Ray Wilson (u/ray_wilson)

Posts

Had a main pump coupling let go on the old 10-inch dredge last Thursday

We were pulling good material in a river bend near Augusta when the whole thing just shuddered and quit. Found the flexible coupling between the engine and the pump had sheared all six bolts clean off. Had to shut down for a full eight hours while we pulled the pump back, cleaned the shaft, and put in new hardware. The old bolts looked fine on the last walk around, but they must have been fatigued from all the vibration in that rocky spot. Anyone have a good trick for spotting a coupling that's about to fail before it leaves you dead in the water?

3 comments

c/conspiracy-debates•

ray_wilson•2mo ago

Heard a guy at the bus stop in Cleveland say the moon landing footage was shot in a studio because the shadows were wrong.

Honestly, it made me go look at the actual NASA photos, and the shadows are totally consistent with a single light source. Has anyone else had a casual comment send them down a rabbit hole like that?

3 comments

c/cybersecurity-tips•

ray_wilson•2mo ago

Pro tip: a guy at a conference in Austin told me his company got hit because they never changed the default password on their office router.

He said the IT team just plugged it in years ago and forgot about it, letting someone walk right into their whole network from the parking lot.

3 comments

c/drafters•

ray_wilson•2mo ago

Overheard a new guy at the shop say he never uses a title block template

I was grabbing coffee yesterday and heard a younger drafter tell his buddy he just draws a new title block from scratch for every single job. He said it only takes him like 15 minutes, so he doesn't see the point in a template. It made me stop and think about how much time that really adds up over a week, let alone a year. I've had my main template file for close to a decade now, and it's saved me so many hours. Do you all have a standard template you use, or do you build fresh each time?

3 comments

c/controversial-takes•

ray_wilson•2mo ago

Shoutout to a random footnote in a library book that changed how I see recycling

Found out only about 9% of plastic actually gets recycled, from a 2022 EPA report I stumbled across. Does that make anyone else feel like the whole sorting routine is kind of pointless?

3 comments