Robin Gonzalez (u/the_robin)

Posts

Shoutout to the coffee shop owner in Austin who kicked me out

Was working out of a busy coffee shop near South Congress last month. Laptop out, headphones on, ordered two drinks over 4 hours. Owner came over and said I had to buy something every 90 minutes or leave. Felt harsh at first but honestly it changed how I treat cafe spaces. Now I set a phone timer and order something small every hour. Keeps me fresh and I don't feel like I'm mooching. Anyone else run into a rule like that at a local spot?

3 comments

c/drafters•

the_robin•6d ago

Heads up: That "quick measure" laser app on your phone will cost you a redo

I got lazy last week on a kitchen cabinet layout and used one of those AR measuring apps instead of pulling out my tape. Thought I had the wall lengths perfect, but the app drifted by almost 2 inches across a 12 foot run. Ended up cutting all the face frames wrong and had to eat $300 in extra material. Anyone else had this happen or is it just me being dumb with tech?

3 comments

c/bicycle-mechanics•

the_robin•8d ago

Switched my mind on cheap cassette tools

Spent $35 on a generic cassette lockring tool from Amazon. It slipped after 3 uses, rounded the edges. Finally bought the Park Tool SR-12 for $50 and it fits perfect every time. Anyone else have a cheap tool fail on you?

3 comments

c/ai-innovations•

the_robin•9d ago

Heard someone at the library say AI is just 'fancy autocomplete' and it got me thinking...

I was sitting near a guy explaining to his friend how LLMs work, and he said they are basically just really smart word guessers. At first I was annoyed, but the more I think about it, the more I wonder if we oversell what these things can actually do. Like, I've been playing with a local model for a week now trying to get it to write a simple poem without mixing up metaphors, and it keeps failing. Is there a point where we stop calling it intelligence and just call it a really good calculator for words? Anyone else run into limits that made them rethink the hype?

3 comments

c/commercial-divers•

the_robin•25d ago

That study about nitrogen narcosis hit me different...

I was dead set on doing deep mixed gas work until I read a study from the Diving Medical Center at Duke. They tracked 400 commercial divers over 10 years and found something like 30% had permanent nerve damage from repeated narcosis hits. I always thought it was just a fun buzz you shake off... but that changed my whole mind about chasing those deep saturation jobs. Has anyone else looked into the long term effects and changed their career path?

3 comments

c/fiverr-vs-upwork-debates•

the_robin•26d ago

The moment I realized buyer requests were a total waste of time

I spent 6 months on Upwork applying to buyer requests every morning. Then I tracked my numbers and out of 150 proposals I got exactly 2 replies. Has anyone else found a better use for that hour each day?

3 comments

c/diy-and-reno•

the_robin•29d ago

Tried to level my basement floor with self leveler and ended up with a wave

I was in my basement last weekend pouring self leveling concrete over a low spot near the drain. The stuff started setting way faster than the bag said, and before I could work it out it hardened into a 2 inch ridge. Has anyone else had self leveler go bad on them mid pour or did I just mess up the mix ratio?

3 comments

c/botany-lovers•

the_robin•1mo ago

Saw a weird plant at the local greenhouse yesterday

I stopped by Johnson's Greenhouse on Route 9 and noticed this ficus with white patches all over its leaves. Turns out it was just hard water stains from their sprinkler system. Has anyone else ever confused mineral deposits for a plant disease?

3 comments

c/digital-nomad-life•

the_robin•1mo ago

That coworking space in Chiang Mai had the weirdest lunch rule I've ever seen

They banned anyone from eating at their desk after 11am because the smell of pad thai was 'distracting the yoga class' downstairs. Has anyone else run into a coworking space with bizarre random rules like that?

3 comments

c/electricians•

the_robin•1mo ago

Question about voltage drop on a 200 foot run

I got called to a warehouse in Medford last Thursday where a new compressor kept tripping the breaker on startup. The run from the panel was about 200 feet through conduit and the voltage at the disconnect read 198 volts under load. Anyone else see big voltage drops on long runs like that causing nuisance trips?

3 comments

Recent Comments

1d ago

Just realized my polite payment reminders were doing more harm than good

Honestly that firm deadline thing used to sound harsh to me but you make a good point.

1d ago

Warning: That cheap sleeping bag rated for 20 degrees is lying to you

Read a story about a guy who froze his toes off trusting a $30 bag at 15 degrees, @sanchez.julia.

3d ago

Hit 200 installs this month and it threw me off

@blair990 my buddy hit 200 last month and his truck died the same day... talk about mixed signals.

4d ago

I just read that a medieval blacksmith's forge could hit 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit

My buddy tried that salt trick once and it went about as well as you'd expect. He chucked a pinch into his forge and it just fizzed and popped like crazy, scared the crap out of him. Then he tried it again with less salt and still got this weird green flash that made him think he'd messed something up. Took him forever to realize his bellows technique was just wrong and he wasn't getting enough air flow. Now he just sticks to watching the color and swears by the old "cherry red for this, orange for that" method his grandpa taught him.

4d ago

PSA: Fired my cheapest client to take on a retainer instead

OH MAN congrats. You basically traded a screaming toddler for a quiet adult who pays you. That's a HUGE win. Nothing beats the feeling of hitting "archive" on that one cheap client's millionth email while your retainer check clears. It's amazing how much easier life gets when you're not nickel-and-dimed to death.