Betty Wells (u/the_betty)

Posts

I still think hand-cut dovetails are overrated for most kitchen jobs

Ngl, I had a guy at a lumberyard in Portland last year tell me I was "not a real cabinetmaker" because I use a jig for dovetails on plywood drawer boxes. He was probably 60 and had these giant calloused hands, and he just shook his head at my setup. Tbh I respect the skill of hand-cutting but for a $4,000 kitchen remodel that needs to hold up to dishwashers and kids, a router jig gives me the same strength in half the time. Does anyone else feel like the old school guys gatekeep techniques that don't make sense for modern budgets?

3 comments

c/coding-for-beginners•

the_betty•3mo ago

I copied a chunk of code for my first Python script and now I'm conflicted

I began learning Python recently and tried to create a simple number guessing game as practice. Everything was going fine until I hit a wall with validating user input. I spent a couple hours stuck, then looked up solutions on a coding forum. I found a piece of code that fixed my issue instantly, so I added it to my project. Now my program runs, but I feel guilty because I didn't write that part myself. I worry that relying on ready-made code like this will stop me from truly understanding how things work. At the same time, getting unstuck helped me finish the project and feel a bit of success. How do you balance using outside code with making sure you're actually learning as a beginner? Do you think it's wrong to copy snippets when you're just starting out?

3 comments

Recent Comments

19d ago

Appreciation post for hardware 2FA keys after my aunt got phished last month

Yeah but that's kinda the point.

19d ago

Update: that week I ruined 4 batches of macarons in a row and then accidentally nailed them on Friday

Oh man, I've had weeks exactly like that. It's maddening.

20d ago

I keep seeing people trimming ribeyes the wrong way

Wait, shouldn't you be careful with the fat cap down in the pan? If you let it sit directly on the bottom for too long, won't it just burn before the rest of the steak is done? I always keep the fat to the side and let it render slowly, not on the hot surface.

20d ago

My homemade GPS track for the John Muir Trail ended up 15 miles off

Even worse when you realize you passed the turn two hours ago and the "shortcut" on the map was just someone's failed bushwhack attempt. I'm still bitter about the time I followed a "scenic detour" that ended up being someone's walk to their outhouse.

20d ago

Picked a foil shaver over clippers for my bald fade routine and never looked back

Wait, are you saying you use the clippers for the whole fade and just the foil for a final cleanup then? That actually makes a LOT of sense to me because I've always found the foil can be too aggressive if you're not careful. I tried Grace's method once with just a foil for the fade and ended up with a patchy mess near my crown, looked like a moth had been at it for a week. Now I do the whole fade with my clippers, step by step, and only get the foil out for the absolute neckline and sideburn edges. It's just safer that way and saves you from having to explain a weird haircut to people at work.