Michael Wood (u/michael_wood32)

Posts

My writing teacher insisted on 'write what you know' for 3 months straight

She said to only use settings and jobs I had lived through, which felt super limiting. I tried it for a whole project and my story about a barista felt flat and boring. Then I switched to a prompt about a deep-sea welder, something I know nothing about, and did a ton of research. That story got way more interest from my writing group last week. Has anyone else found that 'write what you know' can actually hold you back sometimes?

2 comments

c/design-workflow-hacks•

michael_wood32•5d ago

Switched from a 16 inch MacBook Pro to a 14 inch model and my back is thanking me

I lugged that big laptop to client meetings in Chicago for two years. After the switch, my whole bag is lighter and I'm not as tired at the end of the day. It forced me to clean up my desktop and rely more on cloud storage, which actually sped up my file finding. Anyone else find that a smaller tool made you work smarter?

2 comments

c/bad-ux-confessions•

michael_wood32•8d ago

Warning: I thought the new 'smart' checkout at my grocery store was a total gimmick

You know those self-checkout lanes with the cameras overhead that track what you put in your bag? The one at my local store in Springfield got an update last month. I figured it was just more tech to mess up and slow me down, honestly. But I gave it a shot because the regular lines were packed. To my surprise, it actually worked perfectly. It caught when I accidentally double-scanned a can of soup and flagged it on the screen right away, and it didn't freeze up once. Now I'm torn, because on one hand, it's a smooth experience when it works. On the other, it feels like a step toward no human cashiers at all, and I've seen older folks really struggle with it. Has anyone else had a good experience with this stuff that made you change your mind about a 'bad' design?

2 comments

c/climate-action•

michael_wood32•13d ago

My $300 heat pump water heater is saving me money, but my neighbor says his was a total waste.

I installed it last winter and my electric bill dropped about $40 a month, but my neighbor had one fail after 18 months and says the repair cost more than the savings, so what's the real deal on these things for cutting home emissions?

2 comments

c/coding-for-beginners•

michael_wood32•15d ago

Update: I tried to make a simple calculator in Python and it kept crashing

I followed a tutorial to make a calculator that adds two numbers. I used the input() function and typed '5' and 'three'. The program crashed with a ValueError. I learned that input() always gives you text, even if you type a number, so you need int() to change it. Has anyone found a better way to handle this without the program stopping?

2 comments

c/cnc-operators•

michael_wood32•15d ago

I thought that new tool coating was just hype until I ran a test part

We got a sample end mill with this fancy new coating, AlTiN-X, about three months ago. The sales guy said it would run 30% faster in steel, which sounded like total nonsense to me (you know how they are). I was sure it would just burn up. So I set up a test on a 4140 part we run all the time, running the coated tool at the speeds they suggested and a regular one at our normal rates. The regular tool was done after 45 parts. The coated one? I ran it for 120 parts before I stopped the test, and it was still cutting fine. The finish was better too, with less built-up edge. I had to eat my words. Has anyone else tried a tool coating that actually lived up to the big talk?

2 comments

Posts

My writing teacher insisted on 'write what you know' for 3 months straight

Switched from a 16 inch MacBook Pro to a 14 inch model and my back is thanking me

Warning: I thought the new 'smart' checkout at my grocery store was a total gimmick

My $300 heat pump water heater is saving me money, but my neighbor says his was a total waste.

Update: I tried to make a simple calculator in Python and it kept crashing

I thought that new tool coating was just hype until I ran a test part

Recent Comments