I finally tracked my home's energy use for a full year

My total came out to 8,200 kWh, which is way lower than the 12,000 kWh average for my area. Has anyone else done this and been surprised by their numbers?

A rainstorm in Seattle showed me why I needed a proper vapor barrier

Honestly, I was finishing the drywall in my 12x16 studio when a heavy rain hit for three days straight. I started to see dark spots forming on the new wall near the base. My buddy who builds houses came over, poked the drywall, and said, 'You skipped the 6 mil poly, didn't you?' He was right, I had just used insulation with a paper backing. I had to tear out a whole section, put up the proper plastic sheeting, and start over. Has anyone else in a wet climate had to fix this after the fact?

TIL my studio's floor leveling took almost a month to get right

The concrete slab had a subtle slope I didn't catch, and fixing it with self-leveling compound became a whole saga of waiting for it to cure and re-checking. Anyone else have a simple fix turn into a major time sink?

Appreciation post: The Denver airport's new parking payment kiosks only use color to show which card slot is active.

I was there yesterday and it's a huge fail because the green and red lights look identical to me, so I had to guess which slot to use.

My friend swears by skipping filler arcs, but I finally tried watching One Piece's 'Skypiea' arc at 1.5x speed and it actually made the whole thing way more fun.

I'm torn because part of me feels like this is a cheap trick that ruins the pacing, but the other part thinks it's the only way to get through some of the slower 200-episode sagas without quitting, so what's the verdict: is speed-watching filler a legit strategy or total sacrilege?

Stuck for 4 hours on a phantom door lock fault in a 20-year-old hydraulic unit. The limit switch was fine, but the cam adjustment was a quarter-turn off.

My buddy Jake swore by the 5W-40 synthetic for my old 7.3 Powerstroke in the winter

I always ran 15W-40 year-round here in Michigan, thought he was just wasting cash. Last January it was -10F and my truck cranked over like it was summer. He was right, the thinner oil made a huge difference on cold starts. Anyone else switch to a lighter winter weight and see a real change?

Shoutout to the gas station bathroom with the faucet you have to hold down

I always thought those sinks were just cheap and annoying, but I stopped at a place in Springfield last week that changed my mind. The faucet only ran for 10 seconds per press, and I saw three different people turn it off properly instead of letting it run. The owner told me his water bill dropped by 30% after he installed them. I guess the bad design is actually a clever, if frustrating, way to save water. Has anyone else seen a design that seems dumb but works?

Warning: Getting form tips from a teenager was the best thing for my lifts.

This kid saw my elbows flaring during bench press and just said 'tuck them'. I felt silly, but it worked. Now I listen to anyone, no matter who they are.