Question about a $25 stencil set I got for my weekly spreads

I grabbed a pack of plastic stencils to make my weekly layouts faster, but the edges are so sharp they keep tearing the paper. It's been a real mess with my current journal, and I'm only two weeks in. Has anyone found a good stencil that doesn't wreck the page?

Found a box of old Kodak Retinas at a yard sale in Akron

I was driving back from a showing last Saturday and saw a sign for a yard sale. They had a whole cardboard box of old cameras for five bucks. Mostly junk, but there were three Kodak Retinas in there, a IIa, a IIIc, and a weird one I think is a IIIC. All of them had seized shutters and the usual grime. I bought the box just for the fun of it. Got them home and spent the evening just cleaning the viewfinders and checking the rangefinders. The IIIc's rangefinder patch is still bright and clear, which is a small miracle. It's nice to work on something just for the sake of it, not because someone is paying you to fix it. Anyone have a good source for those tiny shutter tension springs on the older Retinas?

I finally looked up the exact number of times the phrase 'crisis actor' was used on major news sites in 2023

It was 247 times, and that's just CNN, Fox, and MSNBC. I was tracking it for a project on how media frames shootings. The spike happened right after the Nashville school event. Makes you wonder who pushes that term and why it always follows the same pattern. Has anyone else tried to track a specific phrase like this and seen a weird pattern?

Remember when bullet journaling was just a notebook and a pen? I dropped $45 on a special ruler last year and it's still in the drawer.

I picked up chip reading as a skill years ago

It helped me catch issues early to avoid scrap. New tech does it faster, but I miss the hands-on feel.

Just realized my consistency with yoga at home is actually showing results

I can touch my toes now without bending my knees, which was impossible a month ago. It's neat how many free workout videos are popping up online, making it easier for everyone to start. Feels good to be part of this trend.

Client brought in a picture of her dog for a haircut reference

So this lady walks into the salon with a printed photo of her poodle. She points to the fluffy top and says she wants her bangs just like that. I had to keep a straight face while explaining human hair doesn't quite work that way. We ended up making some soft layers around her face. The funny thing is, she loved it and now tells all her friends about her 'poodle bangs'. It taught me to always ask more questions about what clients see in their inspiration photos. That way, I can give them something that works for their hair. Sometimes the weirdest requests lead to the best results.

The Great Brake Fluid Fountain Incident of Last Tuesday

I was following an online guide to bleed a set of hydraulic disc brakes, confident I had all the steps down. When I applied pressure to the lever, the system decided to celebrate by spraying mineral oil in a perfect arc across my shop. Turns out, the guide completely omitted the part about checking the syringe connection for a tight seal. After mopping fluid off my tools and even a nearby helmet, I had to admit it looked like a bizarre abstract painting. Now I triple-check every connection before squeezing anything, and keep a towel handy just in case.

Shoutout to rediscovering the joy of handwritten recipe cards

I recently stopped saving everything digitally and began copying methods from my stained, old cards (the splatters tell a story, honestly). The results taste like memory, and my technique has deepened in a way screens never encouraged.