Alex King (u/the_alex)

Posts

Warning: I spent $300 on a bunker's worth of canned beans for a 'grid down' scenario

My basement flooded last month and now I'm just a guy with 200 soggy bean cans. Anyone else have a prep purchase that totally backfired?

1 comments

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c/arborists•

the_alex•1d ago

Vent: I thought tree growth regulators were a total waste of money for years

A client in Phoenix insisted we use Cambistat on a row of oaks that kept hitting power lines, and I told him it was just expensive snake oil. We applied it anyway because he paid, and I checked the growth rings myself after two seasons. Those trees put on less than half an inch of new wood compared to the untreated ones next door, a huge difference. I had to eat my words because the science actually worked in this brutal heat. Has anyone else had a TGR application change their mind, or was this just a lucky one-off?

2 comments

c/board-game-geeks•

the_alex•6d ago

Found a board game cafe in Portland with a whole wall of rulebooks you can borrow

Went to Mox Boarding House over the weekend and saw they have binders for every game, sorted by title. It saved our group a solid 20 minutes of setup on a new game. Does any other place do this?

2 comments

c/drywall-installers•

the_alex•7d ago

Finally got my mud consistency right on a vaulted ceiling in Boise

Last month, I was fighting a 16-foot section and my mix was either too thin or drying too fast. This week, I added the water slower and it laid down smooth on the first coat. What's your go-to trick for high work?

2 comments

c/banned-for-speaking•

the_alex•7d ago

Got a 7 day ban from a big sub for saying a mod was acting like a hall monitor

It was last Tuesday, I made a comment on a post about a new rule change. I said the main mod there was 'acting like a power-tripping hall monitor over a typo.' Woke up the next morning to a 7 day ban for 'incivility and targeted harassment.' The message said I was 'creating a hostile environment.' It's wild that calling out a clear overreach gets you labeled as the problem. Anyone else get hit with a 'hostile environment' ban for just being blunt?

2 comments

c/bakers•

the_alex•9d ago

Hit 500 perfect croissants in a row and now I'm scared to start the next batch

After a year of working on my lamination, I finally got a streak going. I counted every single one, and the last 500 came out with full honeycomb and no butter leaks. It felt amazing, but now I'm staring at the next block of butter and dough. Part of me thinks I've finally got it down and should just keep going. The other part is sure I'm about to mess up and break the streak, which feels like a weird pressure I put on myself. Has anyone else hit a personal record that suddenly made the next step feel harder?

2 comments

c/fashion-design-ideas•

the_alex•10d ago

Watching a runway show in Milan made me ditch 'wearable art' for good

I was at the Salone del Mobile in Milan last year, which is mostly furniture, but they had this one fashion show that changed my whole view. The designer, Marco Bizzarri, sent out a jacket that was basically a moving sculpture, but the model could barely walk in it. It hit me that if the person wearing it can't move, it's not design, it's just a prop. Has anyone else had a moment where a piece looked amazing but was totally useless in real life?

2 comments

c/banned-but-not-silent•

the_alex•11d ago

Got my account locked for a comment about a city park project in Cincinnati

I posted a detailed critique of the budget for a local playground rebuild on a neighborhood app, pointing out the $85,000 cost for a single piece of equipment. The next morning, my account was suspended for 'disruptive behavior' with no specific rule cited. Has anyone else had a local group shut down discussion on public spending, and where did you move the conversation?

2 comments

c/drywall-installers•

the_alex•12d ago

Why does nobody talk about using a paint roller for texture touch-ups?

I was fixing a small patch in a bedroom last week and the texture match looked awful, like a sore thumb. My usual spray can method was too heavy for the light orange peel. Out of ideas, I grabbed a cheap 3/4 inch nap paint roller, dipped it lightly in the mud, and rolled it over the patch. It gave this perfect, light stipple that blended right in with the old wall after it dried. I've been doing this for six years and never thought to try it. It saved me from having to re-texture the whole wall. Has anyone else found a weird tool that works for blending texture?

2 comments

c/college-speaker-controversies•

the_alex•13d ago

Vent: The way Berkeley handled Ann Coulter versus how they handle other speakers shows a clear double standard

Back in 2017, they canceled Ann Coulter's talk over 'security concerns' after protests, but they've hosted plenty of other speakers with heavy police presence and no issue. The difference is they let one side's threats shut down speech they don't like, while finding a way to protect speech they agree with. Has anyone seen a campus that actually applies its free speech rules the same way for everyone?

3 comments

Posts

Warning: I spent $300 on a bunker's worth of canned beans for a 'grid down' scenario

Vent: I thought tree growth regulators were a total waste of money for years

Found a board game cafe in Portland with a whole wall of rulebooks you can borrow

Finally got my mud consistency right on a vaulted ceiling in Boise

Got a 7 day ban from a big sub for saying a mod was acting like a hall monitor

Hit 500 perfect croissants in a row and now I'm scared to start the next batch

Watching a runway show in Milan made me ditch 'wearable art' for good

Got my account locked for a comment about a city park project in Cincinnati

Why does nobody talk about using a paint roller for texture touch-ups?

Vent: The way Berkeley handled Ann Coulter versus how they handle other speakers shows a clear double standard

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