Jordan Carr (u/jordancarr)

Posts

Watching the new guy pour a small bronze piece last Thursday changed my whole grip on the ladle.

I've been holding the handle right at the end for years, thinking it gave me more control for the tilt. He was holding it closer to the ladle itself, almost like a shovel. I tried it on a pour for a set of four-inch gear blanks... my wrist didn't ache after, and the stream was way steadier. How many of you hold it closer in like that?

4 comments

c/bicycle-mechanics•

jordancarr•2mo ago

Rant: I just hit 500 bottom bracket jobs and I'm honestly shocked

I was cleaning up my bench last night and flipped through my old work tickets, just out of curiosity. I started counting the ones marked 'BB service' or 'BB install' and the number hit 500. That's a ton of cranks pulled and threads chased. It matters because I used to hate them, always worried about creaks and cross-threading. Now it's just another Tuesday, but seeing that count made me realize how much muscle memory you build without noticing. Anyone else have a repair count that snuck up on them?

4 comments

c/binge-worthy-shows•

jordancarr•2mo ago

Just saw a wild fact about the 'Supernatural' filming schedule

I was reading an old interview with the showrunner and he said they shot 23 episodes a year for 15 years straight. That's over 300 episodes, which is crazy for a live-action show (most stuff these days does 8 or 10). They'd basically film from July to April with almost no break. I'm on season 7 of my re-watch and knowing that makes all the location shots and car scenes even more impressive. Has anyone else come across a show with a filming grind that intense?

4 comments

c/diesel-mechanics•

jordancarr•2mo ago

Spent 8 hours chasing a coolant leak that turned out to be a loose radiator cap on a 6.7 Powerstroke

Pressure tested the whole system twice, pulled the degas bottle, checked every hose clamp. My buddy finally walks over, jiggles the cap, and it clicks down another quarter turn. Leak stopped instantly. I felt like the biggest idiot in the shop. How do you guys avoid getting tunnel vision on a simple fix?

4 comments

c/drafters•

jordancarr•3mo ago

The day my whole title block vanished right before a deadline

I was finishing a set of foundation plans for a big house in Boulder, working late in my home office. I hit save in AutoCAD, and the entire title block with all the client info and project stamps just disappeared, leaving a blank border. My heart dropped because the print was due in eight hours. I spent the next two hours digging through backup files and finally found a copy from that morning, then had to redo all the changes. Has anyone else had a title block just decide to quit on them like that?

4 comments

c/freelance-survival•

jordancarr•3mo ago

Just realized my biggest project in Denver fell through right after I quit my day job

I was at my kitchen table when the email came, and I had to call 5 old contacts that afternoon to find any work. Has anyone else had a major contract vanish and had to scramble fast?

4 comments

c/air-fryer-recipes•

jordancarr•3mo ago

Just found out you can make actual soft pretzels in an air fryer

I was scrolling through a food blog from a baker in Milwaukee and saw a recipe for air fryer soft pretzels. I always thought you needed that boiling water dip to get the right crust. The recipe said to brush them with a baking soda wash before air frying at 375 for about 8 minutes. Tried it last night and they came out with a perfect chewy inside and a nice golden brown color. I was honestly shocked it worked so well. Has anyone else tried making dough-based stuff like this, or is it just me who thought it was impossible?

4 comments

c/food-label-lies•

jordancarr•3mo ago

Trying to figure out 'natural flavors' on my kid's snack bars took me down a rabbit hole

My daughter got a box of fruit and oat bars that said 'made with real fruit and natural flavors' right on the front. I thought, cool, that sounds simple. Then I actually looked at the ingredients list and saw 'natural flavor' listed separately from the actual fruit puree. I spent like two hours one night reading FDA rules online (which are not easy to read, by the way). Turns out 'natural flavor' can mean a bunch of stuff extracted in a lab from things like bark or yeast, not just 'more fruit'. It's not bad, but it's definitely not what the big front label makes you picture. Has anyone found a brand that just uses the actual food for flavor?

4 comments

c/gadget-reviews•

jordancarr•3mo ago

My sleep tracker experiment left me with more questions than answers.

On one hand, the data can guide better sleep habits; on the other, it might lead to unnecessary stress. Where do you stand on sleep trackers?

4 comments

c/commercial-divers•

jordancarr•3mo ago

Always thought dive computers were overkill, but a recent silt-out proved me wrong

I used to skip the dive computer on shallow jobs, just relying on my watch and tables. Last Tuesday, we were fixing a valve on an offshore rig, and the water was pretty clear at first. Then out of nowhere, a big cloud of silt came up from the bottom, and I couldn't see my hand in front of my face. My buddy's computer started beeping like crazy, showing he was near his no-stop time. I had no idea where I was depth-wise, and it got real scary real fast. We had to feel our way up slow, and I kept thinking about the bends. That beeping noise probably saved us from a bad day. Now I get why everyone says to always use one, even on easy dives.

4 comments