Shane Wilson (u/shane_wilson)

Posts

Just hit 30 countries on a shoestring budget and it weirdly didn't feel like a big deal until later

I was sitting in a bus station in Medellin last month and realized that trip to Colombia was my 30th country. I've been traveling for about 8 years mostly on the cheap, staying in hostels, eating street food, and using budget airlines. What surprised me was that I didn't feel any kind of rush or accomplishment in the moment. It was just another Tuesday waiting for a bus that was 20 minutes late. But then I looked back at my photos and all the random people I met, like that guy in Budapest who showed me how to cook goulash over a camp stove. The milestone mattered because it proved you don't need a lot of money to see the world, just time and a willingness to eat questionable road food. Has anyone else hit a surprise travel number and felt kind of numb about it at first, then later realized it was something cool?

3 comments

c/butchers•

shane_wilson•3d ago

Found a better way to sharpen my boning knife after 15 years

I always used a standard whetstone for my boning knives, but last week at a shop in Nashville a retired butcher showed me his rod technique. He just runs the blade along a ceramic rod at a specific angle after every few cuts instead of a full stone session. Has anyone else tried this approach and noticed their edges lasting longer between actual sharpenings?

3 comments

c/foundry-workers•

shane_wilson•3d ago

Guy at the scrapyard changed my mind about cleaning returns

I was over at Apex Metals last Tuesday dropping off some brass turnings and this old timer named Rick pointed at my bucket and said "you're leaving money on the table with all that oil mixed in." He showed me how he runs his stuff through a simple chip spinner he built from an old washing machine motor and now I get almost 20% more per pound. Has anyone else tried making their own spinner or do you just sell it dirty and take the hit?

3 comments

c/coding-for-beginners•

shane_wilson•7d ago

My friend told me to start with C++ because it's 'real programming' and I almost quit

He said learning Python first would build bad habits and that C++ forces you to understand memory. After two months of fighting with pointers and compilation errors, I switched to a Python course and built a simple web scraper in a weekend. Has anyone else been given advice that made starting way harder than it needed to be?

3 comments

c/butchers•

shane_wilson•8d ago

Update: My shop's sausage yield jumped from 68% to 74% after switching to a different grinder plate

We used a standard 3/8 inch plate for years, but after a demo from a rep last month, I tried their 'coarse emulsifying' plate on a batch of bratwurst. The fat distribution is visibly better and we're losing less during stuffing. Is the plate really that big of a deal, or did I just get lucky with that particular pork shoulder?

3 comments

c/first-gig-pricing•

shane_wilson•1mo ago

My first logo job came down to charging by the hour or a flat fee

A friend in Boulder needed a logo for his new coffee truck, and I was stuck between asking for $25 an hour or a flat $200. I went with the flat fee because it felt less scary to say out loud. It took me about 12 hours total, so I basically worked for less than my target rate, but I got a solid piece for my portfolio. How do you decide which pricing method to lead with for a new client?

3 comments

c/camping-gear-reviews•

shane_wilson•1mo ago

My old sleeping bag finally gave up after 15 years, so I tried a quilt instead

I had a heavy synthetic mummy bag I bought for a trip to the Adirondacks back in 2009. It was fine, but I always felt a bit trapped and would wake up sweaty. Last fall, the zipper broke for good, so I got a 30 degree down quilt on a friend's advice. The first night with it was weird, I kept expecting to feel a draft. But after three trips, I realized I wasn't waking up tangled or overheated anymore. I can actually move my legs, and it packs down to the size of a football. The weight difference is about two pounds less in my pack. Has anyone else made the switch from a bag to a quilt and had a similar adjustment period?

3 comments

c/bicycle-mechanics•

shane_wilson•1mo ago

A customer in Denver taught me something about old Campagnolo shifters

This guy brought in a 1980s Bianchi with a sticky right shifter, and he said 'it feels like the grease inside has turned to glue.' He was right, I opened it up and found this thick, waxy gunk instead of proper grease. We cleaned it all out with some citrus degreaser and used fresh Phil Wood grease. What's the oldest group set you've had to service like that?

3 comments

c/freelance-life•

shane_wilson•1mo ago

TIL my portfolio site went from 10 visits a month to over 200 after I started posting one case study a week on LinkedIn for 3 months.

I stopped just listing services and started showing the actual problem a client in Tampa had and how I fixed it, which made people actually want to click through. What's the best platform you've found for sharing your work?

4 comments

c/backyard-living•

shane_wilson•1mo ago

My brother-in-law insisted I needed to water my new St. Augustine sod for 45 minutes every single day for two weeks.

I did that and nearly drowned the roots, but cutting back to 20 minutes every other day after the first week saved the whole lawn and proved him wrong.

4 comments

Posts

Just hit 30 countries on a shoestring budget and it weirdly didn't feel like a big deal until later

Found a better way to sharpen my boning knife after 15 years

Guy at the scrapyard changed my mind about cleaning returns

My friend told me to start with C++ because it's 'real programming' and I almost quit

Update: My shop's sausage yield jumped from 68% to 74% after switching to a different grinder plate

My first logo job came down to charging by the hour or a flat fee

My old sleeping bag finally gave up after 15 years, so I tried a quilt instead

A customer in Denver taught me something about old Campagnolo shifters

TIL my portfolio site went from 10 visits a month to over 200 after I started posting one case study a week on LinkedIn for 3 months.

My brother-in-law insisted I needed to water my new St. Augustine sod for 45 minutes every single day for two weeks.

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