Heard a customer call their old film camera a 'brick' the other day

I was in my shop in Akron and a guy brought in his dad's Pentax K1000, saying it was just a heavy brick he found in a closet. He was shocked when I told him it was a classic workhorse that just needed a simple shutter fix. It made me think how much the feel of the job has changed, from fixing tools people used every day to now explaining why these old things even matter. Anyone else get that a lot now, where half the job is just telling people what they have?

Pro tip: I saw my old gas bill from 3 years ago and it hit me

I was cleaning out a drawer last week and found my utility bill from my old apartment in Phoenix. The cost for gas heating that winter was over $200 a month. I moved to a newer place with better insulation and a heat pump, and my bill now is like $60 in the cold months. It made me realize how much energy and money I was just wasting, and how fixing old buildings is a huge part of climate action. Has anyone else cut their bills way down by moving or upgrading their home?

PSA: Heard a guy at the camera swap meet say 'if it's digital, just toss it and buy new'

I was at the monthly meet in Springfield and this collector was telling a newbie that fixing digital bodies is a waste of time. That mindset is why so many good cameras end up in landfills over a simple board or screen issue. How do we fight this 'disposable' idea when talking to regular folks?

Got roasted for my messy layer naming in a shared AutoCAD file

A senior drafter looked at my project and said 'I can't find anything in this mess, it's like a junk drawer.' I started using a strict naming system like 'A-WALL-EXTERIOR' and 'E-LIGHTING-FIXTURE' for everything. How do you guys organize your layers to keep team projects clean?

My attempt at a 'simple' sourdough turned into a concrete frisbee

Last weekend, I decided to try my hand at sourdough for the first time. I followed a recipe from a blog that promised 'foolproof results.' My starter seemed bubbly, and the dough felt okay during the folds. But after baking, I pulled out a loaf so dense you could knock on it. The crust was dark and hard, and the inside was gummy and tight. I think I messed up the final proof time. I left it for about 4 hours, but my kitchen was pretty cold, maybe 65 degrees. The recipe just said 'until doubled,' but mine never really got there. Has anyone else had a brick-like sourdough from under-proofing? How do you tell it's really ready in a cool house?

Fixed our band's timing issues by using a free click track app