Warning: coworking spaces in Bali are not what they seem

I moved to Ubud last month thinking I'd get tons of work done at the fancy coworking spots. Three weeks in I realized most people there are just posting Instagram stories and drinking smoothies. The wifi goes down every afternoon around 2pm for like an hour. I ended up working from my homestay balcony more than anywhere else. If you need reliable internet to hit deadlines, don't count on those places. Has anyone else found a decent spot in Bali with actual stable connection?

Dropped $150 on a faulty drysuit zipper repair that failed on first dive

I took my drysuit to a shop in Norfolk for a new zipper and paid $150 upfront, thinking it was a solid deal. The zipper blew open at 30 feet on my next job, flooding my suit and ruining my whole shift. Anyone else had a zipper repair go bad and found a shop that actually stands by their work?

Grabbed that $9.99 "lifetime warranty" cast iron skillet from the flea market in Tulsa, thing cracked on first use lol

I was so proud of myself for finding this skillet at the Route 66 flea market. Lady swore it was a vintage Lodge, said it had a lifetime warranty from the original owner. Got it home, seasoned it for 2 hours, tossed in some bacon and it literally split in half down the middle. No joke, the handle stayed on the stove and the pan fell into the burner. I'm not even mad, just impressed at how fast it failed. Anyone else have a flea market find that turned out to be total junk?

A 20-year guy told me torque wrenches are overrated and it got me thinking

Ngl, I was at a shop in Denver last Friday and this old timer said he never uses a torque wrench on spark plugs. He just goes by feel after 30 years of turning wrenches. I argued back but then he showed me his logbook and he hasn't had a single plug blow out or strip since 1999. I still use mine but it kinda hit me different. Has anyone else here gone totally by feel on certain bolts and had it work out?

My '04 Tahoe's heater core took out the entire dashboard last February

I spent three days pulling apart my dash to replace a $45 part that GM designed to fail right behind the radio. The plastic housing cracked at 78k miles and dumped coolant all over the passenger floor. Dealer quoted me $1,200. Did it myself with YouTube and a socket set, but whoever thought routing that hose through the center console needs their head examined. Anyone else run into this on their GMT800?

PSA: That "open door policy" my boss in Dallas bragged about for 2 years was actually just an excuse to watch us from his glass office.

I found this out last month when I walked in to ask for a day off and he spent 45 minutes grilling me about why I wasn't hitting my numbers instead, has anyone else had a manager use policy talk to cover up micro-managing?

I stopped using a timer for pour overs and my coffee got way better...

Old timer told me to quit sanding between coats on shaker doors

I had this guy come in with a set of shaker doors I'd done for him 5 years ago. He said they looked fine but the finish was peeling along the inside edges of the panel. He asked if I used a random orbit between primer and paint. I said yeah, 220 grit. He laughed and said that's why it failed. Said the dust gets trapped in the grain and creates a weak bond. Now I just wipe with a tack cloth and go straight to paint after primer. Has anyone else had a finish fail because of sanding between coats on MDF or poplar?

Warning: DME vs Garmin GPS units on a Piper Archer install

I spent last month swapping out a broken DME head on a 1978 Piper Archer against putting in a Garmin GPS 175. The DME cost me about $400 on eBay and took half a day to wire up and test. The Garmin was $3000 and took 3 days including the antenna mount and software config. But here's the thing - the DME still gives us distance to a VOR which is fine for IFR but it's old tech. The GPS gives me 50 times more functionality like direct to waypoints and glideslope info. My customer went with the DME because of budget but I swear the GPS is so much better for situational awareness. Has anyone else dealt with this trade-off on older airframes where the pilot just wants to save a buck?

My laptop charger fried itself in a Chiang Mai cafe last Tuesday... had to pay $90 for a new one from a sketchy shop.