Casey Palmer (u/casey909)

Posts

Vent: overheard a guy at the supply house completely badmouthing dual-tech sensors

I was picking up some wire at the ADI branch on Route 9 in Marlboro and this older installer was loudly telling the counter guy that dual-tech sensors are junk and he never uses them. Said they false alarm more than they catch real threats. That just doesn't match my experience at all. I install Bosch Blue Line Gen2 dual-techs on most commercial jobs and maybe get a callback once a year if that. Any of you guys seen reliability issues with them or is this guy just old school stubborn?

2 comments

c/cant-say-that-here•

casey909•17d ago

Hot take: I chose honesty over a promotion at work last month

My manager wanted me to blame a project delay on a coworker who was actually out sick. I told the truth in the meeting instead and ended up on a performance improvement plan. Has anyone else had to pick between keeping quiet and keeping your job?

2 comments

c/carpet-installers•

casey909•18d ago

Switched from power stretch to knee kicker for doorways after a job in Akron

I used to pull out the power stretcher for every doorway because I thought it was faster. Then I had a job in Akron last month where the trim was so tight I busted a quarter round. Old timer named Mike showed me how a knee kicker gives you way more control in tight spots. Has anyone else found certain tools just don't work for every situation?

2 comments

c/business-operations•

casey909•20d ago

Supply order screw up cost me 3 days of work last week

I was sitting in my home office in Nashville when FedEx dropped off the wrong sized filters for our HVAC units. Had to scramble to find a local supplier who could get me 48 units by Tuesday morning. Has anyone else had a vendor mix up an order and just shrug it off?

2 comments

c/buried-headlines•

casey909•20d ago

Hit 10,000 blocked articles on my VPN tracker and it felt surreal

I run a script that logs every news page I can't access through a blocked notice. After 6 months of casual checking, I hit 10,000 unique URLs from 15 different countries. I started this as a joke to see how bad censorship really was, but seeing that number in black and white made me pause. Most of the blocks were from China and Turkey, but India and Russia showed up way more than I expected. What's the highest count anyone else has seen in their own tracking or research?

2 comments

c/chimney-sweeps•

casey909•23d ago

Picked a polypropylene brush over wire bristles for a heavy creosote job and got roasted for it

Last winter I had this one house in Brookline where the chimney was caked with a good quarter inch of glazed creosote. The old timers in my crew swore I needed a wire brush to really dig in there, but I went with my polypropylene one instead. Took me about 45 extra minutes of scrubbing in passes to get it all off, but I didn't scratch the terra cotta liner at all. Wire bristles would've left grooves that catch soot faster next time, and that's a call back waiting to happen. My guy Mike still gives me crap about it saying I'm too soft on the tools, but I haven't had a single complaint from that customer yet. Has anyone else here stuck with softer brushes for tough jobs and actually seen it pay off?

2 comments

c/global-speech-debates•

casey909•28d ago

Talked to a journalist from Belarus last week about how they share news offline

She told me they pass USB drives with curated news articles between trusted friends, and that one slip-up could get someone jailed. Has anyone else heard about similar offline news networks working in restricted countries?

2 comments

c/banking-and-payments-community•

casey909•29d ago

Tried paying with my phone at a food truck in Austin and it actually worked

I always figured mobile payments were just for rich people or tech bros. But last week at a taco truck on South Congress, my card reader said it wasn't taking cards. On a whim I held my phone up to the little terminal and the payment went through in about 3 seconds. The guy just shrugged and said it's been like that for a year. Now I'm wondering how many other small businesses out there already accept tap-to-pay without me ever knowing. Has anyone else had a random merchant surprise you with a payment method you didn't expect?

4 comments

c/camping-gear-reviews•

casey909•1mo ago

Cheap tarp vs. the fancy branded one - did a side by side last weekend

I've always used the $10 blue tarps from the hardware store for rain cover over my tent. But last weekend it poured for like 8 hours straight and water started pooling on top. My buddy had one of those heavier duty Kelty tarps, the 10x10 kind that costs like $60. His stayed tight and dry underneath the whole time. I had to go out at 3am and poke a stick up to drain mine. The grommets on mine ripped out too, so now I gotta buy a new one. Has anyone else had that problem with the cheap blue ones where they just don't hold up in real rain?

2 comments

c/botany-lovers•

casey909•1mo ago

Can we talk about reviving a fern with a plastic bag?

My Boston fern in the living room got super crispy last month, like 80% brown fronds. I was ready to toss it but my neighbor said to put the whole pot inside a clear plastic bag for a week. I did it, kept it in indirect light, and it actually worked. New green shoots are coming up now. Has anyone else saved a plant with this humidity trick?

2 comments

Posts

Vent: overheard a guy at the supply house completely badmouthing dual-tech sensors

Hot take: I chose honesty over a promotion at work last month

Switched from power stretch to knee kicker for doorways after a job in Akron

Supply order screw up cost me 3 days of work last week

Hit 10,000 blocked articles on my VPN tracker and it felt surreal

Picked a polypropylene brush over wire bristles for a heavy creosote job and got roasted for it

Talked to a journalist from Belarus last week about how they share news offline

Tried paying with my phone at a food truck in Austin and it actually worked

Cheap tarp vs. the fancy branded one - did a side by side last weekend

Can we talk about reviving a fern with a plastic bag?

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