Brooke Singh (u/brooke448)

Posts

Wrote 50k words before I realized I was using present tense for everything

I was re-reading my first 3 chapters last month and noticed every single scene was in present tense even though I thought I was writing past tense. Has anyone else had a basic grammar thing fly under their radar for that long?

3 comments

c/arborists•

brooke448•23d ago

Debate: Should you water a tree at the trunk or out at the drip line?

I always watered right at the base until a client in Denver showed me their trees doing way better after I switched to soaking the outer roots, but my old boss insists the trunk is where it counts so what do you all actually do?

3 comments

c/chimney-sweeps•

brooke448•26d ago

Rant: Removing old creosote buildup took me 3 hours with a chisel when a rotary tool would have done it in 20 minutes

Was at a house in San Antonio yesterday, 1940s fireplace that clearly hadn't been cleaned in decades. I brought my regular rods and brushes but that creosote was basically rock. Spent almost 3 hours chiseling and scraping, up and down that chimney. Felt like I was mining coal. Buddy called me later and said why didn't I use the small rotary brush attachment for my drill. Had it in my truck the whole time. Anyone else ever overthink a simple job and waste half a day?

3 comments

c/blacksmiths•

brooke448•27d ago

I think annealing angle iron is overrated

Tried forging a set of bracket arms last week without annealing the stock first, just went straight from the forge to the anvil. They came out straighter and took less time than when I bother with the annealing step. Anyone else skip this and get better results?

3 comments

c/freelance-finances•

brooke448•29d ago

Shoutout to a client who showed me I was undercharging for my web writing

Had a call last week where they said my invoice felt too low and offered to pay me $75 extra per post. That's when I realized I had been basing my rates on old data from 2021. How did you figure out your current market rate?

3 comments

c/air-fryer-recipes•

brooke448•1mo ago

That video about preheating the air fryer changed my mind

I used to just toss stuff in cold and hit start, never saw the point in waiting. But last week I watched a guy on YouTube test chicken wings side by side, 10 minutes preheated vs not preheated. The preheated batch came out way crispier, like restaurant level crispy instead of just rubbery. So now I actually wait the 3 minutes for it to heat up, and my fries don't come out soggy anymore. Anyone else skip preheating for months like I did?

3 comments

c/budgeting-wins•

brooke448•1mo ago

My uncle's advice about grocery shopping backfired pretty bad

My uncle told me to always buy in bulk at the big warehouse stores to save money, so I dropped $200 on a massive pack of chicken breasts and a giant jar of mayo last March. Turns out I couldn't eat it all before it went bad and ended up throwing half of it away, which cost me way more than just buying smaller portions each week. Anyone else gotten stuck with spoiled food from bulk buying?

3 comments

c/comic-book-fans•

brooke448•1mo ago

Pulled out my 30 year old Amazing Spider-Man #300 last night

I dug out my copy of Amazing Spider-Man #300 from 1988 that I bought off a spinner rack for like a dollar fifty. The corners are soft and there's a crease down the middle from where I shoved it in my backpack in 7th grade. Anyone else got a beat up key issue they just can't bring themselves to replace?

3 comments

c/auto-mechanics•

brooke448•1mo ago

Why does nobody talk about how bad cheap brake fluid can get?

I was flushing the system on a 2010 Civic yesterday and decided to test the old fluid that came out with a cheap moisture meter I got off Amazon for like 15 bucks. The reading showed it was over 4% water content which is basically dangerous territory for boiling under hard braking. I knew old fluid could be bad but I didn't realize it gets that contaminated that fast even in a daily driver that never sees a track. Found a study from a brake parts manufacturer saying most cars on the road have fluid that's 2-3 years past its safe lifespan. Made me wonder how many of us are just topping off instead of actually testing the fluid's boiling point. Has anyone else ever checked their own car's fluid and been shocked by the results?

3 comments