My vintage buttonholer gave out right before my final fitting

It was a 1960s Singer attachment I got from a shop in Portland, and the feed dogs just jammed while I was finishing a wool coat. I had to hand-stitch the last three buttonholes, which took me almost two hours. Has anyone found a good modern replacement that handles heavy fabrics?

My neighbor told me to put down a tarp under my mulch and I should have listened

He said it last spring when I was redoing the flower beds. I figured it was extra work for no reason. Now the weeds are coming up thick, like a whole new garden I didn't plant. Spent 2 hours yesterday just pulling them. Anyone got a good way to fix this without starting over?

Update: I still use my old hand signals on a site that went all-radio last year

Three years ago on the Denver airport expansion, my crew chief, Frank, drilled those signals into me until I could do them in my sleep. Last month, our new foreman in Phoenix said radios were the only way and my hand signs were 'outdated.' But last week, a radio died right as we were setting a 12-ton beam, and my clear signals kept the lift safe. Does anyone else keep up with both methods just in case?

Had to cut a diver out of a fouled umbilical in zero vis last Tuesday

A shift in wedding flower orders over the past year

I've been keeping track of our orders at the shop in Springfield, and from last June to now, I've seen a clear move away from big, round centerpieces. Instead, we're getting more requests for low, spread-out arrangements with lots of greenery. It started with a few brides asking for a 'wild garden' look, and now it's about half our bookings. The change means we're using far fewer roses and more local, seasonal filler. Has your shop seen a similar move toward these looser styles?

Got tired of chasing intermittent faults on a G1000 autopilot circuit.

For years I'd just wiggle wires and swap boxes until it acted up again. Then a guy at the hangar in Pensacola showed me his thermal camera setup. Now I run the system under load and scan for hot spots first, saves hours. Anyone else have a go-to method for finding those ghosts?

Showerthought: I saw a kid at the library trying to fix his game by typing random letters.

He was just mashing the keyboard, convinced he was 'coding' to fix a bug. It made me remember my first time trying to debug a Python script and having no clue where to even start. Anyone else have a funny 'first code' story?