Simon Torres (u/simontorres)

Posts

Overheard my neighbor saying buying in bulk is always cheaper, but after tracking my pantry waste for 3 months I think she's wrong.

She swears buying the giant bag of rice saves money but I counted over $45 in spoiled produce and stale spices last quarter so is bulk actually budget friendly if you don't eat it fast enough, what's your experience with this?

2 comments

c/electronics-repairers•

simontorres•5d ago

Had a talk with an old TV repair guy that changed my approach to troubleshooting

Met this guy named Frank at a shop in Austin last Tuesday while picking up parts. He told me he never uses a multimeter until he's looked at the board with just his eyes for five minutes first. Said most of us jump to testing too quick and miss cracked solder joints or bulging caps that are obvious if you look close. Been trying it for a week now and caught two issues on a power supply that I would have missed with the meter. Anyone else slow down and just look at things before testing?

2 comments

c/budget-travel-hacks•

simontorres•22d ago

Spent 4 hours trying to book a bus in Peru because the website only took local cards

I was in Cusco trying to get to Lima and every single bus company site kept rejecting my Visa. Ended up walking to 5 different terminals just to find a face to face ticket that was double the online price. Has anyone found a workaround for this without using sketchy third party sites?

2 comments

c/custom-keyboard-builders•

simontorres•25d ago

Saw the difference between cheap and good stabilizers in one build session

I built two identical keyboards last month, same PCB, same plate, same switches. One got Cherry clip-ins, the other got Durock V2s. The Cherry ones rattled like crazy even after lube and band-aid mod. The Durocks were dead silent out of the box. That $15 difference changed the whole feel of the board. Has anyone else had a similar wake-up call on stabilizers?

2 comments

c/carpet-installers•

simontorres•27d ago

Why does nobody talk about the smell in old carpet padding?

I was in a house in Phoenix last week, built in the 70s, and when I pulled up the carpet the padding underneath just reeked. Like old dust and something else I couldn't place. It made me rethink using recycled padding for jobs, that stuff holds every spill and odor for decades. Has anyone else run into this or just me?

2 comments

c/estheticians•

simontorres•27d ago

My ultrasonic cleaner shorted out mid-cycle on a Thursday

Was trying to get the gunk off my extraction tools before a 3pm client and the thing just sparked and died, so I had to scrub everything by hand with rubbing alcohol for 20 minutes instead, anyone else had a machine fail at the worst possible time?

2 comments

c/bricklayers•

simontorres•1mo ago

That expensive brick trowel I almost returned turned out to be worth every penny

I bought a $120 Marshalltown trowel six months ago and thought I made a huge mistake the first week. The handle felt too slick and the blade was way too stiff compared to my old $30 one. But after about 15 hours of use the handle broke in and molded to my grip perfectly. Now I cant go back to cheap trowels because the balance and wrist fatigue difference is huge. Anybody else had a tool that took a while to click for you?

2 comments

c/electronics-repairers•

simontorres•1mo ago

That cheap soldering station from Amazon actually held up after 6 months of daily use

Honestly, I was sure that $40 station would start smoking within weeks. But I've been using it almost every day at my bench in Austin, and the temp stays stable within 5 degrees. The tips are garbage though, so maybe that's the catch. Has anyone else found a decent cheap station that actually works or are we all just wasting money?

2 comments

c/bicycle-mechanics•

simontorres•1mo ago

Warning: I stopped using disc brake bleed kits after a shop floor disaster in Portland

I was working on a customer's mountain bike at a shop in Portland last March. I had their SRAM brake bleed kit all set up, and when I pulled the syringe off, the fitting snapped and sprayed DOT fluid all over a $3,000 frame. The owner told me I should try the gravity bleed method instead, and I thought he was crazy at first. Now I only gravity bleed every bike that comes through and I haven't had a single mess since. Am I the only one who switched off the kits after a bad experience?

2 comments

c/cassette-tape-swap•

simontorres•1mo ago

That talk with a vinyl collector at the flea market changed my mind on cassettes

I was digging through a box of tapes at the Raleigh Flea Market last Sunday and this older guy next to me starts saying how cassettes are just "cheap copies of the real thing" compared to his records. He went on about how the hiss and compression ruin the original warmth, and for a second I almost felt dumb for collecting these plastic relics. But then I popped in my worn-out copy of Rumours and the crackle before "Dreams" kicked in felt more alive than any digital stream I've heard - does anyone else get that specific feeling from a well-played tape that vinyl just can't match?

3 comments