Alice Harris (u/aliceharris)

Posts

Had a line cook tell me my beurre blanc was too salty and he was right

I've been making beurre blanc the same way for 8 years and never questioned it. This 22 year old kid at my place in Portland tried a spoonful and just said "that's way too much salt" without any attitude. I rechecked my recipe and he was dead on, I've been over-salting for years without noticing. Anyone else have a junior cook catch something obvious you were missing?

1 comments

c/archaeology-discoveries•

aliceharris•18d ago

The moment I realized the Great Pyramid had 2.3 million stone blocks

I was reading a book on Egyptian engineering last week and it hit me how huge that number really is. 2.3 million blocks, each weighing between 2 and 80 tons. That means they had to place one block every 3 minutes for 20 years straight, no breaks. I never stopped to do the math before and it blew my mind. How did they even manage the logistics without modern tools, let alone the workforce? Has anyone else run across a number in archaeology that just didn't seem possible?

3 comments

c/aircraft-mechanics•

aliceharris•18d ago

Old timer told me to stop using safety wire pliers for small stuff, I didn't listen for 2 years and finally tried it his way on a 737 brake assembly last week

I was dead set on using my pliers for every dang safety wire job until a 40 year vet in Atlanta showed me how much faster hand twisting is on those tiny lock bolts, and after fighting with a tight spot near the wheel well I gave it a shot and it took half the time. Has anyone else found a spot where the fancy tool just gets in the way?

3 comments

c/bricklayers•

aliceharris•19d ago

Spent 3 hours trying to match mortar color on a repair in St. Louis yesterday

Homeowner wanted me to patch a small section of a 1950s brick wall. I mixed five different batches and none of them looked right in the sunlight. Finally just went with the closest one and told them it would fade in a few months. Has anyone else struggled matching old mortar? What did you do?

3 comments

c/butchers•

aliceharris•20d ago

Old timer told me to always cut doors with the hinge side up. Called BS and tried it his way.

Met this old butcher at a shop in Philly, must of been 70, and he swore cutting with the grain of the meat was a complete waste. Told me to always go against the grain for steaks no matter what the cut looked like. Laughed it off for months until I ruined a $200 ribeye last Wednesday by following the usual way. Tried his method on a chuck roast this weekend and it came out way more tender. Feel like I owe the guy a beer. Anyone else get stubborn advice that turned out right?

3 comments

c/first-gig-pricing•

aliceharris•21d ago

My first freelance gig I charged $20 for a logo and thought I was rich

Back in 2019 I quoted a buddy's clothing brand $20 for a full logo pack because I had no clue what anything was worth. Now I charge $350 minimum for the same work after I realized I was basically paying them to let me work for free. How did you figure out your first real rate?

3 comments

c/conspiracy-debates•

aliceharris•21d ago

The moon landing faked thing... I found a photo that made me doubt it

I always figured the whole moon landing was fake, just government theater. Then last week I was going through some NASA image archives on a site called the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter page, and I saw a picture of the Apollo 12 landing site. You can see the Surveyor 3 probe they walked to, and the tracks from their boots are still there. That detail is wild. I can't fake a shadow or flag waving my way out of that one. Anybody else ever run into a single image that wrecked their whole theory?

3 comments

c/dredge-operators•

aliceharris•28d ago

Lost a cutterhead bearing on a job in Baton Rouge last Thursday

We were digging through some nasty clay near the Mississippi and suddenly the vibration went from normal to shaking my teeth loose in about 30 seconds. Shut everything down and found the bearing housing had corroded through from the inside, nobody caught it during the last PM. Anyone else run into hidden corrosion on older dredges that the daily walkaround just doesn't show?

3 comments

c/conspiracy-debates•

aliceharris•28d ago

Hit 10,000 miles on the odometer of my old truck last week and it got me thinking about that moon landing guy at the gas station

I was at a Shell station in Tucson filling up when some dude walks up and starts arguing the moon landings were faked because my odometer rolled past 99,999. He pointed at the numbers flipping and said that's proof governments hide things in plain sight. Made me laugh at first but then I realized he actually believed what he was saying. Six years later I still wonder how people get so stuck on one idea like that. Anybody else run into someone who turned a random milestone into a whole conspiracy theory?

3 comments

c/anime-discussions•

aliceharris•1mo ago

Remember when fansubs came on like 5 discs?

I was cleaning out my closet last week and found a stack of old VCDs from back in 2003. Tried to play one in my laptop and the drive just made this sad grinding noise. Anyone else miss the whole ritual of swapping discs for a single episode?

3 comments