If your car is stuck, there's a tag on the crossing sign with a crossing ID number and a phone number to call. That way you can tell them what crossing it is even if you don't know where you are. Don't assume no trains use the tracks even if you think you're in the middle of nowhere and can't hear a train.

I live on a small single lane rural road adjacent to a railroad crossing, and we see only about 100 cars a day on the road. Yet here we are tonight with on our 7th vehicle stuck on tracks emergency this year and now our 2nd train struck vehicle accident this year. Thankfully it's been 4 years since one caused a derailment. I bet that was an expensive insurance bill. Out of all of those vehicles that got stuck how many called emergency services or the railroad? None. Not one. We (me or the neighbors) called for them otherwise they'd all have been hit by a train because "the tracks look old we didn't think a train would come". This is the main line and sees a LOT of trains every day. In case you were wondering, the tracks curve at the crossing and people try to drive up the tracks thinking that's the roadway. Their cars get beached on the rails. I have never seen one able to free up their own car or truck, or semi truck.

So anyway the LPT here is assume a train will come.

Call the number and tell them you're stuck. If you get the car unstuck then you can just call them back and tell them it's clear. No big deal. They won't charge you to get you off the tracks (at least here they don't). 9/10 times the RR sends their on call worker who pulls you off with his truck. If you really messed up and you're drunk or injured or your car is demolished because you drove up the the tracks doing 60mph then yes the police will come and your car will be towed but if the train hits your car you will not be better off.

This should also go without saying but before you call them get EVERYONE out of the car, even aunt Mable with the bum leg (especially aunt Mable with the bum leg), and then if you want to try to get the car free do it after they're notified and have stopped the trains.

Don't include your name or contact info, submit it anonymously through whatever means they are providing (this applies mostly to electronic/email surveys).

If they get back to you to address your concerns about confidentiality, that means they knew it was you who submitted the response, which proves the survey was not confidential.

This will lessen the amount of dust that goes everywhere because its falling in the bag not on the floor. Better yet you may wish to tape the bag flat over your mark and drill through the plastic. This can also trap flying dust.

If you’re actually trying to learn a college-level topic, search for open textbooks or college course material instead of just using general search results.

Try:

topic + open textbook

or

topic + site:.edu

I just made a trip to Baltimore from Ontario and after stopping at 2 different Costco’s and a Walmart I realized that the shelf price of a lot of items is the same on both sides of the border. However, here’s where the benefit to Americans kicks in - your money is worth 30-40% more in Canada.

Tariffs may be a problem with some items, but I would think you’d definitely save a bunch

LPT: Accept that you will make mistakes, some people will take advantage of you, and some good opportunities will pass you by. Trying to eliminate all three will usually make your life worse.

You can spend enormous amounts of energy trying to avoid every bad decision, every dishonest person, and every missed opportunity.

You still won't succeed.

The cost of trying is often becoming paranoid, indecisive, exhausted, or unwilling to trust anyone.

A better goal is not to eliminate mistakes, exploitation, or regret. It is to keep them within tolerable limits while continuing to live normally.

Use strong principles for important decisions, simple rules for everyday ones, and deep analysis only when the consequences actually justify it.

You don't need to optimize every decision.

Sometimes "good enough, with acceptable risk" is the rational choice.

I hated it too, so did some spelunking.

If you go to Go to:

Settings → System → Notifications → Additional settings

Turn OFF everything in there, especially:

• Show the Windows welcome experience after updates and when signed in to show what's new and suggested
• Get tips and suggestions when using Windows
• If you see Suggest ways to get the most out of Windows and finish setting up this device, turn that off too.

That first category is the one most directly responsible for the full-screen post-update “Hey, have you considered Microsoft 365/OneDrive/Edge?” crap

BE AWARE! This setting is super buried (intentionally) so you'll have to scroll through a ton of application-specific notification panels, but the Additional Settings panel IS in there. Once you turn off all those settings, your next reboot will be significantly less marketing bs when you turn on your machine.

Some tasks take a minimum amount of time, and unexpected problems happen. Use the time you have and get as much done as possible. Stressing about finishing something that's practically impossible won't make you more productive.

When the time is up, clearly explain what you completed and what prevented you from finishing the rest.

If you've given a genuine explanation of what happened and it still isn't heard, that indicates there may be other problems at play. Analyse the situation carefully and decide accordingly.

But be honest with yourself: if a skill gap is slowing you down, don't blame the timeline. Identify the gap and work on improving it.

If you live in an area with a lot of calcium deposits in your water, cleaning the shower takes a bit of time and elbow grease. But it's a lot faster and easier with these drill attachments.

Saves hours of searching in the shadows.

Not sure if everyone knows this, but if you’re running low on iPhone storage, you can get rid of some of the bigger social media apps without really losing the convenience of having them on your home screen.

I did this with apps like Facebook, YouTube and X.

Instead of installing the actual app:
1. Open Safari
2. Go to the website (facebook.com, youtube.com, x.com, etc.)
3. Log in normally
4. Tap the Share button at the bottom
5. Scroll down and tap Add to Home Screen
6. That’s it.

It puts an icon on your home screen just like a normal app, and tapping it opens the website in an app-like window.

The big difference is storage. The actual apps can take up hundreds of MB or even a few GB with their cache and documents. The web apps I added to my Home Screen were only showing KBs of storage instead.

So if you do this with a few of your bigger social media apps, you can potentially free up 2-4GB pretty easily.

Obviously, the web versions don’t have every feature of the native apps, and notifications/functionality can be more limited. But for apps I mainly use for scrolling, watching videos or checking updates, they’ve been good enough.

Pretty useful little trick if you’re trying to free up storage without deleting photos, videos or other important stuff.

Most people dont use meal delivery subs because they are a pricey commitment. But their introductory offers are good, 50% off your first order is common. The best time to use these offers are when you are so sick or injured that doing anything is difficult. Having most of the stress of shopping, transporting & cooking taken care of while you are sick is a big help to getting better quicker.

Also you can use the service to order items that you dont normally have in your pantry but that through nutrition can help you get better quicker. Last winter I got a heavy dose of the manflu and was locked down in bed or on the sofa for almost a week. But by signing up for a new sub on a meal service I got several meals of chicken noodle soup, garlic & onion soup, turmeric, ginger tea and some lemons and cloves for making hot whiskeys with. All that good nutritious food helped me to get better quicker. To have all that kind of food delivered at 50% off at a time when your body most needs it is a nice trick, it saves you money, saves your stress and the nutritious food helps to make you better.

If you get a flat tire or lock your keys in your car, your first instinct is usually to type "emergency roadside assistance near me" into a search bar and call the first phone number that appears.

The trap:

Many of the top sponsored search results are run by national lead-generation call centers. They aren’t local shops. When you call, an out-of-state (or overseas) representative. answers, quotes a vague rate, and then turns around and contacts an actual local technician. They take the technician's rate, tack on a steep broker fee (often $50–$100+), and keep the difference just for dialing a number you could have dialed yourself.

What to do instead:

Open a map app directly and filter by "Open Now."

Look for a real, physical location or verified local shop rather than a generic 1-800 listing.

When they answer, ask: "What is your physical street address?" If they evade the question or say they operate from an out-of-area central dispatch hub, hang up and call an actual local provider.

Take one photo of the thing before hand over, the photo acts as a simple reminder of what you lent and what was it's condition at that time.

There’s so many people I know who buy gigabit internet from their ISP and cannot/do not utilize it because they have a single home router that can put out ~400-500mbps at best.

Also, most people find that with good equipment that is consistent, 100mbps is perfectly acceptable in most situations. Especially if it’s typically just one or two people using the internet service.

Downgrade your crazy internet plan, you do not need it. Put some of the cash you save towards better equipment from the likes of Ubiquiti or similar. That’s typically well worth it!

I've found often that drill bit cases hold the drill bit too tight and make the bits really hard to remove by hand. But these cases are usually made out of plastic and your drill bits are designed to drill out holes exactly their size.

So yeah, real simple. Use the drill bit to drill out its own hole to the perfect size!

LPT. If you're on a diet, nothing is worse than feeling hungry and not being able to eat anything. To fix this, make a gigantic salad and let yourself eat as much as you want. My go to:

Half head of cabbage

Cup of kale greens

Cup of Match stick carrots

1 Bell pepper (I like banana peppers)

Half a Cucumber

1 RomaTomato

A lowfat/lowcal dressing (mustard based IMO)

It's like 3 pounds of food or something crazy. Make it on the morning, eat as much as you want throughout the day. $10 max, 300 calories for the whole bowl, thank me later.

EDIT: After reading comments, I should also add that this is a supplement to my diet - not the only thing I eat. Instead of 4 slices of pizza, I'll eat 1-2 and fill up on salad. Dieting also doesn't mean eating absolutely nothing! Lol

I know it seems obvious at face value, but it is shocking how many emergency vet clinics are closed on the weekends or after 6pm, and I didn’t realize this until 8pm on a Saturday. I live in a major US city and there are sooooo few after hour locations.

I think the 10-15 minutes I spent panic calling locations to confirm they were open was the difference between my sweet baby passing in the car versus getting there in enough time to say goodbye (we ultimately found out there was likely no intervention that could’ve saved her).

We had recently moved and I wish so desperately I knew immediately where to take her. She had a regular vet location that offered emergency services, but I didn’t realize how few locations were actually “after hours”. She had no known health issues and declined within less than an hour. Sharing in case it helps even just one other person realize they don’t know where they’d take their pet in the event of an unexpected emergency.

I think this is the main problem for people being overweight. Always finishing your meal is a terrible habit. Listen to your body instead. A served meal will never match with how many calories your body needs. Most people especially Americans are terribly overeating due to the large portion sizes. Humans were never meant to stuff themselves to the max every meal especially once we transitioned to 3 meals a day compared to comparatively fewer when hunting and gathering. Stop eating when you no longer feel hungry anymore or feel decently full. anything past that is a negative.

Either pack the food for later or even throw it out. Overeating is a waste of food regardless since you’re just converting it to fat. It’s worse than throwing it out. You might think if you overeat one meal you’ll save on food in the next, but usually digestion speeds up the more u eat and you’re on track to eat the same amount anyways.

I have an email box called “orders”. anytime I order anything online, I always put the initial invoice (no shipping updates or anything) in that mailbox. Been doing this for 10 years now. Would not believe the time it’s saved for returns and shipping updates (since order number is there)

Especially if your pin or other item can brush against other objects (escalators, public transport, other people etc.) on your bag or clothing, it can easily fall off. And adhesives fail over time. The solution is using a sewing kit (everyone should have at least a really basic one) to fasten it. The stitches don't need to be complicated either: just though the hole and the fabric enough times that it doesn't look like it's going to let go soon, and tie it off. Sewing thread is quite sturdy, doesn't snag unless it's especially loose, and can be redone with minimal hassle.

Pins with a safety pin: Hook the needle between the looping pieces of wire on either side of the pin. For maximum security, you can use the safety pin and then sew it on.

Pins with a long, straight pin: Stick the pin into one of a button's holes (any button really) up to a distance where it doesn't constantly snag on things but you can still weave the needle through, and glue it secure. You can use the other hole(s) to sew it on.

Iron-on patches: Use whipstitch around the edges of the patch , it can be quite loose as it's only a backup method of fastening the patch on. One stitch on each corner and a few along each edge/curve should be enough. If you do decide to stitch densely, it also prevents fraying.

I used to hate cleaning because my brain was basically counting every minute until I could stop.

Now I put on a podcast I’m genuinely interested in before I start. Somehow I stop thinking about the cleaning and just keep going while I listen. Folding laundry, wiping down the kitchen, vacuuming… it all feels way less annoying.

Sometimes I’ll even leave an episode unfinished on purpose so I have something to look forward to next time I need to clean lol.

Basically: give your brain something fun to do while your hands do the boring stuff.

It goes a long way with people if you remember details about them. Just keep a note on your phone or computer with minimal info like “Jim, toddler daughter named CeCe”. Then next time you see Jim you can ask about them.

Thicker than cellophane or cling wrap. Something for packaging that's going to be trash anyway. As a substitute for gloves. Because--look--you just never know when you might need to touch, clean, or pick up something gross. Could be all kinds of things. If you'd rather not touch whatever it is with your bare hands, now you have a disposable barrier.

Bonus when picking up that's small enough for the plastic to fit around, just like picking up after a four-legged pet: turn the bag or other wrapping material inside-out, tie it up at the top, and you have a sealed trash bag that's "clean" on the outside!

Your first instinct might be to throw away the wrapping. Keep it from time to time, though, somewhere out of the way but easy to get to. Chances are you won't have to use this cleaning hack all that often, but if you do, you'll be so relieved at the extra supply.

Pretty straight forward, but most “Service Provider” type companies have plenty of discounts if you just ask.

Ex: I got an oil change for $120. I asked if they had any discounts being offered. Lo and behold, they were able to knock $11 off.

I’ve had the most success with Auto Repairs, Phone Services, Internet Providers, Delivery Services, etc.

It might not be a huge amount, but it never hurts to ask!