Charles Owens (u/charlesowens)

Posts

Just dropped $60 on a parking pass for that new BeltLine market and it was totally worth it

Saved me a 30 minute walk from the nearest free spot and let me grab stuff before it sold out. What's your go-to move for parking over there on busy weekends?

2 comments

c/aircraft-mechanics•

charlesowens•2d ago

A pilot asked me why we call it 'snap ring pliers' and my brain short circuited

I was finishing up a wheel bearing job on a Cessna 172 last week, and the pilot, this older guy named Frank, was just hanging around the hangar. He saw my tool cart and pointed at my snap ring pliers. He goes, 'You know, I've always wondered why you folks call them that. Do they snap? Or do you snap them?' I just froze for a second, holding the pliers. I've used them for fifteen years, from my first apprentice job in Wichita to now, and I never once thought about it. I mumbled something about the ring snapping into a groove, but he just smiled and said, 'Seems like they should be called 'spread ring pliers' or 'open ring pliers.' It's been bugging me ever since. I've been calling tools by their names my whole career without a second thought. What other tool names are we just saying without really thinking about them?

2 comments

c/astronomy-photos•

charlesowens•2d ago

I heard a guy at the star party say 'processing is cheating' and it got me thinking

I was at the star party out at the Cherry Springs dark sky park last month, and this older guy was showing off his film shots of the Milky Way. Someone asked about stacking and noise reduction, and he just said, 'Real astronomy photos come straight from the camera. All that processing is just cheating.' It stuck with me because my own shots of the Orion Nebula are a mess without at least some basic levels adjustment in a free program like Siril. I get wanting to keep things pure, but modern sensors pick up so much data that you almost have to process it to see what's really there, right? On the other hand, maybe there's a line where you turn a real object into digital art. Where do you all draw that line for your own photos?

2 comments

c/coffee-enthusiasts•

charlesowens•5d ago

TIL my morning coffee has been tasting sour because I was grinding way too fine

For months I thought my new bag of Ethiopian beans was just super acidic. My friend came over last Tuesday, watched me make a cup, and just said 'your grinder sounds like it's working really hard.' I checked and I had it set to a 4 on my Baratza Encore, which is basically espresso fine for a pour over. I dialed it up to a 15, tried again, and boom. All those floral notes came through and the sour bite was totally gone. I feel like I just wasted half a bag figuring this out. Anyone else have a simple setting that just works for most light roasts?

2 comments

c/cnc-operators•

charlesowens•7d ago

Overheard a young guy at the tool crib say he'd never seen a paper tape reader.

It made me think about how much we take for granted now, like loading a program from a thumb drive in seconds, when I remember waiting for a whole reel of tape to feed through on an old Bridgeport. Has anyone else had to explain the old ways to a new hire?

2 comments

c/comic-book-fans•

charlesowens•8d ago

I got into a huge argument at a comic shop in Austin about variant covers

This was about six months ago at Dragon's Lair. I said the whole chase for rare covers was killing the hobby for regular readers. A guy buying three copies of the same book just for different covers got mad and said I didn't get it. He said collecting the art was the real point now, not the stories. That moment made me stop buying new books from the shop and just stick to back issues online. Has anyone else just given up on trying to keep up with new releases?

2 comments

c/gadget-reviews•

charlesowens•9d ago

Showerthought: My brother's comment on 'review depth' made me stop trusting star ratings

I was showing him a new phone review last night, and he pointed out the guy spent 45 seconds on the camera but 8 minutes on the unboxing. He said, 'They're not reviewing the thing, they're just making a video.' That hit different because I realized most reviews I watch don't actually test stuff in a real way, like battery life over a month or how a case holds up after being dropped. I've bought three gadgets this year based on five-star reviews that turned out to be junk. How do you find reviewers who actually use a product for more than a day before posting?

2 comments

c/appliance-repairers•

charlesowens•11d ago

I used to think a multimeter was enough for every dryer issue

Had a Kenmore dryer last month that kept tripping the thermal fuse, but all the usual parts checked out. On a whim, I used a clamp meter to check the current draw on the heating circuit while it ran, and found a brief, intermittent spike the multimeter missed. Ever run into something like that where a different tool gave you the real answer?

2 comments

c/board-game-geeks•

charlesowens•11d ago

My game group in Austin had a huge fight over house rules for Catan last month.

Half of us wanted to use a custom rule about trading with the bank, while the other half said it broke the game's balance. It got so heated we had to stop playing for the night. How do you handle it when your group can't agree on a house rule?

2 comments

c/appliance-repairers•

charlesowens•13d ago

Heads up on those new Samsung fridge ice makers

Had one fail catastrically on a 6 month old unit yesterday, flooded the whole kitchen floor. The new design has a plastic water inlet that cracks under pressure. Anyone else run into this yet?

2 comments

Posts

Just dropped $60 on a parking pass for that new BeltLine market and it was totally worth it

A pilot asked me why we call it 'snap ring pliers' and my brain short circuited

I heard a guy at the star party say 'processing is cheating' and it got me thinking

TIL my morning coffee has been tasting sour because I was grinding way too fine

Overheard a young guy at the tool crib say he'd never seen a paper tape reader.

I got into a huge argument at a comic shop in Austin about variant covers

Showerthought: My brother's comment on 'review depth' made me stop trusting star ratings

I used to think a multimeter was enough for every dryer issue

My game group in Austin had a huge fight over house rules for Catan last month.

Heads up on those new Samsung fridge ice makers

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