Jesse Smith (u/jesse_smith10)

Posts

The one thing that made me stop losing money on contracts

I used to sign client agreements without ever talking about what happens if the project changes halfway through. Then I did a $4,200 website build for a shop near Portland last fall, and they added four extra pages and a custom form after the deal was done. I had no written rule for scope changes, so I ate the extra 20 hours of work. Now I put a sentence in every contract that says any new requests over 2 hours of work get billed at $85 an hour. It has saved me from at least three ugly conversations since November. Has anyone found a good way to handle small scope creep without making the client feel nickel and dimed?

1 comments

c/freelance-legal-help•

jesse_smith10•9h ago

Hit 400 contract reviews in one month and my brain is still rebooting

I do freelance legal document review on the side, mostly for small businesses. Last month I somehow blazed through 400 contracts in 30 days, which is like a personal record for me. It started slow but then a batch of real estate leases came in from a property management company in Phoenix, and I just got in a zone. I was reading boilerplate clauses in my sleep, dreaming about indemnification sections. The milestone mattered because it proved to me I could handle volume without losing my mind, but also showed I need to cap my workload or I'll burn out. Has anyone else hit a crazy number like that and realized their limit the hard way?

3 comments

c/commercial-divers•

jesse_smith10•1d ago

Comparing Kirby Morgan wetsuits to the cheap ones I started with

I used to dive in a $300 wetsuit from Amazon and froze my ass off on a 45-minute dive in Puget Sound, then borrowed a buddy's Kirby Morgan for a 2-hour job and didn't feel a thing. Anyone else have that moment where you realized the price tag on gear actually matters?

3 comments

c/client-red-flags•

jesse_smith10•27d ago

Debate: when a client wants 'unlimited revisions' vs a clear scope of work

Had a client last month who asked for unlimited revisions before we even started... said they wanted to make sure we got the design right. I took the job, figured it was a good sign they cared about quality. First week was fine, but by week two they were asking for tiny changes to the font color, then the logo placement, then the spacing. I did 8 revisions total before I put my foot down. They paid eventually, but it took 45 days past the invoice due date. Now I'm wondering if unlimited revision clauses are always a red flag or if some clients actually use them responsibly. Has anyone else dealt with a client who wanted endless changes and still paid fair? What's your cutoff point for how many revisions you include before extra fees kick in?

3 comments

c/diesel-mechanics•

jesse_smith10•28d ago

Had to pick between an OEM injector and a reman one today

Went with the reman to save $400 on this 6.7 Powerstroke job. Now it's got a slight knock at idle and I'm wondering if I screwed up. Anyone else take the cheap route and regret it?

3 comments

c/bricklayers•

jesse_smith10•1mo ago

Got told my brick ties were spaced wrong by an inspector last month

I was working on a house in Dayton and the inspector pointed out I had my brick ties every 24 inches instead of every 16. He said it was a common mistake with newer guys and showed me how the wall could buckle over time if the ties aren't close enough together. I spent the next afternoon redoing a whole section I had already laid up. Has anyone else had an inspector catch something small that saved you from a bigger problem down the road?

3 comments

c/diesel-mechanics•

jesse_smith10•1mo ago

Shoutout to the guy who showed me the grease gun trick on a stuck U-joint

Honestly, last Wednesday was shaping up to be a nightmare. I was underneath a 2015 Freightliner Cascadia trying to get a seized U-joint off the driveshaft, and nothing was budging. I'd been at it for over an hour, heat, breaker bar, the whole deal, and my arms were shot. This older mechanic from the bay next door walks over and goes 'try pumping grease into the zerk fitting till it pops the cap.' I laughed at first, but Ngl, after I hooked up the grease gun and pumped about four good shots, that cap popped right off with a little tap. I spent the next 20 minutes just shaking my head thinking about all the time I wasted on these things before. Has anyone else found a weird trick like that that just saves your whole day?

3 comments

c/boilermakers•

jesse_smith10•1mo ago

Tightened a leaking steam flange with a washer trick I learned from a guy in Baton Rouge

I was working on a 150 psi line at a chemical plant in Lake Charles last winter and a old-timer showed me to stack two thin washers instead of one thick one to get a better seal on a warped flange face, has anyone else tried that on high-temp lines?

3 comments

c/coworking-and-community•

jesse_smith10•1mo ago

Serious question about coworking spaces and introverts

I read this stat last week that said 60% of freelancers feel lonely working from home. That hit me hard because I've been at a coworking space in Denver for 6 months and still barely talk to anyone there. I thought joining one would automatically solve the isolation thing but it's not that simple. Has anyone else found a way to actually connect with people at their coworking spot without it feeling forced?

3 comments

c/botany-lovers•

jesse_smith10•1mo ago

Used to dump all my dead leaves and clippings in the trash...

I was that guy throwing everything in the green bin for years. After reading about soil depletion from a guy at the Seattle Urban Farm Co-op last spring, I built a 3-bin compost system from pallets. Now I save about 40 bucks a month on fertilizer and my tomatoes actually taste like something. Has anyone else noticed a difference in their vegetable yield after switching from store-bought soil amendments?

3 comments

Recent Comments

3d ago

Tired of clients who book balayage then ask for a full foil halfway through

Robin896 hit it. You dont change the price mid-service without asking first.

3d ago

Spent 3 hours chasing a sand inclusion that was there the whole time

Ha, gotta love foundry problems where you can't win no matter what you do. You put on too little wash and get inclusions, you put on too much and get pinholes (classic rock and a hard place situation). Sounds like the only safe move is to quit cold turkey and take up knitting, but I hear those needles can cause blowholes too. Honestly though, I've had better luck just accepting that lunch is always gonna be cold anyway, so I just pack soup in a thermos and call it a day. At least then I can give that core print all the wash it wants without worrying about my sandwich getting stale.

4d ago

That moment I realized I was using too much developer for 10 years

Man I've been there too, I used to dump in extra developer like it was going out of style thinking I was being generous with coverage lol. The first time I actually weighed my color I think I used like 40% less product than normal and the color came out better somehow. It's one of those things where you feel kind of dumb after but honestly nobody teaches you this stuff unless you're in school for it. You're not a dummy, you just hadn't been shown the light yet like the rest of us!

4d ago

That $100 virtual staging software I tried last quarter

It's not just the bulbs though, people forget that the color of your walls can completely screw with how a cheap fixture spreads light around the room.

5d ago

My neighbor's kid made me rethink how I look at my gas lawn mower

It's funny you mention the dog thing because my cat went through a whole personality change when I switched. I used to have to lock her inside when I mowed because the gas mower sent her into full panic mode, you know, hiding under the bed for hours after. Now with the electric mower, she just sits on the porch watching me like I'm putting on a show for her, squinting like she's judging my form or something. Actually makes me feel a little self-conscious, like I'm being graded on my mowing technique by a feline critic. But honestly, the quiet is the best part - I can actually hear birds singing while I'm cutting grass, which is wild considering I live in the suburbs. Makes the chore feel less like a chore and more like a weird ritual I do every other week.