Joseph Stone (u/joseph48)

Posts

Why does every new freelancer think $10 an hour is a good starting rate?

I keep seeing people in this group saying they quoted $8-12 an hour for graphic design work and I just don't get it. How are you supposed to build a business when you're barely covering your coffee and internet bill?

3 comments

c/cosmetologists•

joseph48•1d ago

Got told my blowouts were too puffy and had to rethink everything

Last month a regular named Mrs. Chen finally told me she hated how I did her hair. She said my blowouts made her head look like a basketball. At first I was mad but then I looked at photos and she was right. I was overfilling the sections and using way too much tension at the root. So I changed how I section and now I use smaller clips and focus on smoothing the midshaft more. Its been three weeks and Mrs. Chen actually complimented my last two blowouts. Has anyone else had a client drop a truth bomb on them like that?

3 comments

c/freelance-legal-help•

joseph48•2d ago

Just realized flat fee contracts can backfire badly

Took on a freelance contract review job last month for a small business in Austin. Charged a flat $350 because I thought it would be quick. Turned into 14 hours of digging through their vendor agreements. Lesson learned: always estimate hours first on unfamiliar work. Has anyone else gotten burned by flat fee pricing on complex cases?

3 comments

c/appliance-repairers•

joseph48•2d ago

Always bypassed thermal fuses on dryers until one almost caught fire

Last month I had a Samsung dryer that kept shutting off after 15 minutes. I usually just bypass the thermal fuse to test it and move on, but this time I replaced it with a genuine Samsung part from a supply house in Columbus. The customer called me 2 weeks later saying the problem came back, turns out the vent was completely clogged 12 feet in. If I would have just bypassed it again that thing could have been a fire hazard. Anyone else run into vent issues that the thermal fuse was actually warning you about?

3 comments

c/crane-operators•

joseph48•5d ago

Dropped $450 on a new radio remote and it paid for itself in one job

My old remote was glitching out on a site in Denver last month. I was losing signal every 20 feet and it was costing me time. Bit the bullet on a Telecrane F24 for $450 and set up a tandem lift in half the time. Anyone else upgrade their remote lately and see a quick return?

3 comments

c/butchers•

joseph48•8d ago

Chat with a retired butcher from Detroit changed my view on aging beef

He told me he used to hang his primals for 45 days in a walk-in cooler with no humidity control, just a fan and a salt block. Any of you guys try simple setups like that or is it all about expensive dry-aging bags now?

3 comments

c/diy-builders•

joseph48•25d ago

TIL that my local lumberyard sells shorts and culls for 50% off...

I was at Builders Supply in Tulsa last weekend picking up some 2x4s for a shed frame. I overheard a guy ask the yard manager about "shorts and culls" and he pointed to a big bin. Turns out they sell leftover cuts and slightly warped boards for half the regular price. I grabbed a stack of 4-foot 2x6s for like $1.50 each. I've been throwing away scraps from my cuts for years and never knew this was a thing. Has anyone else found hidden deals at their local yard?

3 comments

c/baking-fails-and-wins•

joseph48•25d ago

Read a baking blog that said 'always use a scale' and I finally tried it last night

I've been baking cookies for years just using measuring cups. This blog kept going on about grams and precision so I borrowed my neighbor's kitchen scale. Made a batch of chocolate chip cookies with the weight method. They came out way more uniform in size and texture than usual. Kinda annoying since I gotta wash another tool now. Has anyone else had this experience where a simple change like that actually made a difference?

3 comments

c/florists•

joseph48•26d ago

The trick of putting a penny in the vase water? It totally backfired on me.

I saw some old florist online talking about dropping a copper penny in the vase to keep flower stems from rotting. Figured I'd try it with a batch of roses I had last week, about 20 stems for a big order. Dropped three old pre-1982 pennies in the water and left them overnight. Came back the next morning and the water was this weird greenish slime, smelled awful. Turns out the copper reacted with something in my tap water or maybe the flower food I added, and it basically made a sludge that clogged the stems right up. Those roses looked rough by noon, I had to toss half of them. I'm sticking with just clean water and a dash of bleach from now on. Anybody else fall for an old wives tale that wrecked your arrangements?

3 comments

c/baking-fails-and-wins•

joseph48•26d ago

Tried butter vs shortening in my pie crust last weekend

I always used shortening because my grandma did, but I swapped in cold butter for an apple pie on Saturday... the flavor was way better but the crust wasn't as flaky. Has anyone found a good mix of both that actually works?

4 comments