That stat about men ghosting after 3 dates really got me

I was reading this survey on DatingAdvice.com last weekend and it said 63% of guys under 30 will ghost after the third date if they haven't gotten physical yet. That honestly blew my mind because I thought ghosting was more random, not tied to a specific number of dates. I had this guy from Austin disappear on me right after date 3 last month and now I'm wondering if that stat was the reason. Has anyone else seen numbers like that and changed how you handle the first few dates?

My uncle's car karaoke advice finally clicked after a year

Debate: Do you fix a torch leak on the spot or just swap hoses and deal with it later?

I was on a job in Cleveland last month when my cutting torch started hissing at the connection. I stopped to swap the O-ring, lost 20 minutes, but my partner said he'd just tape it and finish the weld. What do you guys do when a leak shows up mid-job?

Shoutout to the $20 meat thermometer that saved my Sunday roast

I spent 15 bucks on a simple instant read thermometer from Target last week, and it kept me from serving dried out pork loin to my in-laws. Has anyone else had a cheap tool actually make you look way better than you are in the kitchen?

Debate: Should we use helicoil kits on stripped screw holes or just replace the whole part?

I had a Canon AE-1 last week where the bottom plate screw hole was completely stripped. Guy at the bench said to just put a helicoil in it and call it a day, but I'm on the side of replacing the plate since it's only $15. Three years ago I helicoiled a Pentax K1000 and it held up fine, but I still wonder if it weakens the frame over time. What do you all do when you run into stripped threads on a '70s era body?

Warning: spent $80 on that sonic silt density gauge...

Bought one of those sonic density gauges from a supplier in Baton Rouge for $80 thinking it'd save me time on fine-tuning my slurry mix. Ended up being way off compared to the lab sieve test I always run on samples. Has anyone else had bad luck with those things burning you on accuracy?

Had an astrophotography guru tell me to ditch my refractor for a Newtonian

Joined a local astronomy club 4 months back. This old timer with a 20 inch Dob swore my 80mm refractor was garbage for deep sky. Followed his advice. Bought a used 8 inch Newtonian off CloudyNights for $200. First clear night I spent 3 hours fighting collimation issues. Couldn't get a sharp image to save my life. Next week I went back to the refractor and got the cleanest Andromeda shot I've ever taken. Who else has been steered wrong by "experts" in this hobby?

That time I walked out mid dinner at Olive Garden in Miami

Honestly, my date spent 20 minutes lecturing me about why people who use self-checkout are ruining society. I told him I work a union job sorting mail and I don't have time for that kind of gatekeeping. When he kept pushing after I asked him to drop it, I just stood up and left him with the $42 check in Coconut Grove. Has anyone else bailed mid meal when someone got way too preachy?

Remember when you had to buy a whole season on DVD just to see if a show was any good?

I dropped $60 on the first season of 'Jericho' back in 2007, watched three episodes, and never touched it again. Anyone have a recent show they almost paid for before finding it on a streamer?

I switched from a free VPN to a paid one and the difference is huge

I used a free VPN for about 6 months thinking it was fine. Last month, I got a weird email from an old account I only used with that VPN on. I compared the privacy policies and the free one actually sells your connection data, while the paid one I got, Mullvad, does not. It costs 5 euros a month and they don't even ask for your email. I feel way less exposed now. Has anyone else found a good paid service that doesn't track you?