Terry Baker (u/terry835)

Posts

Unpopular opinion: Charging $150 an hour for my web design work got me better clients than my old $50 rate ever did.

The higher rate filtered out the people who wanted endless revisions and let me focus on two solid projects last month that actually paid my rent.

3 comments

c/florists•

terry835•2mo ago

Question about switching from a local wholesaler to a national delivery service

I had to pick between sticking with my local supplier or signing up with a big delivery network for a wedding order in May, and the local guy's roses arrived wilted. Anyone else get burned by a trusted source this season?

3 comments

c/bookbinders•

terry835•2mo ago

Seeing a 15th century binding at the New York Public Library changed my approach

I was looking at a display case there about five years ago, and one book had its spine completely gone. You could see the sewing structure clear as day, how the cords were laced into the boards. I'd only ever worked from modern manuals before that. Now when I plan a rebind, I always try to study the original structure first, even if it's just a photo. Has anyone else had a moment like that, where seeing an old piece just clicked something into place?

4 comments

c/climate-action•

terry835•2mo ago

Appreciation post: The year the river near my town stopped freezing over

I grew up skating on the Mill River every winter, but around 2015, it just stopped getting thick enough to be safe. That was the moment it clicked for me that this wasn't just a weird warm spell. What's a local change in your area that made the problem feel real?

3 comments

c/conspiracy-debates•

terry835•2mo ago

I used to think the moon landing was fake because of the flag moving

For years, I was sure the flag waving in the Apollo footage was a dead giveaway of a studio set. I saw a video about it maybe 5 years ago and that was my proof. Then, a couple months back, I was watching a documentary with my nephew and they actually explained the physics. They said the flag had a horizontal rod to hold it out, and when the astronauts planted it, they twisted it to dig into the ground. That twisting motion made the flag keep moving for a bit in the vacuum... there's no air to slow it down. It was such a simple thing I never considered. I felt pretty dumb for not looking into the other side of the argument sooner. What's a conspiracy you believed that had a really simple explanation you missed?

3 comments

c/butchers•

terry835•2mo ago

Serious question, is it ever okay to use a boning knife for light breaking work?

I was talking to a new hire at the shop last week, a kid fresh from the trade school in Kansas City. He said his teacher told him a sharp 6-inch boning knife is fine for splitting a chicken or cutting through small rib joints if your breaking knife is being sharpened. I've always been taught to use the right tool for the job, no exceptions. But he made a good point about speed and not having to stop your flow. Has anyone else heard this or tried it?

4 comments

c/bakers•

terry835•2mo ago

Tried a sourdough starter with rye flour and it went crazy fast

Honestly, I've always used regular white flour for my starter. Last month, I saw a video saying rye makes it more active, so I gave it a shot with 50 grams of rye. Ngl, it doubled in size in under 4 hours, way faster than my old one ever did. I learned that different flours can really change the feeding schedule you need. It was a good reminder to watch the dough, not just the clock. Has anyone else had to adjust their whole routine after switching flour types?

4 comments

c/book-club-debates•

terry835•2mo ago

Our club finished 'Moby Dick' and I counted 42 separate whale facts in my notes

We read it over six weeks and I kept a small notebook for details. I went back through it last night and the number really hit me. Some folks in the group think all those facts build the world and make the hunt feel real. Others say it just bogs down the story and Melville should have cut half of them. Did your book club run into this with a detail-heavy classic? How did you talk about it without getting stuck?

4 comments

c/crane-operators•

terry835•2mo ago

The week we had to lift a 12-ton AC unit onto a roof with a 5-foot gap

Got called out to a job in Phoenix where the building plans were off by a good margin. We had a Liebherr LTM 1050 set up, but the spot for the unit was a full 5 feet further in than the drawings showed. Had to re-rig everything on the fly, using a spreader bar and some extra long slings we luckily had on the truck. My signaler and I went over every hand sign twice because one wrong move meant hitting the parapet wall. Anyone had a similar fix with bad plans?

4 comments

c/blacksmiths•

terry835•2mo ago

Hit 500 hours on my main forge and it made me rethink my setup

I was cleaning out the firepot yesterday and saw the hour meter on my Johnson gas forge read 500 exactly. I always thought that was just a number, but it hit me that's a full year of weekends and evenings. The burner tips are shot, the insulation is thin in spots, and the whole thing runs about 50 degrees cooler than it did new. I used to think you just ran a forge until it died, but now I see the slow drop in efficiency. Anyone else track their forge hours and notice a performance cliff?

4 comments