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  • Member Journal — 10/5/26

    Member Journal — 10/5/26

    Let’s talk about bags to start of October.

  • Milwaukee M18 2904 | 1/2″ Hammer Drill/Driver

    Milwaukee M18 2904 | 1/2″ Hammer Drill/Driver

    This is a great drill.

    What I wasn’t planning on doing when I started these home projects was buying a new 18v drill, but when my old cordless drill started smoking under load, it seemed like a good time for an upgrade. As it turns out, that old hammer drill/driver I had was manufactured around 2013 — quite some time ago in battery-powered tool years — and it lasted a long time. So I needed to find a good drill, and I had already decided on Milwaukee as the move (that’s a different article).

    Since getting this drill, I’ve used it a lot — starting with demo, then construction, and so on and so forth. I feel confident that I have enough use on this to back up my impressions of it. And my impressions are almost entirely positive — this is a very good drill.

    (Why am I writing about tools? Click here.)

    (more…)

  • Gear Report — 9/30/26

    Gear Report — 9/30/26

    By popular demand, some finishing setups I like for projects.

  • Member Journal — 9/28/26

    Member Journal — 9/28/26

    How I am using projects in AI systems instead of vibe-coded user specific tools.

  • A Tool Journey

    A Tool Journey

    A little background before I talk about tools more.

    Members have been wading through a lot of my chatter about tools, and tool buying. We recently bought a home and moved, and as part of that process, we’ve been doing a bunch of projects on our house to make it our own. This isn’t new to me in many ways — it’s what we have done in nearly every house we’ve bought over the years, though this might be the most we have done all at once (instead of spreading the work over years).

    Which means, well, I needed some tools.

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  • Member Journal — 9/21/26

    Member Journal — 9/21/26

    Vibe coding, vibe building, and stuff.

  • Some Commentary On the State of Things Related to Things on This Blog

    Some Commentary On the State of Things Related to Things on This Blog

    I don’t know, enjoy.

    I figured, well, it’s been a bit since I really sounded off on stupid stuff, so here’s some one liners for everyone to enjoy because I think we’ve lost the art of calling people out so they feel shame, and without shame, we don’t have a working society, I shall help:

    (more…)

  • ‘DRFT – Meeting Word Alerts’

    ‘DRFT – Meeting Word Alerts’

    A clever little app.

    This is a very clever little app which listens (locally) to your meeting and alerts you if a keyword is mentioned. So set your name, it listens for your name, you go do better things, then you get an alert if someone mentions you, and a summary (generated on device) of how/why they mentioned you.

    Damned clever.

  • Gear Report – 9/16/26

    Gear Report – 9/16/26

    I wear the crap out of these three watches.

  • Member Journal — 9/14/26

    Member Journal — 9/14/26

    Thoughts on the new iPhones and Android.

  • Gear Report — 9/9/26

    Gear Report — 9/9/26

    A smattering of new things.

  • Member Journal — 9/7/26

    Member Journal — 9/7/26

    A look at what I’ve been building.

  • Gear Report — 9/2/26

    Gear Report — 9/2/26

    A bunch of great things I like, and a few that I am like ‘nah’.

  • Kyrgies Outdoor Wool Slides

    Kyrgies Outdoor Wool Slides

    Oh, these are great, who knew I needed outdoor slippers. Kyrgies knew.

    Note: this item was provided for review.

    A few months ago we moved into a new house, which meant two big changes for us. Both basic: our garbage bins are outside, and we have a detached shed/storage building that houses an auxiliary fridge and freezer. This means we have to go out to these a few times (or more) each day, and since we are a no-shoes-inside house, it’s a lot of on and off with shoes to go outside.

    Enter these Kyrgies Outdoor Wool Slides, which are effectively the same wool slides I’ve reviewed before, with an added rubber sole.

    These are awesome, so much more so than I thought they would be.

    Materials

    These are pretty simple, handmade in Kyrgyzstan. They are wool (chemical-free) and sustainably sourced rubber. Simple, done.

    As with the others I have had, they are well made and cozy.

    In Use

    Here’s what Kyrgies says about these:

    Featuring a durable, natural crepe rubber sole, our Outdoor Slides are built for light outdoor wear while keeping all the comfort of our classic wool felt.

    I have to confess: I didn’t read that until just now, as I was writing this. And the thing is, I wore them all over the backyard in what might be classified as a little more than “light outdoor wear”.

    You see, one of the things I’ve been doing is a bunch of work on the house, which means the work is being done inside, but you know, the messy bits are outside. Cutting up trim and studs on a miter saw, ripping down base on a track saw, washing out paint brushes, washing off drywall tools — that’s all outside stuff.

    I am also a little lazy, so while I had shoes right there, these Kyrgies are just so much easier to slip on, you know? So I did all of the above in the Kyrgies. And then the family found out that these are for wearing outside, and suddenly every run to get something out of the freezer, or to take out the garbage, became the duty of the Kyrgies — for all four of us.

    And it’s rare in this house that things I think are really great warrant a comment from others, but everyone who slipped these on commented, “oh these are nice”.

    And the thing is: these are nice.

    The wool felt is soft, and immediately comfortable. They are fast and easy to slip on your foot as you walk out the door. The rubber sole offers very good grip even on wet stone.

    The only downside I’ve found is that sometimes I forget these are my outside slippers, and neglect to take them off when I come inside. The upside is that I’m literally wearing my favorite slippers outside.

    They are perfect for a quick run to the mailbox, tossing trash in a garbage bin, maybe even walking a dog — though my cat declined that testing. They did do a great job while I cut miters on trim, sanded wood, and washed off drywall taping knives.

    Those little white specks you see — that’s either some paint or drywall mud splashing on them. They got wet a couple of times, but as wool will be wool, they never felt cold or uncomfortable, and they dried quite quickly.

    Overall

    This is one of those items where everyone in the house is glad we have them. They will be an instant re-buy from me when/if they wear out and need replacing. They aren’t as supportive as a full shoe would be, nor would I want them to be — they are perfect when you need to quickly dash out.

    I am debating getting a second pair so I can keep one pair at the front door, and one at the back.

    Buy here, $99

  • Member Journal — 8/31/26

    Member Journal — 8/31/26

    How my buying patterns have changed because of this bullshit.

  • Gear Report — 8/26/26

    Gear Report — 8/26/26

    Yeah so I am testing a lot of stuff head to head.

  • This Site Is Not on X, Barely on Any Socials

    This Site Is Not on X, Barely on Any Socials

    :-|

    For no particular reason, and I did mean to post this a few days ago, I wanted to let everyone know that I am still barely even posting shit from this site on Bluesky.

    Certainly not X, gross.

    I think this psoted on Mastodon for a while, but that seems to have broken and I genuinely forget how to fix that. There is still a newsletter option and RSS. I guess this site is catered towards curmudgeons who would rather talk about tools all day than sell their soul for a few more clicks to be garnered for any social website.

    Any ways.

  • Member Journal — 8/24/26

    Member Journal — 8/24/26

    Highly personal, custom, nearly free, with embedded AI.