Hot take: coworking spaces are overrated for solo founders

Visited WeWork in Austin last month. Paid $300 for a month and got zero networking done. Everyone just stares at their laptops. Better off working from a coffee shop for $50 a month and actually talking to people. Anyone else feel the same?

Dropped $150 on a good coax crimper and it changed my wiring game

Bought a Paladin Tools 8000 crimper after fighting with a cheapo one from Amazon for months. Did a full harness replacement on a Cessna 172 last week in Denver and every connection was solid first try. Anyone else notice how much time you save when the tool actually seats properly? Thinking about grabbing their stripper too, has anyone used it?

Had a brutal Tuesday where I tried to fix the dishwasher three times before calling it quits

That $60 ergonomic mouse I swore by actually wrecked my wrist

I spent 6 months using this fancy vertical mouse from a startup company and thought it was fixing my carpal tunnel. Turns out the angle was too steep for my hand size and I ended up with tendonitis in a new spot. The physical therapist told me to switch back to a normal cheap mouse and the pain went away in 3 weeks. Anyone else get burned by a product that everyone online was hyping up?

The thing that old Leica shooter told me at a garage sale still sticks with me

I was at this random garage sale in Portland about 6 months ago, just looking for old junk, and I spotted a beat up Leica M3 sitting on a table. The guy running the sale was this older gentleman, probably in his 80s, and he saw me staring at it. He said "that one's been through 3 wars and a divorce, it'll outlive us both." I asked him what he meant and he spent 20 minutes explaining how he never sent it to a shop for cleaning, he just used lens cleaner and a soft cloth on the body, nothing more. He told me most folks overcomplicate camera maintenance and end up breaking things by trying to fix what ain't broken. It really made me think about all the times I've taken apart a perfectly working shutter just because I thought it needed a CLA. Has anyone else had an old timer drop some simple wisdom on you that changed how you approach repairs?

My manager made me sign a 'no bathroom breaks' policy for peak season

I work at an Amazon warehouse in Phoenix. During Prime Week, our shift lead handed out a paper saying we could only use the restroom during our 30 minute lunch. I told him that's illegal in Arizona. He said I could quit. I walked out and filed a complaint with OSHA the next day. Has anyone else dealt with a company trying to skip basic labor laws?

Warning: 'Low mileage' on a 15 year old car near Austin is usually a lie

Bought a 2010 Honda Civic with 60k miles from a little lot off I-35. Owner swore it was an old lady's car. Transmission died at 63k miles, mechanic said the odometer was definitely rolled back. Cost me $2,800 to fix. Anyone else caught a dealer fudging mileage like that?

Boss told me my invoices looked like a child wrote them. Brutal but true.

He was right. Big time. I used to just scribble down "pressure wash house $250" on a napkin or scrap paper. Got stiffed on 3 jobs in one month. Lost about $800 total. Now I print actual invoices with itemized lines. Customers actually pay faster. Who knew?

Called out my own team lead for padding his hours every Friday

Three months ago I caught my team lead adding an extra hour to his time sheet on three separate Fridays. I had to choose between reporting him to HR or trying to handle it between us. I went straight to HR in our Austin office and showed them the timestamp logs from the building entry system. He got written up and now everyone in our department of 12 knows I'm the one who snitched, but at least the overtime budget is accurate now. Anybody else been the bad guy for doing what's technically right?

Vent: Had a customer at the coffee shop yesterday who refused to pay for his refill.

He was a regular, sat in the corner for two hours. When I brought his second cup, he looked at me and said, 'I've been coming here for months, you should know this one's on the house.' I told him our policy is a dollar for refills. He got up, left a single quarter on the table, and walked out without another word. It's been bothering me since. How do you all handle regulars who think they get special treatment?