Warning: I heard a contractor say you should always use a 2x4 for framing, no matter what.

I was at the hardware store last Tuesday and overheard a guy telling his friend to never use a 2x6 for a wall, that it's just a waste of money. In my experience, that's not always true. For a bathroom I redid, I used 2x6s on the exterior wall to fit more insulation and it made a huge difference in the winter. Has anyone else found a good reason to go against the standard 2x4 advice?

Found a weird rock with a fossil I didn't expect

I was walking the dog along the creek bed in Mill Creek Park yesterday, and I kicked over this flat, gray rock. It looked like slate, but when I flipped it, there was a perfect spiral shape pressed into it. I took a picture and looked it up when I got home. Turns out it's called an ammonite, and it's not a snail shell like I thought, but an extinct sea creature related to squid. The crazy part is, this area is landlocked Ohio, nowhere near an ocean. The article said the whole region was covered by a shallow sea about 400 million years ago. I'm holding a piece of that sea floor in my hand. It's wild to think about how much the land has changed. Has anyone else found fossils in a place that seems totally wrong for them?

My $15 coffee habit versus the $0.75 French press I already owned

I was spending about $15 a week at the coffee shop near my office in Tacoma. I did the math for a month and it was a real shock. So I dug out the old French press from the back of my cupboard, bought a bag of decent beans for $12, and started making it at home. It costs me about $0.75 a cup now. I'm putting the $60 I save every month straight into my vacation fund. What's a small switch you made that added up fast?

I finally gave up on those pre-made journal kits and just got a blank notebook and a cheap fountain pen.

A homeowner in Charlotte told me my seams were too visible, so I switched to a different seam roller.

Got completely turned around on the Lost Coast Trail last fall

We were aiming for the Punta Gorda lighthouse section and a thick fog rolled in off the ocean. My buddy Mike and I ended up hiking almost two extra miles along a creek bed before we realized our map was upside down. Has anyone else had a major navigation fail in that area?

Used a cold cream to set a tricky eyebrow tint and it worked way better than the usual gel.

A regular kept coming back with her tint fading unevenly after two days, so I tried a thick layer of Nivea cream as a barrier before applying the dye. It gave a cleaner line and the color held for a full five days. Do you think using skincare products for technique hacks is smart or just asking for a reaction?

Overheard a contractor at the hardware store say 'that old wiring is a ticking clock' and it got me checking my own place

Vent: Overheard a landscaper in Denver say 'a fence is just a wall with holes in it'

I was grabbing coffee last week and heard a guy from a big landscaping crew say that to his buddy. It's that kind of thinking that gets you a wobbly, leaning mess after one Colorado winter. A proper fence needs proper footings, not just posts shoved in dirt. How do you guys handle clients who think our work is just 'putting up sticks'?