Old timer at the co-op told me to stop using Park Tool grease on everything

Back when I started wrenching at a community bike co-op in Portland, this guy named Jerry who had been fixing bikes since the 70s kept telling me I was wasting money on that blue Park Tool grease for bottom brackets. He said just grab whatever marine grease from the auto parts store for half the price and it'll outlast the frame. I thought he was crazy because everyone online swore by the name brand stuff for anything bearing related. After 2 years of using his trick on my personal bike and dozens of customer bikes, I finally had to open up a BB that had been sitting in rain for 18 months. That marine grease was still perfect, no water got in and the bearings were smooth. Now I only use the fancy stuff for headset installation where I want that precise feel. Anyone else have an old school mechanic give you advice that ended up saving you cash?

Got hit with a $400 phishing scam through a fake invoice email last month

I run a small auto shop in Austin and got an email that looked exactly like my parts supplier's invoice system. It asked me to verify a $400 order for brake pads I didnt recognize. I clicked the link and it took me to a fake login page where I typed my credentials. Two days later someone had ordered $1200 worth of tools using my saved payment info. Has anyone else dealt with fake supplier invoices targeting small businesses?

Spent $180 on a Festool track saw and it burned me bad

I bought a Festool TS 55 track saw thinking it would change my life cutting plywood. Paid $180 for a used one off Craigslist, but the guy didn't mention the blade was warped. First cut on a sheet of birch, it chattered and left burn marks all over. Took me two hours to realize the arbor was bent too. Now I'm stuck with a paperweight until I find replacement parts. Anyone else get burned buying used tools from random sellers?

Had a painter tell me I was using too much primer on trim and he was right

Last year I was painting all the trim in my 1920s house in Portland. I kept doing three coats of primer because I thought more would hide the old wood grain better. Then a friend who paints houses for a living came by and told me I was wasting time and money. He said one good coat of oil-based primer is all you need if you sand and clean the wood right first. I tried his way on the living room baseboards and the finish came out smoother than any of my triple-primed work. Saved me about $40 on primer and two days of work for the whole house. Has anyone else had good luck cutting down on primer coats?

Discovered that painter's tape is not just for painting after using it to label every wire before replacing a light fixture in our 1920s house

I spent a full Saturday tracing unlabeled knob-and-tube wiring in the attic before I tried flagging each wire with a small piece of tape and a sharpie, and it saved me three hours of guessing which black wire went where, has anyone else found a weird second use for a basic tool like that?

Rant: Paid $200 for a "premium" streaming add-on and it ruined my whole weekend binge

Switched my profile pictures after a friend told me to smile less and it actually worked

I used to have all these pictures with big cheesy smiles thinking that's what guys wanted to see. After 3 months of almost no matches on Bumble my buddy said my photos looked fake like I was trying too hard. So I swapped most of them for pictures where I'm just looking normal or laughing at something real. One is me holding a coffee cup mid-conversation at a shop in Portland. Matches went from maybe 1 a week to 4 in the first 3 days. Anyone else find that forced smiles kill your vibe in profile pics?

My grandma's coffee can was our family bank for 30 years

I was visiting my grandma last week and she still has that old Folgers can where she kept her emergency cash. She told me younger neighbors laugh at her for not using an app to pay for stuff. But last month when the card network went down for 4 hours in our town, who was the only one who could buy bread at the corner store? Yep, grandma and her coffee can. People keep saying cash is dead but they forget that not everyone has a smartphone or trust their bank to just work. Anyone else still keep a little cash hidden somewhere just in case?

Rant: Spent 3 hours fixing a broom finish on a driveway in Phoenix last week

Tbh I realized I've been using too much water on my surface before brooming - the sun here dries it out so fast it looked like a mess. Anyone else have tricks for keeping a consistent finish in desert heat?

Heard a buddy claim the Great Wall of China is the only manmade thing visible from space. That can't be right, can it?

I was hanging out at a barbecue last weekend and my friend Dan swore up and down that astronauts can see the Great Wall from the moon with just their eyeballs. I kinda laughed it off but then he doubled down and said he read it in a book from school. But I remember hearing somewhere that it's actually a myth because the wall is too narrow and blends in with the terrain. Supposedly the whole thing started with a guy in the 1700s or something before anyone even flew. Now I'm wondering if it's one of those lies that got repeated so often people just believed it. Has anyone here actually looked into where that claim came from or talked to someone who's been to space? I'd love to know if there's any real evidence one way or the other.