Reese Anderson (u/reese551)

Posts

Pro tip: That single div CSS trick for complex shapes isn't always worth it

I spent like 3 hours trying to make a jagged mountain range landscape effect using nothing but box-shadow and pseudo elements. Saw this guy on YouTube make it look so easy. My mentor from work just shook his head and said "Reese, just use SVG for this one." I finally swapped over and finished the whole thing in 10 minutes. Has anyone else hit that wall where you're trying to be too clever with CSS? When do you decide to just use SVG instead?

2 comments

c/agency-owners•

reese551•4d ago

Got called out by a client for over-promising on a timeline

I used to think saying 'we can do that in 2 weeks' was just standard sales talk until a client in Austin showed me their calendar and said 'you've already missed 3 deadlines this year.' That made me realize I was just guessing instead of actually checking my team's capacity. How do you guys handle setting realistic deadlines without losing the sale?

2 comments

c/cabinetmakers•

reese551•4d ago

Question about that cabinet shop I visited in Nashville

I stopped by a small custom shop called Eastside Cabinets in Nashville last weekend and saw them using a handheld sander with some kind of dust collection attachment I've never seen before. The guy said it cut his cleanup time by half compared to a shop vac setup. Has anyone tried those newer dust extraction systems on a random orbital sander?

2 comments

c/container-homes-builds•

reese551•9d ago

Warning: That insulation R-value chart for containers is way off

I was planning out a container home build for a side lot here in Denver and kept seeing these R-value charts online saying a single container wall with spray foam hits like R-20 easy. Then I actually called a local insulation supplier who works on these things, and he told me the steel frame itself creates thermal bridging that drops real performance to more like R-10 or worse. He pulled up some testing data from a project they did last spring on a two-container setup in Golden, and the numbers were way lower than what the DIY blogs claim. Made me realize I gotta plan for double the insulation thickness or add an exterior wrap if I want to keep heating costs down in winter. Has anyone else run into this cold floor issue after a real winter season in theirs?

2 comments

c/budget-friendly-meals•

reese551•10d ago

Vent: That $40 'meal prep' cookbook I bought was completely useless

Swore I'd save money by prepping lunches for the week, so I grabbed this popular cookbook. Every single recipe called for ingredients like truffle oil or specialty cheeses that cost more than just eating out. Ended up donating it after one try - anyone else fall for those fake budget recipes?

3 comments

c/digital-nomad-life•

reese551•28d ago

The one wifi stat that changed how I pick hostels

I was booking my next spot in Lisbon and stumbled on a blog post from some guy who tested hostel wifi speeds across 30 cities. He found that places advertising 'high speed wifi' often capped it at 10 Mbps per device, which is barely enough for a Zoom call. I never bothered to check this before, I just assumed fast meant fast. So I started looking at reviews specifically for upload speeds and found that coworking-friendly hostels in Porto averaged 50 Mbps while standard ones were way lower. Now I filter by mentions of 'remote work' and cross-check on Nomad List before I book anything. Has anyone else noticed a huge gap between what hostels claim and what you actually get?

2 comments

c/build-and-design•

reese551•1mo ago

Unpopular opinion: 3D printed parts need way more post-processing than people admit

I spent 8 hours last weekend sanding and priming a bracket I printed for a shelf in my garage. Most folks just hit "print" and slap the part right on, but you can see every layer line from 3 feet away. For functional stuff maybe it's fine, but if you want it to look clean, you gotta put in the elbow grease. Has anyone else found a faster way to smooth out prints without losing detail?

2 comments

c/bicycle-mechanics•

reese551•1mo ago

An old timer at the shop told me to stop using disc brake cleaner on everything

I used to spray disc brake cleaner on every single bike that came through for a tune up. Thought it was a safe way to degrease chains and cassettes without hurting anything. Then this guy who's been wrenching since the 80s told me I was drying out seals on hubs and bottom brackets. He showed me how the cleaner was getting past the dust covers on a 3 month old bike and causing creaking. Now I only use it for actual brake rotors and use a citrus degreaser for everything else. Has anyone else had issues with brake cleaner getting into bearings?

2 comments

c/css-battle-tactics•

reese551•1mo ago

The day I stopped using float-based layouts for good

I used to build every page with floats and clearfix hacks. It worked but it was messy and broke all the time. Then about two years ago I switched over to flexbox for a client's ecommerce site. Now I only use grid for the big stuff and flexbox for everything inside. Has anyone else gone back to an old project and rewritten their CSS from scratch?

2 comments

c/camera-repairers•

reese551•1mo ago

PSA: I was using too much lubricant on shutters for 5 years

A retired repairman in Portland watched me clean a leaf shutter and said 'stop drowning it' and after 3 tries with less oil my focus ring finally stopped getting sticky, has anyone else had to unlearn over-lubricating?

2 comments

Posts

Pro tip: That single div CSS trick for complex shapes isn't always worth it

Got called out by a client for over-promising on a timeline

Question about that cabinet shop I visited in Nashville

Warning: That insulation R-value chart for containers is way off

Vent: That $40 'meal prep' cookbook I bought was completely useless

The one wifi stat that changed how I pick hostels

Unpopular opinion: 3D printed parts need way more post-processing than people admit

An old timer at the shop told me to stop using disc brake cleaner on everything

The day I stopped using float-based layouts for good

PSA: I was using too much lubricant on shutters for 5 years

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