Warning: I thought burping jars was the only way to go for sauerkraut

My last batch in a regular mason jar kept overflowing and got moldy after about 5 days. A friend in Portland told me to just use a ziplock bag filled with salt water as a weight and airlock instead. I put a small bag right on top of the cabbage inside the jar, filled it with brine, and sealed the jar lid over it. It created a perfect seal, no burping needed, and the batch came out crisp after 3 weeks. Has anyone else tried this bag trick with different ferments?

Warning: My old way of checking phone battery health was totally wrong

I used to just go by the percentage in the status bar on my iPhone 6, thinking that was the full story. Then about two years ago, I learned you need to check the actual battery capacity in the settings, which showed mine was down to 72% and explained the sudden shutdowns. Now I check that number every few months and it's saved me from a few bad used phone buys. Anyone else have a better method for keeping an eye on battery wear?

Warning: The week I had to rewire a 1920s house in Cincinnati changed my view on old work

Last week I was in a 1920s bungalow replacing knob and tube, and the plaster walls were a nightmare. My apprentice, Jake, wanted to just fish new wire, but I insisted on opening more walls to be safe. We found three spots where the old cloth insulation was totally gone behind the plaster. What's your rule of thumb for how much demo is needed on these old jobs?

Hit 1000 hours on my main work van this year and it made me rethink my whole setup.

I was just doing my end-of-year service check and the meter read 1002 hours. That's just engine-on time for jobs, not counting driving! I used to think my old way of having tools loose in bins was fine, but seeing that number made me realize how much time I was wasting digging for stuff. I spent about $400 on a new wall rack system last month, and I swear I'm saving 15 minutes every single job just by knowing where everything is instantly. Has anyone else tracked their van hours and made a big change because of it?

TIL my friend's new 'audio only' social app has 500 users after a month, and everyone is calling it the next big thing.

Unpopular opinion: I used to think a 30-year fixed was the only smart move, but after closing a $850k construction-to-perm loan in Phoenix last month, I'm never going back.

Watched a coworker go from quiet to leading meetings after he started just asking 'what's the next action?' in every email

His project updates went from vague walls of text to clear, one-page summaries with owners and dates in about 3 months, and now management actually reads them.

I finally gave those 'talk to your plants' people a real shot after my basil kept wilting.

I read a study from the University of Missouri that showed plants respond to vibrations, so I tried playing my old radio in the greenhouse for a few hours a day. Has anyone else tried something like this and seen a real change?

I finally chose to patch a small hull crack from the inside instead of using an external clamp.

It took an extra hour in the water, but the fix held perfectly through a 12-hour pressure test. Anyone else have a strong opinion on internal vs. external hull repairs?

Warning: I just saw my quarterly tax estimate hit $12,000 and it's a gut check on not setting enough aside.

I've been putting 25% of each payment into a separate account, but a few bigger projects pushed my income higher than I planned for, and now I'm scrambling to cover the difference before the deadline.