Spent $400 on a Pexto power hammer and it was a mistake. Or was it?

I picked up a used Pexto 2B power hammer at a farm auction last spring for $400. Thought it would speed up my drawing out work, but the thing eats up shop space and the clutch needs constant tuning. On the other hand, a buddy in Dallas got the same model and says it pays for itself in a month. Anyone here had a similar love-hate with an old Pexto?

The taco joint on Central vs. the new spot on Mountain - which one's actually better?

So I've been going to that old taco place on Central for years (you know the one with the red counter) and the guy there is super nice. But last week I tried that new place on Mountain - the one with the green awning. Got a couple of carne asada tacos for 3 bucks each. They were pretty good, not gonna lie. Different style though - more sauce, less meat. Now I'm stuck. Do I stay loyal to the old spot or switch? Anyone else tried both and have a take?

DAE realize Facebook ads manager shows you a totally different stat set than what actually matters?

I was messing around with my campaigns last night and noticed something wild. I've been staring at CTR and CPC like a hawk for months, but I finally dug into the actual conversion data for a client's e-com store in Austin. Turns out our click-through rate was killer, like 3.5% which I thought was amazing, but the cost per purchase was $47. That's basically throwing money away since their average order is like $30. Found this out when I pulled the "purchase conversion value" report instead of just the basic overview. I've been optimizing for the wrong metric this whole time and probably burned through like $800 on bad clicks. Has anyone else had that moment where you realized the metric you were chasing was the total wrong one?

Walked through a vintage clothing market in Portland last weekend and noticed how every jacket from the 90s had these giant shoulder pads that nobody wears anymore.

Made me wonder if we'll ever circle back to that boxy look or if it's just permanently dated - has anyone else seen old trends pop up again in weird ways?

Debate: GPS routes vs paper maps on the John Muir Trail...

I tried doing the whole JMT with just my phone GPS last summer, but when I hit a dead zone near Thousand Island Lake, I had to backtrack 4 miles. Then I switched to paper maps for the second half and felt way more confident reading the terrain... which approach do you think is safer for a first timer on that route?

Picked hickory over oak for my brisket smoke last Sunday and I think I messed up

Honestly, I've been using oak chips for years on my Weber Smokey Mountain but decided to try straight hickory chunks from a bag I got at Lowe's for $12. The smoke flavor came out way stronger than I expected, like almost bitter after 8 hours on a 12 pound brisket. My brother said it tasted like I was trying to burn down the shed instead of cook dinner. I ended up having to wrap it in foil early just to tone down the smoke ring. Has anyone else had hickory overpower their meat compared to oak or fruit woods?

Spent 3 years overcooking rice before a roommate from Vietnam set me straight

Pro tip: I'll take a good old-fashioned scraper over a heat gun for vinyl plank any day

Did a 1200 sq ft tear-out last week and the heat gun just made the adhesive gummy and slow. A sharp 4-inch scraper got under the planks clean, with way less dust and no burnt glue smell. Anyone got a better scraper brand than the basic hardware store ones?

An old guy at the lumber yard changed my mind about using a chalk line for long cuts

I was picking up some 16 foot 2x12s for a deck frame in Tacoma last fall, and I was just going to snap a pencil line. This retired carpenter, maybe 70, saw me and said, 'Kid, you'll be a quarter inch off by the end of that. String don't lie.' He showed me how he hooks the line with his speed square to get a perfect start. I tried it on the job and the cuts lined up perfect. Anyone else have a simple trick that saved them a ton of time?

Agency vs Freelancers for a big video ad push?

We have a decent sized budget for Q3 and want to do a heavy push with video advertising. We're debating whether to hire a freelance videographer and a separate media buyer, or just go with a full-service agency. Has anyone gone the split route? Did it end up being a headache trying to coordinate between the two?