I found this guy through a hunting forum, seemed legit with good photos. Sent him my buck from the 2023 season plus $400 deposit, he said 8 weeks turnaround. After 12 weeks of radio silence I drove 3 hours to his shop, found the place locked up with a "Closed for Good" sign. Checked the forum again and saw 4 other people had the same issue with him over the past year. My rack is probably sitting in some storage unit now. Has anyone else had a craftsman just disappear with your stuff?
I showed up at this private pool party in Phoenix thinking I’d just float around and wave, but the pool filter broke halfway through and I got stuck in a silicone tail in 110 degree heat for 45 minutes before someone found a knife to cut me out. Has anyone else had a gig turn into a survival situation like that?
I was stuck with this ugly modern vase no one wanted at my flea market booth, so I rubbed it with vinegar and buried it in my garden for a week to age it. A collector from Texas bought it on the spot thinking it was 1800s Victorian - has anyone else pulled off a fake patina trick that actually worked?
I was transcribing handwritten census forms from 1990 for a temp gig last month, and that stat came up in a footnote. It made me wonder how many folks in offbeat jobs just write something vague to avoid explaining themselves. Has anyone else seen weird job descriptions on official forms?
Last fall I answered a craigslist ad for a 'durability evaluator' at a small funeral supply warehouse in Akron. Turned out they wanted me to literally lie down in different caskets while they slammed the lids and shook the frames to check for rattles. The third one got stuck shut for maybe 90 seconds before they pried it open with a crowbar. I noped out right after that, but has anyone else stumbled into a job that felt straight out of a horror movie?
My cousin runs a small taxidermy place in Portland, and I stopped by to see what it was like. She had a box of 200 deer tails just sitting there, said they're worth more than the meat sometimes. Has anyone else walked into a weird workspace and realized how much stuff people actually pay for?
Back in 2018, I took a weird job sorting scrap wire for a recycling yard over in Portland. I grabbed a spool that looked simple, but it had 200 feet of wire tangled into a bird's nest mess. Took me 72 hours with a pair of pliers and a lot of swearing to get it straight. Has anyone else dealt with wire that seems cursed from the factory?
I thought I was getting into a legit side gig catching and moving rattlers for ranchers, so I bought this pricey grabber and heavy-duty bag set from a online outfitter... The grabber broke on the second use and the bag had a hole I didn't notice until a gopher snake escaped in my truck. Anyone else waste cash on gear that turned out to be junk for a weird job you tried?
I paid a guy $200 last spring to sandbag my basement before a big storm, but he just stacked them loose against the wall without sealing the gaps. When the water came in, it soaked right through and ruined my carpet anyways. Has anyone else run into fake disaster prep workers who don't actually know what they're doing?
Last year I saw an ad for this 'amazing' telescoping window cleaning system with a built-in squeegee and soap dispenser. I ordered it for $150 and waited 4 weeks for delivery from some warehouse in Ohio. When I finally used it, the water bladder broke on my second window and the pole kept collapsing at the worst moments. Has anyone else fallen for those fancy window cleaning kits or found one that actually works for tall windows?
I signed up for a one day junk removal job but ended up spending 8 hours cataloging a collection of 1970s adult films the guy had stashed behind a false wall, and the homeowner kept coming out to ask if I found any "rare ones" like it was a treasure hunt, has anyone else stumbled into something way weirder than the job description promised?
I got paid $15 an hour to sit frozen in a weird pose while art students sketched me. Thought it'd be a breeze but after 45 minutes my arm went dead numb and I couldn't even twitch. The teacher told me to "embrace the discomfort" like it was some zen thing. Has anyone else done modeling gigs that sounded easy but were brutal?
I do flooring installs solo, mostly tile and hardwood. Last year a client in Columbus looked at my layout and said 'this looks like a factory floor, can you mix it up?' I was using the same repeating pattern I had done for 10 years. So I started staggering tile joints randomly and matching the wood grain direction to the room shape instead of the walls. Took me 3 tries to get it right but now clients notice the difference right away. Has anyone else had a customer call out a habit you didn't even know you had?
I saw this guy on Craigslist selling unopened boxes of cameras from a retired photographer's collection for $50 each. Bought 4 of them thinking I'd find some rare vintage Leicas or something. Turned out every single box was full of broken Polaroid OneSteps from the 90s with moldy leather and dead batteries. Has anyone else gotten burned by those mystery auction lots where the seller clearly picked through everything good first?