I finally switched from a standard boning knife to a curved one for breaking down hogs

For years I used a straight blade, but a guy at the shop in Kansas City told me to try a 6-inch curved one. The way it follows the contours of the shoulder and hip joints is just smoother, and I'm not fighting the cut as much. I did a whole 250-pound hog last Friday and it felt way faster with less strain on my wrist. Has anyone else made a specific blade shape change that really clicked for them?

Got a crazy splinter out with a trick from a 90-year-old retired framer

Last week I got a piece of oak about an inch deep under my thumbnail, the kind that makes you see stars... I was ready to go to urgent care. My neighbor, Frank, who used to frame houses back in the 50s, saw me and just said 'go get the white glue.' I slathered a thick layer of Elmer's over it, let it dry completely for maybe 20 minutes, and when I peeled it off, the splinter came right out stuck in the glue. Has anyone else heard of this one, or have a better fix for the really deep ones?

Update: I finally stopped using a contract for small jobs in Portland after 3 years of insisting on one

Honestly, last month I had a client ghost me on a $500 logo job, and chasing them with the contract I made them sign wasted more time and stress than just writing off the loss and moving on to the next gig.

Just learned that the largest single crystal ever found is a beryl from Madagascar over 18 meters long.

I was reading a geology textbook from the 70s in my local library and found that fact on page 213, which seems wild for something that grew underground.

Finally caved and bought the $80 iFixit toolkit last month, and it's already paid for itself twice over.

I used to think my old generic screwdrivers were fine, but the right bit for a stripped MacBook bottom case screw saved a client's data recovery job from becoming a nightmare last Tuesday.

Tried a new underwater epoxy on a hull patch job last week

It was one of those new fast-cure types, supposed to set in 15 minutes even at 45 degrees. The rep swore by it, said it would cut our surface interval time in half. We mixed it up on the barge, I went down to apply it on a steel plate patch. The stuff went off like a rocket, got maybe half of it on before it turned into a hot, rubbery brick in my glove. Had to surface and waste a whole new kit. Learned that 'fast' in a catalog doesn't account for the cold shock of Puget Sound water on the mixing tub. Now I stick to the old reliable stuff for anything below 60 feet. Anyone else have a product that just didn't work like they said it would in real conditions?

The day a bird's nest caused a full avionics fault on a Citation in Phoenix

Got called out to a Citation at Sky Harbor last Tuesday for a weird nav system fault that kept resetting. Spent 3 hours checking connectors and software before I found a pack of twigs and dried grass from a bird nest jammed behind the main avionics rack, shorting a data bus. The captain just laughed and said 'guess they wanted a free ride.' Anyone else had a random animal cause a major fault like that?

My cousin insisted we skip the author's introduction for 'The Overstory' and it ruined the first meeting.

Stuck with a 3 hour time difference for client calls. Started using Calendly's 'buffer time' setting and it saved my sleep schedule.

I was wrong about those quick-connect fuel line fittings

I was working on a 2015 Silverado at the shop in Springfield, and a plastic clip on one of those fittings snapped while I was doing a fuel pump. Everyone says they're a huge time saver, but that one break cost me an extra hour waiting for a new part to come in. Now I just take the extra minute to use a proper line wrench on the metal nut, even if the job sheet says to use the quick connect. Has anyone else had a fitting fail and just go back to the old way?