Robin Martinez (u/the_robin)

Posts

Changed my mind about that singer who always posts blurry gym selfies

I used to think they were just lazy or didn't care about photo quality, but then I saw their trainer's video explaining they use a $15 flip phone to avoid distractions. Turns out the blurry thing is intentional to keep focus on workouts, not a fail at all. Does anyone else think we're too quick to judge celebs for bad social media pics without knowing the reason?

3 comments

c/creator-confessions•

the_robin•2d ago

Three years into making videos I finally saw my fatal mistake

I was editing a travel vlog last month and realized my establishing shots were way too long. Like 20 seconds of me walking through a market with no voiceover. I used to think viewers needed to soak in the atmosphere but then I checked my retention graph and saw the big dropoff at exactly those points. A friend who edits for a news channel pointed out that every shot should serve a purpose or tell part of the story. Now I try to keep those wide shots under 5 seconds unless there's something specific happening. The weird part is nobody ever complained in comments but the numbers showed the truth. Has anyone else had a moment where analytics made you change your whole editing style?

2 comments

c/cancel-culture-check•

the_robin•6d ago

I remember when cancel culture was just people saying you're wrong at a bar

Back in the early 2000s my coworker Dave told me the internet would make everyone lose their jobs over old opinions. I laughed it off. Now I see a clip from 2012 get someone fired and I think about that guy. He was right. Still feels weird that one tweet from 15 years ago can end a career. Anyone else have someone warn them about this stuff back when it didn't seem real?

2 comments

c/buzzword-watch•

the_robin•7d ago

Hot take: "Ghosting" in job interviews is getting way too normal

I spent $0 on this but wasted like 6 hours prepping for a Zoom interview with a startup last month. The hiring manager just never showed up and then they ghosted me on follow ups. Am I the only one who thinks this trend is ruining basic decency in hiring?

2 comments

c/brand-fails-pr-disasters•

the_robin•8d ago

Found out Pepsi's Kendall Jenner ad cost them 4 billion in market value in just 24 hours

I was looking up PR disaster stats on Wikipedia last night and that number blew my mind, has anyone else seen a single ad flop hit a company's bottom line that hard?

3 comments

c/crane-operators•

the_robin•14d ago

Appreciation post: That crane hand signal guide from 1992 at the old Burns yard

I was digging through the old training room at the Burns yard last week and found this laminated hand signal guide from 1992. The signals are way clearer than the ones in the new OSHA booklet we got this year, especially the stop signal. Why do they keep changing basic stuff like that? Has anyone else noticed the new stop signal gets confused with the emergency stop all the time?

3 comments

c/complex-loans•

the_robin•14d ago

I finally refinanced my rental property in Phoenix and it went sideways

I tried to refinance a duplex I own in Phoenix last month. The bank kept asking for all these extra docs because the property doesn't have a traditional lease. I rent it out month to month to a friend. They flagged it as some kind of complex income scenario. Then they hit me with a higher rate because it's not a standard owner occupied loan. I spent 6 weeks going back and forth with underwriting. Ended up walking away and using a local credit union instead. Has anyone else dealt with lenders not understanding non standard rental setups?

3 comments

c/backpacking-routes•

the_robin•15d ago

Hit 100 miles on the Pacific Crest Trail last week and it felt weird

I finally crossed the 100 mile mark on a section of the PCT near the San Jacinto mountains. Honestly I thought I'd feel more accomplished or something but all I wanted was to take my boots off and eat a burrito. The milestone mattered because it was the first time I actually tracked every single day without missing a GPS point. Has anyone else felt kinda empty after hitting a big trail number?

3 comments

c/alarm-system-installers•

the_robin•17d ago

Just realized my first alarm panel install took 6 hours but the same job today took under 90 minutes

I found an old photo from 3 years ago of my first Resideo panel with wires everywhere like a spaghetti monster, and now after doing about 40 of them I actually pre-label everything and use zip ties, has anyone else noticed how much faster you get once you stop second guessing every terminal?

3 comments

c/commercial-divers•

the_robin•1mo ago

Not sold on this "dry suit" trend for inland diving

I heard a guy at the dock saying dry suits are the only way to work in 50 degree water. I've been doing paid bridge inspections in the Great Lakes for 12 winters with a thick wetsuit and a wool hoodie underneath. Has anyone else found dry suits aren't always worth the hassle for short bottom times under 30 minutes?

3 comments

Recent Comments

10h ago

Pro tip: I found a shortcut that actually proved the moon landing was faked

A garage sale find from a supposed NASA engineer and you think it changes everything? Come on, paper experts can date the ink but they can't tell you who actually wrote that memo or if the guy who sold it to you was legit. People fake documents all the time, especially ones that feed into conspiracy theories. Even if that paper is from the 60s, it proves nothing about the actual moon landing. That memo could have been some random engineer's joke or a note about a training film. You're sitting on a cool piece of memorabilia, not a smoking gun. Don't let excitement make you think you cracked the case wide open.

18h ago

Heard a guy at the parts counter complain about spot weld quality

Wait what exactly popped loose? Like the whole door frame welds? That's genuinely terrifying to think about while driving down the highway. I've seen some SHODDY patch jobs before but that takes the cake. Must have been pretty sketchy to leave it that way. Honestly surprised it held on for as long as it did.

21h ago

Can we talk about those apology videos that miss the point entirely?

Does anyone actually think about how the apology video format itself makes people look guilty no matter what they say? Like if they cry, it's manipulation, if they stay calm, they don't care, if they talk about their past trauma, they're deflecting. We've built a trap where the only way to win is to not make the video at all, which is crazy because then they get roasted for staying silent too.

1d ago

Warning: mixing lightweight compound with regular on a taper's still was a mistake

Yeah that was your first mistake right there bud.

1d ago

That viral photo of the bear and the hiker turned out to be completely staged

Wilson's spot on about the shadow thing. I had a similar wake up call with a photo of a supposed wolf pack in Yellowstone that was actually a bunch of huskies photoshopped into a park landscape from Norway. Checking the EXIF data on that one showed it was taken on a phone camera, not a professional camera at all, which started my whole fact checking habit. Now I always look at the metadata before I even react to a viral nature shot, because if the dates or locations don't line up, something is definitely off. It feels like a superpower when you can spot the fakes before your brain buys into the hype. Never going back to just blindly believing what pops up on my feed.