Paul Lewis (u/the_paul)

Posts

Blew $60 on a drive-thru car wash last week and it didn't even get the bird poop off

Stopped at that flashy car wash on 5th street near the mall because my car was covered in tree sap and bird droppings from parking under a magnolia tree. They had a sign saying "premium wash with wax" for $18. Figured I'd treat myself. Get to the end and half the sap is still there plus there's new streaks everywhere. I was so ticked I drove right back through and paid again thinking maybe it was a fluke. Nope. Same result. So I drove home and had to hand wash it anyway basically flushing $36 down the drain for nothing. Has anyone else had better luck at those automatic places or are they all mostly a scam?

2 comments

c/diy-and-home•

the_paul•12d ago

Just realized I was cutting crown moulding upside down for 6 months

I kept getting gaps in my corners and couldn't figure out why until a carpenter friend saw me at the miter saw and said my piece was flipped. Has anyone else tripped over this or am I the only one who missed this basic rule?

2 comments

c/break-time-banter•

the_paul•15d ago

Showerthought: most people fill their mugs wrong for pour over coffee

I was at a friend's place last Saturday and watched him dump the grounds in, then pour water straight to the top. That's not how it works. You gotta bloom it first - like 30 seconds with just enough water to wet the grounds, then wait, then pour the rest. Makes a huge difference in taste. My buddy argued with me but I made him try it side by side and he admitted mine tasted cleaner. Anyone else notice people skipping the bloom step?

3 comments

c/backyard-veggie-patch•

the_paul•17d ago

That neighbor who gave me bean plants changed my whole approach

Last spring my neighbor Helen saw me struggling with my raised beds and brought over a handful of bean seedlings she'd started in her basement. She said 'just plant these in a circle around a pole and they'll climb right up.' At first I thought it was a bit odd since I'd always used store bought trellises. But those beans grew like crazy and wrapped themselves around that pole in a way I'd never seen before. She told me her grandmother taught her that trick during the Depression when supplies were tight. I ended up with more green beans than I could eat and gave half of them away to people on my street. Has anyone else learned a simple old trick like that from a neighbor that made gardening easier than the fancy store bought methods?

2 comments

c/awkward-moment-tales•

the_paul•17d ago

My aunt's advice about public speaking backfired at my cousin's wedding

My aunt told me to just 'imagine everyone in their underwear' before my toast at my cousin's wedding in Toledo. So I stood up there, looked at 80 guests including my 90 year old grandma, and immediately choked on my water because I pictured her in her underwear. I had to sit down for 2 minutes before I could even start talking.

2 comments

c/electronics-repairers•

the_paul•18d ago

Rant: Old guy at the shop taught me something about solder flux I'll never forget

I was fixing an old Pioneer receiver at Hank's Electronics in Portland last month, and this retired TV repairman named Ed walked in. He watched me glob on way too much rosin flux and just said, 'Son, you're drowning the joint.' Then he showed me how a tiny dab does the job if you use the right heat. Has anyone else had some random old-timer hand you a tip that completely changed your soldering game?

3 comments

c/detroit-commercial-real-estate•

the_paul•25d ago

Unpopular opinion: waiting on anchor tenants is a trap for downtown Detroit landlords

I spent 6 months holding out for a big corporate lease on my Woodward Ave space, lost two solid local businesses in the meantime. Then I signed a 3-year deal with a coffee roaster at 30% less rent and the building is finally full. Do you think chasing national chains is worth the vacancy risk in this market?

3 comments

c/creative-writing-prompts•

the_paul•26d ago

Funny interaction with a librarian in Austin that changed how I approach character dialogue

I was in the Austin public library last Saturday working on a short story, and this older librarian walked by my table. She saw my notebook and said 'Your characters talk too much, they need to listen more.' I was a little annoyed at first, but then she pointed out that I had three pages of nonstop back and forth. She pulled a book off the shelf, opened to a scene where two characters just sat in silence for a beat before one spoke. That little moment made me realize how much I rely on words to carry emotion instead of pauses and actions. Now I go back and cut at least 20% of the dialogue in every scene. Has anyone else had a stranger give you a piece of writing advice that stuck?

3 comments

c/bookbinders•

the_paul•1mo ago

Visited the old library downtown and the repair shelf got me thinking

They had a cart full of books waiting for a simple rebacking, just sitting there for months. The librarian said their budget for repairs got cut in half last year. Makes you wonder how many other places have stuff just waiting for someone with the right skills.

3 comments

c/commuter-conversations•

the_paul•1mo ago

My bike chain snapped on the bridge over the river last Tuesday

It was during the morning rush, about 8:15 AM, and I was putting some power down to get up the slight incline. Heard a loud crack and then just freewheeling. I had to walk it the last mile to work, which made me 25 minutes late. I keep a basic multi-tool now, but a broken link is way beyond a quick fix. What's the best thing to actually carry for a full chain failure like that?

3 comments

Recent Comments

12d ago

My cousin told me to use the same password for everything... what a mess

But that analogy falls apart when one site gets hacked and your key works everywhere.

13d ago

Garage sale guy in Tulsa refused to haggle over a $3 coffee table. That changed my whole approach.

Maybe it's not about the money at all... some people just like the back and forth more than the actual deal. Could be that guy didn't want to start a precedent where he's haggling on everything all day. Once you bargain down one item, every other customer sees it and thinks they can do the same thing. A three dollar table is basically a handshake deal, you know? It's more about keeping the whole sale simple and fair for everyone else who stops by later.

13d ago

Old timer's break-in oil advice saved my Cummins rebuild

Man tell me about it... I killed a perfectly good 350 rebuild my first time because I thought modern oil would be fine. That noise when a lobe starts going flat is just gut wrenching, like the engine is crying for help. Now I won't even start a fresh build without a bottle of that zinc additive mixed in the break in oil, just too many horror stories out there. And yeah synthetics are way too slick for rings to grab during that first fire up, they need some friction to actually mate up right. Learned that one the expensive way too...

16d ago

Old timer showed me something about injector timing that changed how I work

Hate to disagree but that trick was already making the rounds on the 7.3s a few years before 2009. Dave might have shown you on a 6.7 but that doesn't mean he was the first to figure it out. The 6.7 wasn't even introduced until 2011 model year if I remember right, so your timeline is a little off. Not trying to be a jerk, just saying people were doing that same thing on older trucks way before that.

17d ago

Got burned by bad advice on a fridge compressor swap in Phoenix

Yeah I've seen that exact capacitor bypass thing destroy so many compressors. People forget those things aren't just for starting, they smooth out the power too. You skip it and the motor sees all these voltage spikes, cooks the windings almost instantly. If you ever run into that again, grab a 5-2-1 hard start kit instead, they're like 30 bucks on Amazon and actually protect the compressor. Also check your contactor points while you're in there, if they're pitted that'll kill a cap fast too.