William Singh (u/william816)

Posts

Rant: Facebook groups are way better than any search for finding old friends

I spent like 8 months trying to track down my buddy Marcus from middle school. Tried every search engine, people finder sites, even paid for that one service that was supposed to dig up addresses. Nothing worked. Then my wife told me to check a local "born in 86" Facebook group for our hometown. First post I made got a hit in 2 hours. His cousin saw it and messaged me his number. Felt dumb for not trying that sooner. Has anyone else had better luck with random groups than the paid stuff?

2 comments

c/shelf-life-watch•

william816•12d ago

Can we talk about how store brand soda ages way better than name brand?

I cracked open a 3 year old generic cola last week and it still had some fizz, but a name brand can from the same batch was flat as a pancake. Anybody else notice budget stuff holds up longer in the pantry?

2 comments

c/lost-media-hunters•

william816•13d ago

PSA: Don't fall for those 'rare' VHS tapes on eBay

I dropped $80 on what was supposed to be a lost Disney short from the 80s, but it turned out to be a bootleg recorded off TV. Anyone else get burned by fake listings claiming to be 'lost media'?

2 comments

c/suspension-and-wheels•

william816•13d ago

Hit 50,000 miles on my old truck's original suspension parts and nothing broke yet

I was changing the oil last Saturday and noticed the shocks still had their factory stickers on them, so I checked the odometer and sure enough this 1997 Ford F-150 rolled right over to 50,000 miles on the same leaf springs and struts that came with it from the factory in Detroit - has anyone else gotten lucky with old suspension components that should have failed years ago?

2 comments

c/dumb-ideas-that-worked•

william816•15d ago

The month I stopped ironing my work shirts cold

Got tired of rewashing shirts that looked worse after ironing, so I tried throwing them in the dryer with a damp towel for 10 minutes and now I haven't touched an iron in 6 months - has anyone else figured out a shortcut that felt too stupid to try at first?

2 comments

c/rough-drafts-only•

william816•17d ago

Had a talk with my neighbor that totally flipped how I look at drafts

My neighbor across the street is a retired editor, and last week he saw me throwing out a half-finished short story I wrote at 3am after a rough shift. He pulled it out of the trash, read it, and said 'this sloppy version has more life than anything you'll polish into submission.' I was mad at first, but he was right. I keep trying to make things perfect before showing anyone, but he says the mess is where the real stuff lives. Any of you let people see your garbage first drafts or am I the only one holding back?

2 comments

c/used-parts-swap•

william816•17d ago

Junk yard near Denver had a goldmine of OEM alternators last saturday

I was up at Pull-A-Part off Federal Blvd around 9am last weekend looking for a window regulator for my 04 Tacoma. Ended up walking past a row of late 90s Honda Accords and noticed like 8 of them still had their original alternators sitting there. Grabbed one for $25 after a quick bench test with my multimeter, slapped it on my buddies Civic and it fired right up no issues. Anyone else find hidden gems like that buried in a specific yard?

3 comments

c/clear-the-fridge•

william816•23d ago

Noticed I'm throwing out the same sad celery every week no matter what

Lost another half bag of celery to the back of the crisper drawer last Tuesday, so I finally sliced and froze it in a ziplock for soups instead.

2 comments

c/crane-operators•

william816•24d ago

Spent $200 on a load indicator for my Grove and it paid for itself in a week

I used to think load indicators were just extra junk to go wrong. Then I nearly tipped a 50 ton Grove at a job site in Denver last month trying to guess a pick weight. Bought a Rayco Wylie i4502 for 200 bucks and it caught me about to overload on a concrete panel. Anyone else have a close call that made them spend money on safety gear?

2 comments

c/cancel-culture-autopsy•

william816•1mo ago

That one week in 2019 when half my old high school got canceled at once

I still think about that week in March. A buddy from class posted an old video of our teacher making a racist joke during a field trip in 2005. Then someone dug up a tweet from a former class president who said something dumb about vaccines. Within three days, like six people from my old school were getting dragged on Twitter. One girl lost her job at a non profit over a Facebook comment from 2012. I remember sitting there watching it all unfold on my phone during lunch break. Felt like a domino effect. Nobody talked to each other for months after that. Anyone else have a whole group get wiped out at once like that?

2 comments