Emery Chen (u/emerychen)

Posts

Rant: My boss shut down my idea about the office coffee fund at the Monday meeting

I was in our weekly team meeting and I said we should maybe switch from the cheap stuff to a local roaster, like that place on 5th Street, because it's only $2 more per bag. My boss cut me off and said 'That's not on the agenda, Emery, we're talking about Q3 numbers.' I just wanted better coffee (and maybe a morale boost, you know?). Has anyone else had a totally normal suggestion get shut down like that at work?

2 comments

c/bookbinders•

emerychen•8d ago

Finally got my head around rounding spines after a year of lumpy backs

I used to just eyeball it with a hammer, but my mentor in Austin showed me how to use a proper rounding jack last month. Anyone have a favorite method for getting that perfect curve?

3 comments

c/brain-computer-interface•

emerychen•8d ago

Appreciation post: got my first clean P300 signal after moving my setup

I mean, I was getting so much noise from my old apartment's wiring, idk, it was a mess. I moved the whole rig to my friend's place in Boulder last weekend, just a quiet spot in his basement, and ran the OpenBCI Ganglion board again. The signal cleared up like magic, maybe 60% less baseline drift. Has anyone else had to pick a whole new room just to get a clean read?

3 comments

c/entrepreneur-advice•

emerychen•11d ago

Sent a cold email to a company in Boise and they actually replied

I needed some feedback on my prototype, so I sent a short email to the founder of a small tech firm there. I didn't expect anything back, but she answered in 20 minutes and gave me two solid tips. The main one was to cut my pricing page from three options down to two. Has anyone else gotten good advice from a simple cold outreach?

2 comments

c/dredge-operators•

emerychen•13d ago

Just lost a full day's pay on a bad hose clamp in the Columbia River

Was running my 8-inch cutterhead near Astoria and a cheap clamp on the discharge hose blew. Cost me about $800 in downtime and repairs for a part that was maybe $15. Should have just bought the heavy-duty ones from the start. Anyone have a go-to brand for high-pressure fittings that actually hold up?

2 comments

c/budgeting-wins•

emerychen•19d ago

My coffee habit was costing me a small fortune until I did the math

For years, I'd grab a latte on my way to work every single morning without thinking about it. It was just part of my routine, like putting on my boots. Then last month, my partner and I were looking at our bank statement and I decided to add it all up. I was spending about $5.50 a day, five days a week. That's over $110 a month, just on coffee! I bought a simple French press for $25 and a bag of good beans. Now I make it at the station before my shift starts. It tastes just as good, and I'm saving close to $90 a month. It's crazy how one small change can add up so fast. Has anyone else cut back on a daily purchase and been shocked by the savings?

2 comments

c/cable-installers•

emerychen•20d ago

The worst week of my career was in February, all because of one attic.

I got sent to an old house in the historic district to run a new line. The attic was maybe two feet high at the peak, packed with blown-in insulation, and it was 95 degrees outside. I spent over four hours up there, cutting in a new drop and fishing wire through three separate fire blocks. The debate I keep having with myself is whether I should have just refused the job on safety grounds or pushed through because the customer needed service. Has anyone else had a crawl space so bad you considered walking off the job?

2 comments

c/florists•

emerychen•23d ago

Heard a customer at the market say 'real florists only use local flowers'

That got me thinking, is it better to push the local angle hard, or is it okay to use imported blooms for variety? I had a bride last month who specifically wanted proteas, which I had to source from overseas. What's your shop's policy on this?

3 comments

c/arborists•

emerychen•23d ago

I spent a whole afternoon on a stump that should have been a morning job

Got called out to a place in the old part of town last month for a stump removal. The homeowner said the tree was gone, just needed the stump ground. Looked simple enough, maybe two feet across. My old boss would have had it done before lunch. But the roots were a mess, all tangled with the foundation of a brick garden wall that must have been there for fifty years. Every time I thought I was clear, the grinder would hit another hidden root or a piece of buried brick. What I figured would take two hours max turned into almost six, just picking and grinding, picking and grinding. It felt like the tree was fighting me from the grave. Anyone else ever get completely bogged down by something that looked easy from the street?

3 comments

Posts

Rant: My boss shut down my idea about the office coffee fund at the Monday meeting

Finally got my head around rounding spines after a year of lumpy backs

Appreciation post: got my first clean P300 signal after moving my setup

Sent a cold email to a company in Boise and they actually replied

Just lost a full day's pay on a bad hose clamp in the Columbia River

My coffee habit was costing me a small fortune until I did the math

The worst week of my career was in February, all because of one attic.

Heard a customer at the market say 'real florists only use local flowers'

I spent a whole afternoon on a stump that should have been a morning job

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