A stripped screw on a Leica M3 taught me to check my tools first

Last month in my shop, I was working on a customer's Leica M3 and a tiny screw on the film advance stripped out. I realized my go-to JIS driver was worn down from years of use. I ordered a new set from a supplier in Chicago and the next job went smooth. How often do you all check your screwdrivers for wear?

My sister said my color work was too safe and it got to me

We were at a family thing last weekend and she looked at my portfolio. She pointed at a balayage I did and said 'It's pretty, but it looks like every other balayage on Instagram.' I've been doing hair for eight years and always thought being reliable was the goal. Now I'm wondering if I'm holding back on being creative because I'm scared of a bad review. How do you find the line between giving people what they want and trying something new?

Trying to explain a simple supply chain delay got me shut down fast

At work, a big shipment was late because a truck broke down in Ohio. When our manager asked why, I started to say the real reason, but my coworker cut me off and said "vendor issues." Later, he told me the boss hates hearing about equipment problems and thinks it's an excuse. That whole thing, which should have taken ten seconds to explain, turned into a fifteen minute chat about what we're 'allowed' to say. Has your boss ever banned a totally normal explanation?

My old boss swore by a 6-inch taping knife for inside corners, and I finally get it

He told me 'a skinny knife gives you control a 10-inch can't' when I was learning in his crew in Phoenix. I fought it for ages, but after a really bad job with wavy mud, I switched and the next three houses went up smooth. What's your go-to corner knife size?

Update: My friend in Singapore tried to send me a meme about their government last week

It was just a silly cartoon, but their messaging app blocked it instantly. We had to switch to a different app just to share a joke. Has anyone else had a normal chat get weirdly censored like that?

I always thought weighing flour was a waste of time until my cookies kept spreading

For years, I just scooped flour right from the bag with a measuring cup. My chocolate chip cookies would always turn out flat and greasy, no matter what recipe I used. Last weekend, after my third batch in a row looked like sad little pancakes, I finally bought a cheap $12 kitchen scale. I weighed the flour for the same recipe, and it was almost a quarter cup more than my usual scoop! That extra flour made all the difference. The next batch held their shape perfectly and were chewy in the middle. I feel silly for fighting it for so long. Has anyone else had a baking problem that was totally fixed by just using a scale?

Found a copy of 'The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian' in a Little Free Library in my Ohio town last month.

It had a note inside from a parent saying it was 'too mature' for the school list and they were getting rid of it. I read it and it just felt so REAL, you know? The book's been challenged a lot for language and themes, but it's a story about a kid trying to find his place. Has anyone else found a banned book in a really normal spot like that?

My kraut was always too soft until I saw a video about salt weight

I've been making sauerkraut in my kitchen for about a year now, and I could never figure out why it always came out mushy instead of crunchy. I packed it in a jar, added salt, and hoped for the best. Then last week, I watched a video from a guy in Vermont who showed his setup. He said you need 2% salt by weight of the cabbage, not just a random pinch. I was using maybe half that. I tried it on my last batch, weighing 500 grams of cabbage and using exactly 10 grams of salt. The difference is huge. It's been fermenting for 5 days now and it's already way more crisp. I guess I was basically letting bad bacteria grow by not using enough salt to protect it. Has anyone else had a total texture turnaround after fixing their salt ratio?

I picked the cheap fitness tracker over the smartwatch and it's been a game changer for my runs.

Hot take: People keep saying 'shadowbanning' is new, but I saw it happen on a forum back in 2009.

I was active on a small gaming forum that got bought out, and overnight, certain users' posts just stopped showing up in threads unless you were logged in as them. The mods never admitted it, but we all figured it out. It matters because it shows these quiet censorship tricks have been around way before the big social media platforms got big. Has anyone else got an old, clear example of this from before 2010?