A chat with a fisherman in Hoi An made me rethink my work setup

I was working from a plastic stool by the river in Hoi An, Vietnam, last month, and an older local fisherman sat down next to me. He pointed at my laptop and said, 'You carry your office in that bag, yes? My office is this boat.' We talked for an hour about how he reads the water instead of emails. It made me realize I'm always looking for the 'perfect' digital setup, but maybe I'm missing the point of being somewhere new. Has anyone else had a simple conversation that changed how you work on the road?

Had a hoist rope jump the sheave on a 90s Dover last Tuesday

It was on a 4:1 traction job in an old office building. The rope guide was worn just enough to let it slip when the car was at the top floor. I had to lock out the power, get up in the overhead, and re-seat it by hand with a pry bar. Took about two hours because I had to check every sheave for damage after. Anyone run into this on older traction units and have a better fix than just replacing the whole guide?

Finally picked a backsplash tile after staring at samples for a week

I had two boxes sitting on my counter, one with a glossy white subway tile and one with a matte gray zellige-style tile. My partner kept saying just pick one, but I kept moving them around in different light. I went with the matte gray because it hides water spots better, which is good with our sink. It took me about three hours to get the first row level, but it looks so much better than the old laminate. Has anyone else used that kind of tile and had trouble with the uneven edges?

Old calendar pages as practice signatures made guiding new binders WAY easier.