Question about dealing with a problem customer who won't pay

Had a guy walk out on a $40 haircut last Tuesday after I fixed a bad fade from another shop. Do you all take payment up front for walk-in fixes, or is that just bad for business?

Hit 30 nights in my $40 tent and it's still going strong

I got this no-name tent off Amazon for 40 bucks two years ago and I just counted up on my camping log that I've spent 30 nights in it now. It's been through rain in the Smokies and wind at a beach site in Florida and the only issue is a small tear near the zipper I patched with duct tape. Anyone else got a piece of budget gear that just won't quit?

Had to pick between a hydraulic cutterhead or a mechanical one on a sandpit job in Mobile last month

An old timer in Philly called my tagline technique 'a good way to get someone killed'

He said I was focusing too much on the load and not enough on the swing path, and after a near miss last Tuesday, I've started scanning the whole arc first. Anyone else have a pre-lift checklist they swear by?

Question about the MyAnimeList server crash during the 'Frieren' finale

The entire site went down for over 2 hours last Saturday night, right when I was trying to update my list and read reviews, which completely ruined my post-episode ritual.

I fixed a vintage amp by ignoring the schematic for once

A customer brought in a 1970s tube amp from a garage in Phoenix, and the schematic called for a specific resistor value that just wasn't working. I swapped in a slightly different value based on the actual voltage I measured at the socket, and it fired right up. Has anyone else had to go against the official docs to make something actually function?

Shoutout to my old foreman in Tacoma who told me to always carry a 3/8 inch drive ratchet

I thought it was just extra weight for years, but last month I was stuck in a shaft with a stuck sheave bolt. My 1/2 inch wouldn't fit in the gap, but the smaller ratchet got it loose in two minutes. Anyone else have a tool they thought was useless that saved a job?

I was sure the 'lip flip' with Botox was just a trend, but my doctor in Portland showed me her before and after book.

The great dried bean soak time mystery

I decided to save money by switching from canned beans to dried ones, figuring how hard could it be? The bag said to soak them for 8 hours, so I planned my chili for the next day. After the soak, I boiled them for what felt like forever. An hour in, they were still like little rocks. I kept checking every 20 minutes, adding more water, and finally after 3 hours total cook time they were edible but still a bit firm. My whole afternoon was gone. I looked it up later and apparently the age of the dried beans changes everything, and old ones just take forever. Has anyone found a good way to tell if your bag of beans is going to be a day-long project before you start?

Appreciation post: The manager at the coffee shop in Portland who backed me up when a customer screamed over a $4.50 latte

Honestly, I was about to cry when this guy started yelling because his oat milk latte was 'too hot', but my manager stepped in, calmly told him the temperature was standard for safety, and offered to remake it once it cooled, which just made the guy storm out, but has anyone else had a manager actually have your back like that?