Jason Moore (u/the_jason)

Posts

Failed a certification exam twice - when do you switch strategies?

I took the PMP exam three weeks ago and failed by 4 points, then tried again last Saturday and failed by 7 points. Same study materials both times. Do you double down on the same approach or completely change your method at that point?

3 comments

c/cnc-operators•

the_jason•23d ago

That $200 quick change tool post I bought was a complete waste of money

I picked up a fancy quick change tool post off Amazon about 6 months ago for my lathe. It seemed like a good deal at $200 compared to the name brand ones. After a week of use the tool holder started slipping and I couldn't hold tight tolerances anymore. I ended up buying a used Aloris from a guy in Cleveland for $150 and it works perfectly. Has anyone else had bad luck with those cheap Chinese tool posts on a manual lathe?

3 comments

c/coding-for-beginners•

the_jason•26d ago

Unpopular opinion: those $500 coding bootcamps are a complete waste

I dropped $500 on a '12 week full stack bootcamp' last month thinking it would fast track me into a job. Turns out it was just a pile of outdated videos and a Discord server where no one answered questions. The instructor barely showed up and the projects were copy-paste from GitHub. I could have learned the same stuff from free YouTube tutorials in half the time. Honestly felt like I flushed my cash down the drain. Anyone else get burned by a cheap online coding course like this?

3 comments

c/conspiracy-debates•

the_jason•26d ago

Just realized I dropped $60 on those underground bunker blueprints from that shady forum guy

Turned out the plans were just scanned pages from a 1970s Boy Scout manual and the measurements were in metric and imperial mixed up, so does anyone have a real source for fallout shelter designs that don't require a civil engineering degree to read?

3 comments

c/adulting-hard•

the_jason•27d ago

My dad's advice about changing my own oil was actually terrible

My dad always told me that changing your own oil saves you money and you can trust the job. So for years I did it myself in my driveway in Phoenix, sweating my ass off and dealing with hot oil spills. Last month I finally ran the numbers after I dropped a drain plug and had to buy a whole new set of tools. It cost me $47 in oil, $8 for the filter, and I spent 2 hours doing it when Jiffy Lube down the street charges $65 and takes 20 minutes. Plus I realized I was over-tightening the filter every time because my dad learned his technique in the 70s on cars with way different engines. Has anyone else found that following old family advice just doesnt make sense anymore with how cheap and fast the pros are now?

2 comments

c/divorce-support•

the_jason•28d ago

Just realized I was hiding my feelings instead of talking about them

Last month I was sitting in my car outside the 7-Eleven on Elm Street after another fight with my ex, and it hit me - I'd been saying 'I'm fine' for 12 years when I was actually furious or hurt. My therapist pointed out that I never once told her what I needed during the marriage, I just hoped she'd figure it out. Has anyone else had that moment where you realize you were your own worst enemy in communication?

2 comments

c/everyday-taboo-topics•

the_jason•28d ago

I finally stopped lying about my credit card debt to my spouse

For like 2 years I kept telling my wife my balance was around $4k when it was really closer to $8k. I just felt so ashamed and figured I'd pay it down before she found out. Then she saw a statement by accident last November and we had this awful fight where I felt like the biggest idiot. Now we do a monthly budget check in together and it's actually way less stressful than hiding stuff. Has anyone else been through that moment where you had to come clean about money to your partner?

3 comments

c/diy-backyard•

the_jason•29d ago

Took me 8 years to realize I was watering my grass wrong

I always watered in the evening after dinner thinking it helped the soil soak in overnight. Then last summer during that dry spell, my neighbor who works at a nursery casually mentioned that evening watering just sits there and grows fungus. Walked over to my lawn and sure enough, every patch had this gross powdery mildew going on. Has anyone else learned a basic yard habit the hard way like that?

2 comments

c/digital-art-showcase•

the_jason•1mo ago

Just heard a digital artist talk about their 'ugly phase' rule

I was watching a stream yesterday where an artist said they have a rule to never delete a piece before the 48 hour mark, even if they think it looks bad. They called it the 'ugly phase' and said almost every finished piece goes through one. They showed a timelapse of a portrait that looked like a total mess at the 3 hour point, but after sleeping on it, they fixed it in like 2 more hours and it turned out great. It made me think about how many of my own projects I might have bailed on too early. Do you guys have a similar rule or a point where you know to just push through?

3 comments

c/business-owners•

the_jason•1mo ago

I was burning out my best people and didn't see it until a manager quit

For years I pushed for 60 hour weeks, thinking it showed dedication. Last month, my top project lead handed in her notice and said, 'I can't do this to my family anymore.' That was the tip-off. I checked our turnover and we lost 4 key people in the last 8 months, all citing workload. Has anyone else had to rebuild a team culture after pushing too hard?

3 comments