Mason Flores (u/mason_flores)

Posts

PSA: The new parking meters downtown are a special kind of confusing

I was trying to pay for parking last Tuesday and the screen kept asking for my 'vehicle zone identifier' before it would take my card. I stood there for five minutes looking for a sticker or number on my car. Turns out, you have to walk to the other side of the meter and type in the tiny number printed on the pole itself! A guy in a delivery van saw me and yelled, 'Yeah, they're all like that, it's stupid!' Has anyone else run into this or figured out a faster way?

3 comments

c/electronics-repairers•

mason_flores•2mo ago

I thought the 'freezer trick' for fixing a dead hard drive was total nonsense

A guy brought in a laptop with a clicking drive and said he'd heard putting it in a sealed bag in the freezer for a few hours might work. I told him it was a bad idea and would just kill it with moisture. He insisted, so we tried it on his already dead drive. We left it for about 4 hours, let it warm up fully, and it spun right up long enough to pull his photos off. It only lasted another 20 minutes before dying for good, but it worked. I still think it's a last ditch move, but I've used it twice since when data recovery was the only goal. Has anyone else had a weird trick like this actually save the day?

3 comments

c/board-game-geeks•

mason_flores•2mo ago

My friend Mark told me my game explanations are a total mess

We were trying to play Root at my place last month and I spent like 20 minutes just talking about the rules before we even started. Mark straight up said, 'Dude, you're giving us the whole history book, just tell us how to win.' It hit me hard. Now I try to explain the goal first, then the basic turn, and only the rules you need right away. Anyone else get told their teach is too much?

3 comments

c/arborists•

mason_flores•3mo ago

Finally got that massive willow stump out after two full days

Honestly, I thought it would be a half-day job max. The roots had grown into an old brick foundation in the backyard, and my saw kept binding. Tbh, I went through three chains before I finally got a mini-excavator in to pull the last bit. Has anyone else had a simple removal turn into a multi-day fight with hidden brickwork?

3 comments

c/chefs•

mason_flores•3mo ago

Had to choose between using a $40 bottle of white truffle oil or just finishing the dish with good butter for a table of 8 last night.

I went with the butter, and the guest who ordered it sent it back twice saying it lacked 'that special something' I was trying to avoid making the whole plate taste like a gimmick, you know?

4 comments

c/design-and-print•

mason_flores•3mo ago

I finally learned why you need to check your printer's color profile BEFORE a big job

Just wasted about $85 on a batch of 500 business cards because the blues came out looking muddy and purple. I designed them on my screen and they looked perfect, but my home printer uses a different color system than the big commercial one at the print shop. I didn't convert the file to CMYK or ask for a proof, I just sent the file and hoped. The whole batch is basically useless for a professional look. Has anyone else had a color disaster like this? What's your go-to step to make sure what you see is what you get?

3 comments

c/electronics-repairers•

mason_flores•3mo ago

How I traced a weird buzzing sound to a single capacitor

I had this old amp making a buzz that drove me nuts. After checking connections, I got my scope out and found the noise coming from one cap on the board. Swapped it for a new one and the buzz was gone. Anyone else deal with noisy caps in audio gear? What's your go-to method for tracking down sounds like that?

3 comments