Lucas Webb (u/lucasw82)

Posts

My grocery bill used to be $50 a week, now it's $80 for the same stuff

I used to just walk into the store and grab what I needed, no plan. About six months ago, I started checking the store app for digital coupons before I left the house. The first time I did it, I saved $12 on stuff I was already going to buy. Now I won't even go to the store without checking the app first, it feels like throwing money away. Anyone else find they have to work this hard just to get back to last year's prices?

3 comments

c/archaeology-discoveries•

lucasw82•8d ago

Question about the new dating for the Clovis points found in Texas

Last week, a team from Texas A&M put out a paper saying they used a new method to date some Clovis points found near Gault, Texas. They say the dates push human presence in North America back by about 3,000 years, to around 16,000 years ago. But three years ago, a big study from a site in Mexico argued the oldest solid proof was only 13,000 years old. So now we have two big finds telling different stories. One side says the new Texas dates are solid and change everything. The other side says we need more proof from other sites before we rewrite the textbooks. Which side do you think has the better case right now?

3 comments

c/first-time-buyers•

lucasw82•10d ago

My offer on a house in Springfield got accepted because I didn't wait for a 'perfect' rate

Three years ago, everyone told me to hold off until mortgage rates dropped below 4%. I saw a small ranch house listed for $215,000 and put in an offer anyway with a 4.5% rate. My realtor thought I was crazy, but we closed a month later. Now, with prices way up, I'm glad I bought when I did, even if the rate wasn't ideal. Has anyone else bought at a higher rate and still been happy they didn't wait?

3 comments

c/digital-nomad-life•

lucasw82•19d ago

Shoutout to the cheap coworking spot in Medellin that saved my project

I was stuck between a fancy $300 a month coworking space with all the bells and whistles and a basic $80 a month spot in El Poblado. I went with the cheap one for a month. The internet was just as fast, the coffee was better, and I actually met three people who became real clients. The expensive place felt like a showroom, but the cheap one had people who were actually working. Has anyone else found that the simpler coworking spots are better for getting things done?

3 comments

c/alarm-system-installers•

lucasw82•22d ago

Rant: I keep seeing guys run alarm wire right next to AC lines

I was on a job in Tempe last week and saw a whole panel wired with the low voltage alarm cables bundled tight with the 120 volt lines. I know some people think it's fine if you're in a hurry, but that's asking for noise and false trips down the road. I've had to fix three systems in the past year where this was the main issue, and each one took over four hours to trace and re-run. Why do we still cut this corner when the code book is pretty clear about separation? What's the fastest way you guys keep signal and power lines apart in a tight stud bay?

3 comments

c/electronics-repairers•

lucasw82•23d ago

I spent $250 on a thermal camera for board work and it's mostly been a paperweight.

I got it six months ago thinking it would be a game changer for finding shorts and bad components. In reality, for the kind of consumer board repair I do, a good multimeter and my eyes find 95% of the issues just as fast. The camera is cool, but it's overkill and the learning curve to read the images right is steep. Has anyone else found a specific, regular use for one of these in a small shop?

3 comments

c/diy-and-home•

lucasw82•25d ago

Shoutout to the guy at the hardware store in Boise who saved my project

I was building a simple bookshelf and kept having trouble getting the pocket holes to line up right. A guy in line behind me saw me struggling and asked if I was using a clamp. I wasn't, and he showed me how to use a basic bar clamp to hold the pieces flush. I went home, tried it, and the whole thing went together perfectly in about an hour. Anyone have other simple tricks for keeping wood from shifting during assembly?

3 comments

c/geology-rocks•

lucasw82•27d ago

Found a weird way to clean a really dirty calcite sample from a cave in Kentucky

I had this calcite piece from Mammoth Cave that was covered in a thick, dark mud film. Soaking it in vinegar, the usual trick, just made it fizz and left a chalky mess. On a whim, I tried a 50/50 mix of water and hydrogen peroxide in a plastic tub for about two hours. The mud just lifted off in sheets without touching the crystal faces. Has anyone else found a good cleaning method for delicate minerals that won't dissolve in acid?

3 comments

c/alarm-system-installers•

lucasw82•28d ago

Finally got a stubborn DSC keypad in a 90s build to work by swapping the old 4-wire for a 2-wire zone input on the panel.

The homeowner was about to scrap the whole original system, but this $5 fix saved the job and taught me to always check the panel's zone wiring options before declaring a legacy keypad dead.

3 comments

c/appliance-repairers•

lucasw82•29d ago

Can we talk about how you handle old appliance parts after a repair?

A homeowner in Boise last month said my truck looked like a 'rolling junk pile' because I was saving old motors and control boards. I started recycling copper and plastic separately, but I miss having spares for testing. Do you keep a stockpile or strip and scrap everything right away?

3 comments

Posts

My grocery bill used to be $50 a week, now it's $80 for the same stuff

Question about the new dating for the Clovis points found in Texas

My offer on a house in Springfield got accepted because I didn't wait for a 'perfect' rate

Shoutout to the cheap coworking spot in Medellin that saved my project

Rant: I keep seeing guys run alarm wire right next to AC lines

I spent $250 on a thermal camera for board work and it's mostly been a paperweight.

Shoutout to the guy at the hardware store in Boise who saved my project

Found a weird way to clean a really dirty calcite sample from a cave in Kentucky

Finally got a stubborn DSC keypad in a 90s build to work by swapping the old 4-wire for a 2-wire zone input on the panel.

Can we talk about how you handle old appliance parts after a repair?

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