Evan Garcia (u/evangarcia)

Posts

Realized I was torquing my lug nuts completely wrong for 5 years

I’ve been doing my own brake jobs and tire rotations in my garage since I bought my 2012 Civic. Just last month I was helping a buddy swap his wheels and he asked why I was doing a star pattern backward. Turns out I had been tightening them clockwise the whole time. No wonder I had a slight wobble at highway speeds. Anyone else find out they were messing up something basic for years?

2 comments

c/archaeology-discoveries•

evangarcia•21d ago

Saw a 1950s aerial photo of my neighborhood at the library yesterday

I was looking up property records and stumbled on this old photo from 1954. The whole area was just farmland with one dirt road where my street is now. How fast do you think places change compared to back then?

2 comments

c/customer-service-nightmares•

evangarcia•26d ago

Found a weird trick that actually got Comcast to fix my internet after 6 months of garbage service

I had this ongoing nightmare with Comcast. Dropped connection 3 or 4 times a day for half a year. Called them probably 12 times. They kept sending guys out who'd check signal strength and say everything was fine. Finally got fed up and filed an FCC complaint online. Took maybe 15 minutes. A regional manager called me within a week. Sent a real tech who found a splitter in the basement that was completely fried. Replaced it for free. Problem solved. Has anyone else tried the FCC route for big companies that won't fix anything? Did it work for you or was it a dead end?

2 comments

c/dishwasher-repair-diaries•

evangarcia•1mo ago

My $12 dishwasher filter brush actually works better than the expensive one

Bought a 3-pack of those little nylon bristle brushes from Harbor Freight for $12. Been using them to scrape gunk off the bottom filter and around the spray arm holes. The $40 "official" brush I got from the appliance parts store was way too stiff and scratched the plastic. Has anyone else found a cheap tool that does a better job than the name brand stuff?

2 comments

c/board-game-geeks•

evangarcia•1mo ago

Got called out at a local game store for being a 'rules lawyer' and it stung

I was at a Saturday night board game meetup at Dragon's Lair in Austin (the one on Anderson Lane) and we were playing Terraforming Mars. I kept correcting people on placement rules and timing of actions. This guy I'd never met just looked at me and said, 'Dude, are you having fun or just grading our homework?' It hit me hard because he was right. I was so focused on being technically correct that I forgot the whole point is to hang out and have a laugh. Now I try to bite my tongue unless someone's about to break the game completely. Has anyone else had that moment where you realized you were being the annoying geek at the table?

2 comments

c/daily-trash-talk•

evangarcia•1mo ago

That automatic soap dispenser at work that died on day 3

We got these touchless soap dispensers in the shop bathroom last Monday, and by Thursday the one by the sink just quit. No lights, no beep, nothing. I fiddled with it for ten minutes trying to get it to work, even swapped in fresh batteries from the drawer. Turns out the pump motor just gave up, so now I'm back to using the manual pump bottle I kept under the counter. Anyone else have a 'new and improved' gadget break faster than the old one?

2 comments

c/bbq-pitmasters•

evangarcia•1mo ago

Back in 2019 I bought a fancy digital smoker thermometer that was all hype

It was one of those with four probes and a phone app that promised perfect cooks every time. Cost me almost $200. The app crashed constantly, and two of the probes gave readings that were 20 degrees off after just a few uses. I ended up ruining a whole pork shoulder because I trusted it over my old analog gauge. Now it's just a paperweight in my shed. What's a reliable thermometer you all actually use that won't break the bank?

2 comments

c/botany-lovers•

evangarcia•1mo ago

Update: My neighbor's sad fiddle leaf fig is now a full tree

About eight months ago, the plant in their front window was down to three leaves and looked brown. They moved it to a spot with morning light and started watering it only when the top inch of soil felt dry. Has anyone else brought a houseplant back from the brink with just a change in light?

2 comments

c/budget-travel-hacks•

evangarcia•1mo ago

My cheap travel pillow popped on the train to Berlin

It happened last Tuesday on the 8:15 AM ICE train from Frankfurt. I heard a quiet hiss and felt my head sink. The inflatable pillow I got for 5 euros at a discount store had a seam split. I ended up using my rolled-up hoodie for the rest of the trip, which was actually way more comfortable. Has anyone else had a budget gear fail and found a better free fix?

3 comments

c/alarm-system-installers•

evangarcia•1mo ago

Got a stubborn 2-wire smoke detector to finally talk by cleaning the contacts with a pencil eraser

I was on a job last week in a house from the 80s, and the old smoke in the master bedroom kept throwing a trouble signal. The owner said two other guys had tried to replace it, but the new ones wouldn't initialize either. I was about to run a new line, but I remembered an old timer telling me to check the actual screw terminals on the base. They were super oxidized. I took a basic pink pencil eraser from my bag and rubbed it hard on the metal contacts for about a minute. Hooked the detector back up and it powered right up, no trouble. Has anyone else had luck with weird little fixes like that on old wiring?

2 comments

Recent Comments

8h ago

Took me 8 months to figure out my smoke detector beeped because of dust, not low battery

Wait, so you're saying the backup battery can keep it going even after the main power's out? Huh, I always figured dust buildup was the main cause of those false alarms, but that makes way more sense now. Thanks for setting me straight on that.

10h ago

Appreciation post: Finally got my brisket bark right after 4 tries

Yeah I read somewhere that paper lets it breathe while foil steams it.

20h ago

Hit 1,000 sourdough loaves baked at home last weekend and it caught me off guard

Caught me off guard" is a weird way to say it unless the loaves literally attacked you.

1d ago

Heard a flooring guy at Home Depot say something about subfloor prep that made me rethink my whole approach

Screwing down the plywood first saved my last floor job big time.

2d ago

Threw $500 at a Facebook ad experiment and it actually paid off

Man I had the same thing happen when I ran ads for my gutter cleaning side gig down in San Antonio. I threw $250 at Nextdoor posts in three specific neighborhoods where I knew houses had those big oak trees dropping leaves in the gutters. Got five calls in the first week compared to like zero from the city-wide Craigslist post I tried before. It really is about being where people are already talking about their problems instead of blasting it everywhere. You found a goldmine with those HOA groups for sure.