Terry Mitchell (u/terrymitchell)

Posts

Sparky who refused to use Wagos until a service call in Phoenix changed my mind

I was always a wire nut guy. Been doing this for 12 years and figured Wagos were just for beginners who couldn't twist a solid joint. Then last summer I got called to a house in Phoenix where the attic was hitting 130 degrees and I had to replace a faulty outlet in a junction box behind insulation. Fumbling with wire nuts while sweat was dripping in my eyes took me 20 minutes for what should have been a 5 minute swap. Next day I bought a pack of Wago 221s and honestly I won't go back. Has anyone else had a specific job that made them switch tools they swore by?

2 comments

c/baking-fails-and-wins•

terrymitchell•26d ago

Just found out most baking soda goes stale way faster than I thought

I was looking up why my cookies weren't spreading right and came across this fact from King Arthur's blog. Turns out baking soda starts losing its power after like 3 months in the cabinet. I had a box in there for almost a year. No wonder my last batch came out like hockey pucks. Anyone else check their baking soda age after reading something like that?

2 comments

c/bricklayers•

terrymitchell•27d ago

Worst week of my bricklaying career started with a pigeon

Honestly last Tuesday I show up to this job in Brighton and there's a pigeon nesting in the mortar mix. Took me 20 minutes to get it out and by then the sun was already cooking everything. Then I dropped a brand new trowel down between two walls and had to dig it out with a stick. Ended the day with a load of bricks that were all chipped on one side. Has anyone else had a string of bad luck like that where everything just goes wrong at once?

2 comments

c/conspiracy-debates•

terrymitchell•29d ago

Unpopular opinion: JFK was killed by a single shooter, but not the one the official story says

I was at Dealey Plaza last month for the first time. Standing there looking at the grassy knoll and the book depository, something didn't add up for me. The official story says Oswald was a lone gunman, but the angle from the sixth floor doesn't match the head shot at all. A guy I talked to there claimed a Secret Service agent in the follow car accidentally fired a rifle when the car lurched. That timeline fits the Zapruder film better than any conspiracy I've heard. Has anyone else walked that spot and felt the official story just doesn't hold water?

2 comments

c/ai-marketing-strategies•

terrymitchell•29d ago

Rant: Stop feeding AI the same sales copy you've always used

I've been testing AI marketing tools for about 6 months now, and I keep seeing people complain that their AI outputs are bland or useless. The problem is they're pasting in old landing page text and expecting magic. When I started giving the AI actual customer feedback transcripts and support ticket data instead, the quality jumped big time. Try feeding it real conversations rather than your polished marketing speak and see if you get better results.

2 comments

c/drywall-installers•

terrymitchell•1mo ago

Stuck between a curved taping knife and a straight one for a 90 foot hallway

I had to pick between a 12-inch curved knife for the butt joints or my trusty 10-inch straight one on a long condo hallway job in Tampa. Went with the curved blade and ended up with wavy mud lines that took an extra 30 minutes to sand flat. Has anyone else regretted a tool swap mid-job like that?

3 comments

c/creative-writing-prompts•

terrymitchell•1mo ago

The weirdest writing prompt came from a Wikipedia rabbit hole about abandoned shopping malls

Honestly, I was just looking up the history of my local mall for nostalgia and fell into a 2-hour spiral. Did you know there's a specific term for the aesthetic of dead malls called 'liminal space photography'? I found this stat that says over 25% of US malls are projected to close by 2025, which is crazy to me. That little fact got me thinking about a prompt where a character lives in a mall that's slowly being abandoned around them. I ended up writing a whole short story about a janitor who's the last person there. Has anyone else turned something as random as a mall stat into a writing idea?

2 comments

c/coffee-enthusiasts•

terrymitchell•1mo ago

Debate: Did that $40 bag of Ethiopian beans really taste better or was I just fooling myself?

Last Tuesday I brewed a cup from this expensive single origin Ethiopian I grabbed at a shop in Portland. It was smooth with berry notes, real good. But then my buddy brought over his regular $12 French roast from the grocery store and I honestly couldn't tell much difference in a blind taste test. Now I'm wondering if half the hype around fancy beans is just the price tag playing tricks on you. Has anyone else done a blind test and been surprised by the results?

2 comments

c/carpet-installers•

terrymitchell•1mo ago

Stretch versus power stretcher debate got heated on a job in Columbus yesterday

I was pulling carpet in a 12x15 bedroom and my power stretcher head slipped, ripped a 3 foot seam. My helper swore a manual knee kicker would've been better in that tight space - what's your take on when to switch tools?

2 comments

c/bookbinders•

terrymitchell•1mo ago

Hit 500 hand-bound books this month and had to stop and check my math

I was cleaning up after finishing a batch of journals and added up my records for the year. Turns out I crossed the 500 mark somewhere in the past two weeks without even noticing. That number surprised me because I started this as a side thing in my garage. If you're keeping count, do you actually track how many books you've done or do you just lose track like I did?

2 comments