game of Sushi Go for my birthday party. Guess which one I chose and how it ended?

My brother told me to buy a whole pork shoulder instead of pre-cut chops. Saved me $12 and got 4 meals out of it.

Three years ago I saw a poster in a Portland coffee shop that used a single bold color and a weird font, and I still think about it.

That design broke my usual habit of using safe, clean layouts and made me start collecting photos of street art and old signs for texture ideas, so has anyone else gotten a big push from just one random piece they saw out in the world?

A young rider in Kentucky told me something I still think about

I was trimming a horse at a small stable last fall, and a girl, maybe 12, was watching me work. After I finished, she came over and said, 'Your hands look like they know what to do without you telling them.' It was such a simple thing, but it stuck with me. She saw the years of practice in that one moment. I've been at this for 18 years, and no client has ever put it quite like that. It reminded me why I love teaching apprentices, too. Has a kid or a new client ever said something that made you see your own work differently?

Got tired of hunting for my buffing pads every time

I finally put a pegboard up in my garage to hang all my pads and bonnets. Now everything is in plain sight and easy to grab. What do you guys do to keep your buffing supplies sorted?

Can we talk about my mood board method for ethical inspiration?

I was stuck on a project and really admired another designer's style. I made a mood board to capture the feel without copying, and it turned into my favorite piece this year. What steps do you take to keep your inspiration fresh but honest?