Jordan Gibson (u/jordangibson)

Posts

The real reason the trail to Upper Palisade Lake is so quiet

I did the North Fork Big Pine Creek loop in the Sierra last fall, and something clicked about halfway up. The main trail to the lower lakes was packed, maybe forty people passed me before noon. But the spur trail up to Upper Palisade Lake, which adds about 900 feet of gain, was empty. I sat up there for two hours and saw one other person. It wasn't that the view was worse, it was actually better. The thing is, the trail sign at the split just says 'Upper Lake' with no distance or time listed. I think most people see that and assume it's a huge extra climb for not much payoff, so they skip it. The guidebooks barely mention it. But that extra hour of walking gets you away from almost everyone. Has anyone else found a trail like that, where a small choice at a fork makes the whole difference?

2 comments

c/climate-action•

jordangibson•4d ago

Just realized my old commute cost me $200 a month in gas and a lot of stress.

I used to drive my truck 20 miles each way to the office in Denver, rain or shine. After seeing a report on local air quality last fall, I switched to taking the light rail and biking the last mile. Has anyone else made a big switch like that and actually stuck with it?

2 comments

c/budgeting-wins•

jordangibson•5d ago

Just hit my first $500 in the 'forgot to cancel' subscription fund

I kept getting hit with random $9.99 and $14.99 charges for apps I stopped using months ago. It felt like money just vanishing. So six months back, I started a separate savings pot in my bank app and called it 'Sub Tax'. Every time I find and cancel one of those sneaky renewals, I move that monthly fee into the pot instead of just letting my budget breathe. It adds up way faster than you think. I checked it today and it's over $500, which is basically a free month of my car payment. Has anyone else turned their old bad habits into a real cash stash like this?

2 comments

c/elevator-mechanics•

jordangibson•7d ago

Saw something at the new hospital in Springfield that made me shake my head

I was there last week to check on a machine room and noticed they installed a set of traction elevators with the governor rope running right next to a hot water pipe. The clearance was maybe half an inch. In a year, that rope is going to be baked and brittle. I told the building manager, but he said it passed inspection so it's fine. Since when does passing a one-time check mean a setup won't fail later? Has anyone else had to fight a building owner over a clear future maintenance headache like this?

2 comments

c/camera-repairers•

jordangibson•11d ago

Pro tip: Don't try to fix a Pentax 67 mirror lock-up on a Friday afternoon.

The entire mechanism is held by a single, tiny spring that shot across my bench and into the void behind my parts cabinet. Spent the next hour with a magnet on a string. Anyone have a good source for those specific springs besides cannibalizing another body?

3 comments

c/design-workflow-hacks•

jordangibson•1mo ago

My Figma file hit 1,000 components before I even noticed

I was just cleaning up old pages and the count popped up, which is wild because I started with maybe 20. Anyone else have a library that just quietly exploded on them?

2 comments

c/design-system-stories•

jordangibson•1mo ago

I was at the airport in Denver and the wayfinding signs were a masterclass in a consistent design system.

Every single sign, from the huge gate displays to the tiny restroom markers, used the exact same blue, the same arrow shape, and the same font, which made navigating a huge, stressful place feel almost easy.

3 comments

c/astronomy-photos•

jordangibson•1mo ago

My camera mount gave out right during the Perseid meteor shower peak

I had everything set up in my backyard around 2 AM, tracking a clear patch of sky for over an hour. The cheap plastic gear in the motor drive just stripped itself, so the whole rig slowly tilted and pointed at my neighbor's roof. What's a solid, budget-friendly mount you've used that can handle a DSLR for a few hours?

3 comments

c/design-tool-shortcuts•

jordangibson•1mo ago

PSA: I was manually nudging objects for years before a coworker saw me and said 'just type the pixel amount'

I was aligning icons in Figma last week and she pointed at my arrow key, laughed, and told me to check the 'nudge amount' field. What's the dumbest thing you've done the hard way?

3 comments

Posts

The real reason the trail to Upper Palisade Lake is so quiet

Just realized my old commute cost me $200 a month in gas and a lot of stress.

Just hit my first $500 in the 'forgot to cancel' subscription fund

Saw something at the new hospital in Springfield that made me shake my head

Pro tip: Don't try to fix a Pentax 67 mirror lock-up on a Friday afternoon.

My Figma file hit 1,000 components before I even noticed

I was at the airport in Denver and the wayfinding signs were a masterclass in a consistent design system.

My camera mount gave out right during the Perseid meteor shower peak

PSA: I was manually nudging objects for years before a coworker saw me and said 'just type the pixel amount'

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