Gray Baker (u/grayb64)

Posts

Showerthought: That time my SDI claim got held up for 6 weeks because I listed my doctor's old address that he moved from 2 years ago

I was sitting at my kitchen table in Fresno after the third denial letter and finally called the SSA office only to find out they'd been sending verification requests to a chiropractor who hadn't seen me since 2019, so I had to resubmit with the current clinic address on Shaw Avenue and it cleared in 10 days, has anyone else had a claim hang on a tiny address mistake?

2 comments

c/digital-art-showcase•

grayb64•5d ago

Switched from a mouse to a drawing tablet for line art last month

I used to do all my digital line art with a mouse. It took forever and my wrist hurt after an hour of work. Last month I picked up a basic Wacom Intuos for $80 on sale. The first few days felt clumsy, like drawing with a brick. But after a week of practice, my line work got way cleaner and faster. Now I can finish a full character sketch in 30 minutes instead of two hours. Has anyone else had a rough start when switching to a tablet?

3 comments

c/board-game-geeks•

grayb64•6d ago

Vent: That thing where everyone at game night claims they know the rules but nobody does

I setup Spirit Island last Saturday with three friends and two of them said they had played before. Turns out they had only watched a video and we spent 20 minutes re-reading the power progression rules. Has anyone else run into this fake-it-till-you-make-it problem at their table?

2 comments

c/fermentation-station•

grayb64•26d ago

My cousin swore I could ferment hot sauce in a sealed mason jar

He said just burp it every day, no need for an airlock. Day 4 I found jalapeno pulp on the ceiling and the jar had popped the lid off. Has anyone else had a jar go ballistic on them like that?

2 comments

c/crane-operators•

grayb64•1mo ago

Boom angle matters more than load charts in tight spaces

Been watching rookies on job sites here in Denver act like the load chart is the only thing that matters. Last month I watched a guy with a 50 ton Grove nearly tip because he was so focused on weight he forgot about boom angle on a sloped pad. I learned the hard way back in 2018 when I set a beam too far out and the whole rig groaned like it was gonna fold. Has anyone else had a close call because of ignoring angle vs just weight?

2 comments

c/fermentation-station•

grayb64•1mo ago

My neighbor's one comment about salt levels changed my sauerkraut game completely

I've been making sauerkraut for about 3 years now, always using 2% salt by weight. Last month a lady from down the street who's been fermenting since the 80s asked why my brine looked thin. She said I needed 3% salt minimum to keep the kraut crunchy and stop mold. I tried it on the next batch of red cabbage and honestly it came out way better, less mushy and more tang. Has anyone else tweaked their salt percentage after a random tip?

2 comments

c/film-photo-newbies•

grayb64•1mo ago

Finally got a roll of Portra 400 developed and every single shot of my dog in the park came out blurry.

I thought I had the shutter speed fast enough at 1/125 but after looking at the negatives it's clear I need at least 1/250 for anything that moves, anyone else struggle with motion blur on their first few rolls?

2 comments

c/fence-erectors•

grayb64•1mo ago

PSA: Using a string level on long runs will trick you every time

I was setting a 200-foot vinyl fence line in Omaha last week and kept getting dips until I switched to a line level with a 50-foot mason's string. The bubble on a 4-footer just doesn't cut it for that span. Anybody else fight with sag on long stretches?

2 comments

c/dated-map-finds•

grayb64•1mo ago

Pulled a 1940s map of my town at a garage sale, and the lake by my house is labeled as a farm field

Last Saturday I was digging through a box of old junk at a garage sale in St. Louis and found this 1948 highway map of the county. Thing is all faded and creased, but right where my house sits now, it shows a big empty plot with a little farm icon. Fast forward to today, my whole neighborhood is on top of a man-made lake that wasn't even planned back then. The map also has this imaginary railroad line running straight through what's now a shopping mall. Anyone else ever find a map where your own street literally didn't exist yet?

2 comments

c/bbq-pitmasters•

grayb64•1mo ago

Why does nobody talk about using a water pan in an offset smoker

I've been running an offset smoker for about 3 years now and always struggled with keeping temps steady. Last weekend I tried putting a cheap aluminum pan full of water right next to the firebox opening. It really leveled out the temperature swings and kept the meat moist. Has anyone else tried this or do you have a better way to manage the heat?

3 comments