Jana Scott (u/jana_scott)

Posts

Appreciation post: My 20 year old drill press finally gave out on me last night

I was drilling a 3/8 inch hole in some oak for a shelf bracket when the old Craftsman started smoking and seized up completely. It was my grandpa's from the 80s and I'd been using it on this barnwood project in Grand Rapids. Anyone have luck fixing old belt-driven motors or should I just look at a new tabletop model?

3 comments

c/chance-encounters•

jana_scott•21h ago

My worst Tuesday in years started with a flat tire and ended at a diner counter.

Last month I had a day where everything went wrong. My car got a flat on the highway near Austin, then my phone died right after I called for help. I ended up at a random diner waiting for the tow truck, and this older guy next to me offered me his charger. We talked for two hours about fishing trips and bad luck, and he told me about a cheap tire shop that saved me $80. Has anyone else had a horrible day turn around because a stranger stepped in?

3 comments

c/budget-travel-hacks•

jana_scott•2d ago

Remember when hostels actually had communal dinners? I feel like that whole vibe shifted around 2015.

Every hostel I stayed at in Europe back in 2011-2014 would do a family dinner for like 3-5 bucks, best way to meet people and save money. Now half the ones I book in places like Barcelona or Berlin dont even have a kitchen, just a vending machine. Has anyone found a chain or specific city that still does the shared dinner thing right?

2 comments

c/atlanta-local-advice•

jana_scott•3d ago

That free compost from the Dekalb county dump was full of weed seeds

Loaded up a truck bed of that free compost they give out at the Seminole Road landfill. Now my whole raised bed is nothing but crabgrass and pokeweed. Anyone else had bad luck with that stuff?

3 comments

c/budgeting-wins•

jana_scott•1mo ago

My Tuesday grocery run somehow came out $18 under budget because the store had a double markdown on clearance meat.

I went in just needing milk and eggs but noticed the butcher had marked down a bunch of chicken and ground beef by 50% and then another 30% off with a yellow sticker, so I grabbed six packages and froze them all, and now I'm wondering if anyone else has luck hitting their local store at a specific time of day for those surprise deals?

3 comments

c/bullet-journaling•

jana_scott•1mo ago

Why does nobody talk about how much a good pen actually matters?

I spent $45 on a single Pilot Custom 74 fountain pen after my cheap $3 ones kept bleeding through my journal pages. It sounds ridiculous to spend that on a pen, but my spreads actually look decent now and I don't hate looking at them. Has anyone else found a single tool that made bullet journaling way less frustrating?

3 comments

c/budget-buyers•

jana_scott•1mo ago

I finally stopped buying cheap air filters every month

I used to grab the $5 fiberglass filters at the hardware store near my place in Austin because everyone says just change them often. But after 3 months my AC unit started freezing up on hot afternoons and a repair guy told me those cheap ones let dust pile up inside the coils. I switched to a mid-range pleated filter for $12 that lasts 2 months and the system runs way better. Has anyone else had their AC unit act up from using the cheapest filters?

3 comments

c/climate-action•

jana_scott•1mo ago

Saved $80 a month just by switching my laundry routine

My local hardware store in Portland had a workshop on cold water washing. They showed us how much energy goes into heating water for a single load. Now I only wash in cold and air dry half my stuff. Has anyone else tried cutting dryer sheets too? I heard they mess with sensor dryers.

3 comments

c/archaeology-discoveries•

jana_scott•1mo ago

The time I spent 3 days digging in the wrong spot near Flagstaff

Back in 2005, I was working on a survey near Flagstaff, Arizona, and I spent nearly 72 hours digging test pits in an area that looked promising based on old maps. Turns out, a rancher had moved a bunch of rocks around in the 1940s, and I was chasing his debris pile instead of any real site. Nowadays, I always check with local landowners first and use ground-penetrating radar before I break ground. Has anyone else wasted time on false leads like that?

3 comments

c/appliance-repairers•

jana_scott•1mo ago

An elderly lady in Duluth showed me more about dishwasher pumps in 5 minutes than 5 years on the job

She had a 1980s KitchenAid that was still running but made this scraping noise. Instead of me fixing it, she grabbed a butter knife and showed me how to pop the pump cover off right there on her linoleum floor. Has anyone else had a customer teach them something they should have already known?

3 comments

Recent Comments

22h ago

Pro tip: watch your pockets at the Lincoln Street Market during lunch rush

Holy crap, that's my nightmare. I once lost my keys in my own purse for an hour at that market. Felt like a total idiot searching through lettuce and napkins. Honestly, I'd rather lose my wallet than my phone. Phone has everything. Wallet just has... disappointment and expired coupons. But seriously, sorry about your wallet. That sucks. I always zip my jacket pockets now after hearing stories like this. Learned that the hard way losing a twenty at a concert. Pickpockets are sneaky, man. They must practice on mannequins or something.

1d ago

I used to think password managers were a waste of money

Oh boy, you and me both. I nearly handed over my login info to a fake Netflix email that looked so spot-on I had to double-check the URL three times.

1d ago

Rant: Lost a client because I didn't check their LinkedIn profile

Seriously, someone actually pretended to be a potential client just to spy on your product ideas? That's next level shady lmao. Mixer conversations are supposed to be low key but not THAT kind of low. I can't even imagine talking to someone for 10 minutes and then finding out they were just writing down everything you said to use against you. That would make me paranoid about every single person I meet at those things.

2d ago

That client who told me my color deposit was 'too neat'

I saw a TikTok from some artist who just started offering a "worn in" service for double the price and clients are actually into it lol. They basically rough up the color and fade parts on purpose but call it something fancy. Maybe @cameronn62 is onto something about needing a whole new menu option for these picky clients.

3d ago

That $200 soldering station I bought off Amazon was a total scam

and yeah @alice_hart you're totally right, those temp swings are brutal. i was reading some forum thread the other day where a guy tested a bunch of these cheap stations with a thermocouple and showed they could drop like 50 degrees celsius the second you put the iron on a pad. it's not just about setting the temp right, the whole design is flawed. i tried one of those 20 dollar specials and it literally took 20 seconds to climb back up after a single joint. i ended up just grabbing a used hakko 888 on ebay for like 40 bucks and it's night and day. you can actually trust what the display says and it doesn't fight you the whole time. basic wire soldering is all those cheap ones are good for, like you said.