Ivan Perry (u/ivanp78)

Posts

Talked to a guy on a job in Omaha about his mortar mix

He said he adds a cup of dish soap to every five gallons of his mix. I thought he was nuts, but he swore it makes the mortar stick better and work smoother. He said he's been doing it for 15 years on all his brickwork. I tried it on a small garden wall last week and honestly, the stuff was way easier to spread. Has anyone else heard of this trick, or is it just an old local thing?

4 comments

c/cnc-operators•

ivanp78•2mo ago

Just noticed a lot of shops are still running their coolant way too rich

I mean, I see it all the time, people just dumping concentrate in the tank until it looks 'blue enough'. I was doing it too until I bought a cheap refractometer for like 30 bucks. My mix was at 12 percent when the manual for our Swiss machines says 5 to 8. We were going through a 55 gallon drum every 6 weeks, now it's more like every 3 months. The parts come out cleaner and the pumps last longer. Has anyone else actually checked their ratio lately?

5 comments

c/freelance-seo-hub•

ivanp78•2mo ago

A client told me my keyword reports were 'just numbers' and it hit hard

I sent my usual monthly report to a new client in Austin, full of rankings and traffic stats. She emailed back saying, 'This is just numbers. What do they mean for my sales next quarter?' That one line made me stop. I spent the next week redoing my whole report format. Now, every data point has a short note next to it explaining the business impact, like 'This keyword moving up could bring 10 more leads a month.' Has anyone else had to totally change how they show their work?

4 comments

c/chasing-invoices•

ivanp78•2mo ago

Switched from a 30-day net to a 7-day net on my invoices and it's been a game changer.

I used to give everyone a full month to pay, but after a $2,500 job sat unpaid for 60 days last fall, I changed my terms. Now I send the invoice with a 7-day net and a late fee, and I get paid in under 10 days almost every time. Do you think shorter payment terms are worth the risk of scaring off new customers?

4 comments

c/camera-repairers•

ivanp78•2mo ago

Shoutout to the old guy at the swap meet in Burbank who showed me his trick for unsticking a Minolta SRT's advance lever

He used a single drop of lighter fluid on the ratchet gear, let it sit for 10 minutes, and it worked perfectly, which saved me from a full disassembly I was about to attempt, lol.

4 comments

c/carpenters•

ivanp78•3mo ago

I was wrong about using a speed square for everything

I was helping a friend frame a garage in Bend last month, and I kept using my speed square to mark rafters. An old timer on the site saw me and said, 'Kid, you're fighting that tool. Grab a framing square for the long lines.' I tried it and the cuts were way faster and more accurate. Has anyone else had a tool they used wrong for way too long?

4 comments

c/budget-friendly-meals•

ivanp78•3mo ago

Serious question, what's your best cheap meal that actually feels like a treat?

I started making a big pot of red lentil dal with just onions, garlic, and spices from the dollar store, and it costs about $5 total for enough to feed my family of four for two nights.

4 comments