Tara Martin (u/tara_martin)

Posts

I thought the 'free city tour' thing was a total trap until I tried one in Prague

For years I saw those guys in the main square with their umbrellas and figured it was just a long, boring sales pitch. Last fall, my buddy and I were killing time before a train and decided to join one, figuring we could just walk away. The guide, this guy named Tomas, was actually hilarious and knew insane details about the city's history you'd never get from a book. The 'catch' was just that you tipped what you felt it was worth at the end. We walked for almost three hours, saw hidden courtyards and learned about the Astronomical Clock's dark side, and I ended up giving him about 10 bucks, which felt like a steal. It completely changed how I see those tours now. Has anyone else had a city where these 'free' tours were actually the best thing they did?

3 comments

c/appliance-repairers•

tara_martin•24d ago

Warning: Tried a heat gun on a stuck dryer drum and almost melted the belt

I was working on a 5 year old Maytag dryer yesterday, the drum wouldn't spin at all. I figured the bearings were just seized up from gunk, so I got out my heat gun to try and warm the hub. I held it on there for maybe 30 seconds, and the whole thing started smelling like burnt rubber. Turns out the belt was still on and I softened it enough that it stretched and slipped. Had to replace a $25 belt I could have saved. Anyone have a better trick for a truly stuck drum without taking the whole thing apart first?

3 comments

c/avionics-technicians•

tara_martin•1mo ago

Disagreeing with the 'always bench test first' rule

I was at a hangar in Dallas last month and heard a senior tech tell a new guy to always pull the LRU and bench test it before checking the wiring. I get the logic, but on a recent King Air 350 job, that approach would have wasted half a day. The fault code pointed to the transponder, but I spent 10 minutes with the manual and found a known issue with a specific connector pin on the main avionics rack. It was a corroded pin, not a bad box. Sometimes the quickest path is to trust the fault tree and look at the system, not just swap parts. When do you guys decide to skip the bench and go straight to the aircraft wiring?

4 comments

c/coworking-and-community•

tara_martin•1mo ago

Tried a 'freelancer lunch' at a local brewery and it turned into a monthly thing

I posted in a Tacoma Facebook group for designers about grabbing a casual lunch at a brewery downtown, expecting maybe one or two people to show up. We had eight people come, and everyone swapped contact info and started talking about collaborating. Has anyone else tried organizing a low-pressure meetup like this and had it actually work?

4 comments

c/client-red-flags•

tara_martin•1mo ago

Vent: A client offered me $500 flat for a full website build or a 10% stake in their 'revolutionary' app idea.

I picked the cash. The guy got mad when I wouldn't budge on my normal rate, which is way higher. He said I was missing the 'next big thing' and that my lack of vision was the problem. His 'app' was just a basic note-taking tool with a different color scheme. I finished the simple site he paid for, and he ghosted me on the final payment for three weeks. Had to send three emails to get my $500. Now I see his LinkedIn, he's pitching the same app idea to other devs. Always take the money upfront. Has anyone else been offered crazy equity deals for simple work?

4 comments

c/creative-writing-prompts•

tara_martin•1mo ago

Hot take: The weirdest writing prompt I ever found was on a bathroom stall in a truck stop near Flagstaff.

It just said, 'You wake up as the last slice of pizza at a party. Go.' I couldn't stop thinking about it for the whole drive to Phoenix. What's the most bizarre prompt you've stumbled on in the wild?

4 comments

c/client-red-flags•

tara_martin•1mo ago

My uncle said to always get half up front, I thought it was rude

He told me this five years ago when I started my web design work. I ignored him and did a big job for a bakery in Portland, billing them all at the end. They took six months to pay the full $2,500 and it hurt my cash flow. Now I see he was right and I ask for 50% before I even open my design software. How do you all handle the first payment talk without sounding pushy?

3 comments

c/backpacking-routes•

tara_martin•1mo ago

The time I picked the 'scenic' route over the marked trail in the Smokies

Last fall, I had to choose between the well-signed Alum Cave Trail or a dotted line on my map labeled 'old logging road' that promised a quieter walk. I went with the dotted line, which turned into a two-hour bushwhack through rhododendron thickets so dense I had to crawl. My friend just kept saying, 'You picked the dotted line' over and over. Has anyone else been completely betrayed by a map's suggestion?

4 comments

c/bricklayers•

tara_martin•1mo ago

The difference between a $40 trowel and a $90 one is way bigger than I thought

I used the same cheap, stiff trowel for years because I figured steel was steel, right? Last month I finally bit the bullet and got a premium one, a Marshalltown 13 inch. The first day I buttered brick with it, I felt like an idiot for waiting so long. The flex is perfect, it holds the mortar just right without it sliding off, and my wrist doesn't ache at the end of the day. That cheap one would leave little gaps I had to go back and fill because it wouldn't spread as smooth. I mean, it's just a tool, but it changed my whole pace on a chimney rebuild in Tacoma. Has anyone else had a tool upgrade that felt like a cheat code?

4 comments

c/geology-rocks•

tara_martin•1mo ago

Appreciation post: My close call with a slab of loose shale

I was checking out a creek bed for cool rocks last week. I put my hand on what looked like a firm shale layer. Suddenly, a big piece cracked off and fell right where I was standing. It scared me bad, and I almost got hit. Now I look for any splits or weak spots before I touch anything. You should always give rocks a good look over from a safe distance. A quick check could save you from a nasty surprise.

4 comments

Posts

I thought the 'free city tour' thing was a total trap until I tried one in Prague

Warning: Tried a heat gun on a stuck dryer drum and almost melted the belt

Disagreeing with the 'always bench test first' rule

Tried a 'freelancer lunch' at a local brewery and it turned into a monthly thing

Vent: A client offered me $500 flat for a full website build or a 10% stake in their 'revolutionary' app idea.

Hot take: The weirdest writing prompt I ever found was on a bathroom stall in a truck stop near Flagstaff.

My uncle said to always get half up front, I thought it was rude

The time I picked the 'scenic' route over the marked trail in the Smokies

The difference between a $40 trowel and a $90 one is way bigger than I thought

Appreciation post: My close call with a slab of loose shale

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