Had to choose between two different brushes for a tight flue in an old house in Savannah

I used a standard poly brush first and it just kept getting stuck, then switched to a smaller wire whip style. The whip cleared the creosote in half the time without any binding. What do you all use for those really narrow, old masonry flues?

I thought those 'dry age at home' kits were just a gimmick for customers

Honestly, a regular at my shop kept asking about them for months, so I finally tried one myself last fall. I used a basic fridge unit on a ribeye for 28 days, expecting it to be a waste. Ngl, the flavor difference was actually real, like a deeper, almost nutty taste compared to just a wet-aged piece. It convinced me to start offering a small selection of house-dry-aged cuts, and they sell out every Friday now. Has anyone else here started doing small-batch dry aging for their case, and what setup are you using?

Vent: I tried that 'no shampoo for a year' experiment and my hair is a disaster now

I saw people online saying it would make your hair healthier and self-regulate. I stuck with it for 8 months, using just water and a boar bristle brush. My scalp got so itchy and flaky, and my hair looked like a greasy helmet. I finally caved and washed it with a clarifying shampoo from the drugstore. It took three washes to feel normal. I learned that some internet trends are just not for everyone's biology. Has anyone else tried something like this and had it totally fail?

Pro tip: Stop cutting your seam tape so short. I see guys leaving an inch gap and it always peels up. Use a full 6 inches past the seam line, every time.

Read a study that said 95% of people who lose weight on a diet gain it back within 5 years. That's from a UCLA review.

Update: Had to pick between training a custom model from scratch or fine-tuning an existing one for a customer service bot project. Went with fine-tuning. Saved about $8k and 3 weeks.

My hostel bunk bed collapsed in Prague and I had to sleep on a yoga mat

So I was in Prague last fall, staying at this super cheap hostel to save money. I'm talking 12 euros a night cheap. The third night there, I'm climbing up to my top bunk and the whole wooden frame just gives out. It made this huge cracking sound and I ended up on the floor with a pile of wood and my mattress. The night manager just shrugged and handed me a spare yoga mat and a blanket. I spent the next two nights sleeping on that thin mat on the hard floor. My back was killing me, but I was too stubborn to pay for a new place. What's the weirdest makeshift bed you've had to use while traveling to stick to your budget?

Spent $40 on a 'secret' report about the Denver airport murals...

It was just a badly scanned PDF of forum posts from 2009. Anyone have a good source for actual research on that stuff?

Vent: I tried watching the 'big three' anime in release order and it totally changed the experience

Honestly, I started with Naruto, then One Piece, then Bleach, just like they came out. Ngl, seeing the tropes and animation style evolve week by week made the whole thing feel way more connected. I did this over a 6 month period and it was like watching a conversation between shows. Has anyone else tried a specific watch order that made a series hit different?