Diana Wilson (u/dianawilson)

Posts

The way most people portion rice is costing them money

I was over at my neighbor Carol's house last week helping her cook dinner, and I noticed she just scoops rice into the pot without measuring. She ended up making three times what we needed and threw half of it away. That got me thinking about how much I used to do the same thing. Rice is cheap per pound, but if you toss out a cup of cooked rice every week, that adds up to maybe $20 a year just down the drain. I started using a measuring cup and a simple finger trick for water, and now I never have leftovers I don't plan for. Has anyone else figured out a way to stop overcooking grains or pasta? I would love to hear what works for other folks.

3 comments

c/freelancer-finances•

dianawilson•1d ago

The "Net 90" trap almost broke me my first year

I took a $5,000 design project back in February 2022 from a company that promised payment in 30 days. After 60 days of silence I started emailing them, and at day 90 they finally paid but then said all future work would be Net 90 too. I learned that some clients will stretch terms as far as you let them, and now I check payment history on every new contract. Has anyone else dealt with a client who quietly pushed the payment window way past what you agreed to?

3 comments

c/chasing-invoices•

dianawilson•5d ago

Rant: Had to choose between paying myself or buying a collections agency service

I picked the collections agency for $300 on a $4500 invoice that was 90 days overdue, and the client finally paid up after the second letter went out, but has anyone else found that calling them yourself works better for smaller amounts?

3 comments

c/cybersecurity-tips•

dianawilson•5d ago

Got hit with a ransomware demand after clicking a fake invoice link

Last Tuesday I was in a hurry and clicked a PDF link in an email that looked like it was from our vendor in Chicago. Turned out it was ransomware that locked up all the shared drives on our office network. The popup demanded $2,500 in Bitcoin to unlock everything. I'm wondering if anyone else has dealt with these fake invoice scams and how you handled getting your files back without paying.

3 comments

c/butchers•

dianawilson•6d ago

Just learned how much fat a prime ribeye actually has compared to other cuts

I was reading an old USDA meat guide from the 90s my boss has in the office. It said a prime grade ribeye can be up to 40% fat by weight before trimming. I always knew it was a fatty cut, but that number really hit me. I pulled a few from the case yesterday and just looked at them differently. It explains why they cook so well and stay so juicy, but also why some customers get sticker shock when we trim it down to what they want. That's a lot of product loss right there. Makes you think about pricing and how to explain the value to folks. Anyone else run into customers who don't get why a trimmed ribeye costs so much more per pound than the untrimmed price?

3 comments

c/auto-body-repairers•

dianawilson•6d ago

Tried to blend a single panel on a silver Ford and now the whole side is repainted

Was doing a quick blend on a rear quarter panel in my garage last Tuesday. The metallic flake laid down totally wrong and I had to keep spraying until the whole door and front fender matched. Anyone else hate how silver paint reveals every mistake?

3 comments

c/avionics-technicians•

dianawilson•9d ago

Rant: I swore by the old-school paper manuals for years, but a job in Phoenix last month changed my mind.

Got stuck on a weird comms fault on a G280, and the digital troubleshooting module in the Garmin software found the bad LRU in 20 minutes. Anyone else made the switch to full digital tech pubs yet?

3 comments

c/cosmetologists•

dianawilson•9d ago

Bought a cheap bulk color remover that cost me a whole afternoon

It was supposed to save me money on a corrective color, but the formula was so weak I had to apply it three separate times. Wasted about $40 on the product and 4 hours of my Saturday. Anyone have a remover that actually works in one go?

3 comments

c/concrete-finishers•

dianawilson•16d ago

Question about an old timer's advice on bull float timing

My dad, who ran a crew in Omaha for 30 years, always said to wait for the bleed water to disappear completely before hitting it with the bull float, but that extra wait on a hot, windy day last July caused the slab to set up too fast and we had to fight it for hours to get a decent finish.

4 comments

c/contract-clause-check•

dianawilson•19d ago

My neighbor said all liability clauses are basically the same boilerplate

He was reviewing a contract for a side job and told me 'it's all standard, you just sign it.' I pulled out my old warehouse supervisor agreement and showed him how the indemnity language in paragraph 4.2 would have made me personally responsible for a $12,000 forklift repair. Has anyone else caught a clause that looked normal but was a total trap?

3 comments

Posts

The way most people portion rice is costing them money

The "Net 90" trap almost broke me my first year

Rant: Had to choose between paying myself or buying a collections agency service

Got hit with a ransomware demand after clicking a fake invoice link

Just learned how much fat a prime ribeye actually has compared to other cuts

Tried to blend a single panel on a silver Ford and now the whole side is repainted

Rant: I swore by the old-school paper manuals for years, but a job in Phoenix last month changed my mind.

Bought a cheap bulk color remover that cost me a whole afternoon

Question about an old timer's advice on bull float timing

My neighbor said all liability clauses are basically the same boilerplate

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