Today I Learned (TIL)

TIL never start a plumbing project at 7:45 pm on A Monday night.

-- It will result in a panic trip to the store right at closing time for parts so you can shower before bed.

I drink a lot of coffee, just like many other people.

Apparently, one way my coffee-guzzling habit differs from that of most other people is, I don't mind if the coffee I drink is a bit old. Like up to several days. Makes zero difference, I don't drink it for the taste, I need the caffeine.  

I attribute this to working a brutal "relief" schedule for many years. It looked something like this:

monday = 3rd shift

tuesday = 2nd shift

wednesday = 1st shift

thursday = off

friday = 3rd shift

saturday = 2nd shift

sunday = off

It may not look THAT bad at first since I was scheduled only 8 hours at a time. But, I was subject to being told at any point up to and including the end of my shift, with zero notice, that I was being held for an additional 8 hours and my "schedule" would be changed to accommodate the forced overtime. Said schedule was ALWAYS subject to change and, if I happened to answer my phone while I was home, I had to go to work. Happened more than once, most notably on my wife's birthday. She was thrilled.

This "schedule" necessitated that I take direct control of my napping habits (can't really call it "sleep") through egregious consumption of melatonin and, alternatively, coffee.

On any given morning I will shuffle into the kitchen and pour whatever is left in the coffee pot into a mug and nuke it until it's warm then consume it while pondering the choices I've made in my life that have led to that particular moment.
 

 Anyway, my microwave has one of those turntable things in it and I have found that if I nuke the old, stale coffee I consume daily, for 71 seconds, the handle of my mug winds up in the exact same position it was in when I placed it in the microwave.

You are not alone. I prefer waffle house coffee that has been on the burner all day. 

I learned to like coffee in detox.....

TIL from the great Danger Dan, that an SR20DET fits into an E36 even better than most BMW engines.

TIL that there are really fancy reusable zip ties that look like they would be just the trick for a build or a specific project:

https://www.griplockties.com/

Dusterbd13-michael said:

You are not alone. I prefer waffle house coffee that has been on the burner all day. 

I learned to like coffee in detox.....

I usually brew a pot and drink it over a few days, often over ice and with a little creamer.

Today, I learned (sort of) how to preflight and start a P-51 Mustang.  Sure it's 20 minutes I'll never get back, but also 20 minutes well spent: starting a P-51

I found out today that superb customer service still exists. A few days ago I sent an email to a company that specializes in old school oil based paints for boats. Today the owner called me and left a detailed voicemail about how much I would need for the size of my boat and encouraged me to call him personally to discuss what I am doing.

TIL a Coyote with 180 degree headers sounds like a Voodoo. Should have been obvious I guess.

Today I learned that an Evening Bat spent the night in my garage. It's still napping even though I was working on stuff, lifting some weights and punching my punching bag before I noticed it. Those things are deep sleepers.

^ Looks like that, but cuter.

kazoospec said:

Today, I learned (sort of) how to preflight and start a P-51 Mustang.  Sure it's 20 minutes I'll never get back, but also 20 minutes well spent: starting a P-51

That is not time wasted. my dad had a copy of this book that i discovered at age 4. I loved the photos. A couple of years later I would read it cover to cover. The first part are Len's experiences in the late 40's getting checked out and flying the P-51D in a National Guard squadron. The second part is the pilots operating manual. My brother and I damn near memorized the book. In 3rd grade I was given a book report assignment and this was my topic.  Mrs. Scott was baffled when i turned in the report as i focussed on the pilot manual part of the book. I could not start one today without the check list but in third grade I probably could have

I learned it is entirely possible to use the plasma cutter in shorts with no socks. I also learned what it feels like to have molten metal blasted into my shoe.

In reply to RevRico :

It's not a good day of work unless you can smell burning hair and skin.

(disclaimer:  I make Chewbacca look shaved)

pilotbraden said:

kazoospec said:

Today, I learned (sort of) how to preflight and start a P-51 Mustang.  Sure it's 20 minutes I'll never get back, but also 20 minutes well spent: starting a P-51

That is not time wasted. my dad had a copy of this book that i discovered at age 4. I loved the photos. A couple of years later I would read it cover to cover. The first part are Len's experiences in the late 40's getting checked out and flying the P-51D in a National Guard squadron. The second part is the pilots operating manual. My brother and I damn near memorized the book. In 3rd grade I was given a book report assignment and this was my topic.  Mrs. Scott was baffled when i turned in the report as i focussed on the pilot manual part of the book. I could not start one today without the check list but in third grade I probably could have

Yeah, I read this:  about 10 years ago.  The Mrs. thought I had lost my mind.

BTW - YouTube link without a third party site to nagware you in the meantime:

TIL that Pepsi briefly had the 6th largest military in the world, after the Soviet Union traded them 17 submarines, a cruiser, a frigate, and a destroyer for 3 billion dollars worth of Pepsi. Pepsi had previously accepted vodka in payment for Pepsi products (as Russian currency was largely worthless) but decided they didn't want that anymore, and the Russian people loved Pepsi and the government was desperate to make a deal, so they sold a huge chunk of their navy to Pepsi in exchange. Pepsi subsequently had the ships cut up

https://www.businessinsider.com/how-pepsi-briefly-became-the-6th-largest-military-in-the-world-2018-7?utm_content=buffer0eeef&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=buffer-bi&fbclid=IwAR05WvZ8Djkm9LohjudGUUpjDSnKi8eH2y2g9p7LXzkIze-E824sfL-YNlg

TIL (or rather, Saturday I Learned) that the new Colorado is a surprisingly capable little truck. We used it to haul about 2/3 of a ton of tile and such in the bed and nearly 2 tons of trailer, hot tub, W/D, and wood up the treacherous gravel road to our cabin and it didn't even seem to blink at it. And the damn thing still got about as good of mileage as the Infinity does in town...

Ashyukun (Robert) said:

TIL (or rather, Saturday I Learned) that the new Colorado is a surprisingly capable little truck. We used it to haul about 2/3 of a ton of tile and such in the bed and nearly 2 tons of trailer, hot tub, W/D, and wood up the treacherous gravel road to our cabin and it didn't even seem to blink at it. And the damn thing still got about as good of mileage as the Infinity does in town...

The new Colorados are seriously nice rigs. They also just feel solid, like they are hewn from a solid block of granite. No weird wiggles or flexes or rattles. Car & Driver pitted a Z71 Colorado against the new Ranger, Ridgeline and Gladiator, and it won hands-down.,

In reply to NickD :

Cucumber flavored Sprite.

I didn't really ever think cucumber had a definable flavor.  It's like meaty lettuce, with seeds.

In reply to Knurled. :

Ugh, that seems terrible. No wonder they wanted Pepsi.

Side note: We had a co-worker who was a notorious cheapskate and we came up with the theory that he would eat/drink anything, no matter how terrible, if it was free. So, the one day at lunch, a couple of us went to FastTrak for lunch and saw that the soda fountains had a cucmber/spirulina soda. So we got the huge 50+oz cup and filled it with this cucumber soda, went back to work and said "Hey, Cale, we grabbed you a drink, it's on us." Apparently his cheapskateishness had a limit, because he took one sip of it, made a hideous face and threw it out.

Joe Rogan is a fan of the Miata. Podcast Episode #1334, he raves about how good they are. 

TIL my buddy's girlfriend doesn't appreciate my smartass sense of humor.

In reply to kazoospec :

I did that regularly when I was an instructor in inspections.   This way back when the USAF was still flying them.

I often stood on the wing while teaching a student how to start it and do a run up.

Now I wear hearing aids.    We didn't have those big ear muffs or ear plugs in the old ays.

In reply to Daylan C :

They rarely do 

In reply to Wally :

She responded with some pretty solid sarcasm though so she might be ok.