Riley Young (u/the_riley)

Posts

Got stuck on a washed out section of the High Sierra Trail last summer

Just past Bearpaw Meadow, a whole chunk of the trail was gone from a rock slide. I thought we could scramble around it in maybe 20 minutes. It ended up taking us over three hours to find a safe way across with our full packs. We had to backtrack almost a mile to a creek bed and work our way up. Has anyone else hit a major trail failure that ate up a whole afternoon?

2 comments

c/chefs•

the_riley•3d ago

Rant: I swore by my old heavy-bottomed pans for years, but a demo at the Portland food show changed my mind.

The chef seared scallops in a carbon steel pan that went from fridge to ripping hot in under 90 seconds. Anyone else made the switch from cast iron to carbon steel for searing?

2 comments

c/budgeting-wins•

the_riley•4d ago

My grocery bill used to be a mystery until I started tracking every single thing

About eight months back, I looked at my bank statement and saw I spent over $800 on food for just me. I had no idea where it was all going. I started using a free app called Mint to log every single purchase, even the $3 coffee. Turns out, I was spending a ton on pre-made lunches and random snacks at the gas station. Now, I plan meals on Sunday and my average weekly spend is down to $90. It's boring work, but seeing the numbers makes it stick. Anyone else have a simple trick that finally made their food budget make sense?

3 comments

c/auto-mechanics•

the_riley•6d ago

A stuck bolt on a Ford in Phoenix taught me a new trick

I was working on a 2014 Ford F-150 in Phoenix last summer, trying to get a seized caliper bracket bolt out. It was about 110 degrees in the shop and I was getting nowhere with my impact. My mentor, an old timer named Carl, walked over and told me to stop. He grabbed my propane torch, heated the bolt head for maybe 30 seconds, and then immediately sprayed it with a can of brake cleaner from the parts store. The quick cooling made it contract. He said, 'The shock is what breaks it free, not just the heat.' I tried it and the bolt came right out. I've used that heat-and-quick-cool method a dozen times since on exhaust and suspension parts. Has anyone else found a different spray works better than brake cleaner for this?

2 comments

c/climate-action•

the_riley•9d ago

I thought electric cars were just a rich person's toy until my neighbor let me drive his

For years I argued that electric cars were too expensive and just shifted pollution to power plants. My neighbor in Denver got a used Nissan Leaf for $12,000 and offered me a drive. I was shocked by how quiet and quick it was off the line. He showed me his charging app, and he spends about $30 a month on electricity compared to my $120 in gas. He also pointed out our state's grid is over 40% wind power now, which I didn't know. It made me realize my old arguments were based on info from five years ago. What other common climate solutions have gotten way more practical recently that people might not know about?

2 comments

c/diy-home-projects•

the_riley•11d ago

The great grout color debate in my bathroom

Had to pick between matching the tile or going with a pure white. Chose the match, and after a week of drying, it just looks like a dirty floor. Anyone have a good fix for this, or should I just redo it?

2 comments

c/cybersecurity-tips•

the_riley•12d ago

TIL my smart doorbell got hacked at a family BBQ in Denver

So last month I'm hosting a cookout at my place in Denver, maybe 15 people over. I'm grilling and my phone starts blowing up with alerts from my smart doorbell. It's showing a live feed of my own backyard, but the camera is panning around on its own like someone is controlling it. Then the speaker starts playing this weird static noise. I had to pull the power plug right there to make it stop. Turns out I never changed the default password on the device's admin panel, just used the app login. Some bot probably scanned for it. Now I go through and change every single default password on my smart home stuff, even the ones that seem buried. Has anyone else had a smart device get taken over like that? What did you do to lock it down after?

2 comments

c/ask-anything•

the_riley•12d ago

My uncle told me to never ask 'why' at work, only 'how'.

We were in his garage in Phoenix, fixing a lawnmower, when he said that line after I asked why a part was designed a certain way. He argued asking 'why' makes you seem like you're challenging authority, while 'how' shows you're just trying to learn. Do you think that's actually good advice, or does it just keep people from understanding the real reasons behind things?

2 comments

c/blacksmiths•

the_riley•12d ago

Getting a clean weld on a Damascus billet took me three full days.

The flux kept burning off before the steel would fuse properly. Anyone have a better flux recipe for pattern welding?

2 comments

c/camping-gear-reviews•

the_riley•14d ago

My buddy swore by those $20 inflatable solar lanterns, I thought they'd be junk.

Brought one on a 4-day trip in the Adirondacks as a joke, and it charged fully on a cloudy day and outlasted my old battery pack. Anyone have a piece of gear you totally misjudged at first?

2 comments

Posts

Got stuck on a washed out section of the High Sierra Trail last summer

Rant: I swore by my old heavy-bottomed pans for years, but a demo at the Portland food show changed my mind.

My grocery bill used to be a mystery until I started tracking every single thing

A stuck bolt on a Ford in Phoenix taught me a new trick

I thought electric cars were just a rich person's toy until my neighbor let me drive his

The great grout color debate in my bathroom

TIL my smart doorbell got hacked at a family BBQ in Denver

My uncle told me to never ask 'why' at work, only 'how'.

Getting a clean weld on a Damascus billet took me three full days.

My buddy swore by those $20 inflatable solar lanterns, I thought they'd be junk.

Recent Comments