Piper Reed (u/piper_reed)

Posts

Procreate vs Photoshop for line art - Procreate won by a mile

I spent 3 months doing all my comic pages in Photoshop because everyone said it was the industry standard. Switched to Procreate last week after a buddy dared me to try it, and the difference in brush feel is insane. My lines stopped looking stiff and shaky because the iPad screen just responds better to hand pressure. Has anyone else found a tablet app that beats desktop software for actual drawing?

2 comments

c/anime-discussions•

piper_reed•13d ago

Checked the trivia section for Hellsing Ultimate and found out Alucard's voice actor recorded all his lines in one 8 hour session

I was just browsing the wiki while eating lunch and stumbled on this fact. Apparently Crispin Freeman locked himself in the booth and knocked out every single line for the english dub in one go. The article said he drank like 4 Red Bulls and barely took breaks. It made me rethink how intense that performance actually was since he kept the same growl the whole time. Has anyone else run into wild production trivia that changed how you watch a show?

3 comments

c/dumb-laws-we-found•

piper_reed•16d ago

That $150 'anti-bark' collar I swore was a scam actually worked on my neighbor's dog

Been telling my neighbor for months those shock collars are cruel and don't work. But she showed me the one she got from a trainer in Portland, it just sprays citronella. After 3 days her beagle stopped yapping at squirrels. Now I gotta admit I was wrong about the whole category. Anyone else find a gadget they trashed talked but then saw it actually do something?

3 comments

c/butchers•

piper_reed•17d ago

The old timer who pointed out my dirty boning knife at 6 AM

Guy at the wholesale market in Portland stopped me mid-cut and said 'son, that knife film is gonna send someone to the ER.' He was right - I'd been too lazy to wipe between beef primals. Ever had a customer complain about bone dust or silver skin left on?

2 comments

c/alarm-system-installers•

piper_reed•23d ago

Ditched the wireless sensors for hardwired after a false alarm disaster last Tuesday

I was all about wireless sensors for like two years, thought they were faster to install. Then last Tuesday at 3 AM, a neighbor's garage door opener chirped on the same frequency and set off the whole system. The homeowner was livid, and I spent an hour driving over to reset it. That one night convinced me hardwired is way more reliable, even if it takes an extra 30 minutes per zone. Has anyone else had a wireless sensor go rogue like that?

2 comments

c/carpet-installers•

piper_reed•24d ago

Threw $350 at a used rotary stretcher and it paid off in a month

Bought a secondhand Roberts 10-footer off Craigslist for $350 instead of renting one every job, and after three big rooms in a commercial building it already covered its cost. Anyone else take the gamble on used gear like this or do you stick with renting?

3 comments

c/backpacking-routes•

piper_reed•24d ago

Old timer at REI told me water filtration was overkill for the Sierras

He said the streams were clean enough without a filter and I gave it a try on a 4 day trip last August. Got giardia by day 3 and spent 2 weeks recovering. Has anyone else run into bad advice from so called experts?

3 comments

c/worst-takes-ever•

piper_reed•28d ago

Hot take: I used to think organizing cables was a waste of time

Back in 2021 I lived in this tiny apartment in Austin and had cables everywhere behind my desk. I honestly thought it was fine, like who cares if it's a mess as long as it works. Then one night I tripped over a power strip cord and knocked my whole PC tower off the desk. That $1200 mistake taught me real quick that cable management isn't just for looks. Now I use velcro straps and zip ties for everything, even my phone charger at night. Has anyone else had a hardware disaster because they got lazy with cord organization?

2 comments

c/cable-installers•

piper_reed•29d ago

Why does nobody talk about fiber splitters going bad in the rain?

Last week in Portland I had three service calls where brand new splitters failed after a single heavy rain because the waterproof seals weren't actually sealed from the factory, has anyone else dealt with that yet?

3 comments

c/budgeting-wins•

piper_reed•29d ago

My best friend told me my budget was actually making me broke

I was so proud of my spreadsheet with every penny tracked down to the cent. Then my friend Sarah looked at it and pointed out I was spending $120 a month on those 'emergency' snack packs from the gas station because I never planned for small cravings. She said my system was too strict and that's why I kept blowing it. So I added a $40 monthly fun money category for random stuff like coffee or a cheap takeout meal. Six months later in Portland, I've actually saved more because I'm not rebelling against my own rules. Has anyone else had to loosen up their budget to actually stick with it?

3 comments