advice
Workplace advice for any issue, problem, or concern; from changing careers to co-working advice and decorating needs.
What I Wish I Had Known Before Buying My First Real Piano in Sandton. AI-Generated.
For about a year I told everyone I was going to learn the piano, and for about a year I did nothing about it, because every time I looked at instruments I felt completely out of my depth. I did not grow up musical. I could not tell you the difference between a digital keyboard and a real piano beyond the obvious, and the prices ranged so wildly that I assumed I was going to get fleeced no matter what I did. What finally got me over the line was not a burst of courage. It was slowly working out which questions actually mattered, and I want to save the next nervous beginner the year I wasted.
By Josh Maraney4 months ago in Journal
What I Learned Kitting Out a Gym Floor With Second-Hand Equipment. AI-Generated.
The first time I built out a floor, I bought everything new because I thought that was the responsible thing to do. It nearly sank me before I opened the doors. Half my launch budget went into machines that lost a big chunk of their value the moment a member sat down on them, and I had nothing left over for the marketing and staffing that actually fill a room. When I refreshed that floor a few years later, I did it almost entirely with second-hand commercial gear, and it changed how I think about the whole thing.
By Josh Maraney4 months ago in Journal
Living With Back and Neck Pain? Here's What I Wish I'd Known Before Reaching for the Surgery Option. AI-Generated.
If you have ever woken up and felt your lower back seize the moment you swung your legs out of bed, you already know that back and neck pain has a way of taking over everything. It changes how you sit at work, how you lift the shopping, how you sleep, even how patient you are with the people around you. When the pain drags on for weeks rather than days, the mind tends to jump straight to the worst-case scenario. A lot of people I have spoken to around Clondalkin quietly assume the only real fix is going under the knife.
By Josh Maraney4 months ago in Journal
You Won the Order but Cannot Afford to Fulfil It: A Plain Guide to Purchase Order Funding
There is a strange kind of stress that only hits growing businesses. You chase a big contract for months, you finally win it, and then the panic sets in. The order is worth more than anything you have handled before, and your customer will only pay you after you deliver. But your supplier wants paying up front, or close to it. You have the deal. You do not have the cash. Turning down work you fought hard to get feels ridiculous, yet fulfilling it feels impossible.
By Josh Maraney4 months ago in Journal
What I Wish I Knew Before Ordering Custom Shirts and Jerseys for My Team. AI-Generated.
The first batch of shirts I ever ordered for a group came out wrong, and it was my fault. The logo was pixelated, half the crew got sizes that did not fit, and I paid for a rush I did not actually need because I had left everything to the last week. Since then I have ordered apparel for sports teams, a couple of charity runs, a staff of about forty, and one very chaotic family reunion. I have made most of the mistakes so you do not have to.
By Josh Maraney4 months ago in Journal
Before You Sell a Krugerrand, Learn How the Price Is Actually Worked Out. AI-Generated.
A few years ago a relative asked me to help sell a small handful of Krugerrands that had been sitting in a drawer since the eighties. I thought it would be simple. You take the coins somewhere, they weigh them, you get paid. What I learned instead was that two dealers on the same street, on the same afternoon, quoted prices that were noticeably different for the exact same coins. That gap is what sent me down a rabbit hole. If you are ever in the position of selling gold coins, understanding how the number is built protects you far more than any single tip.
By Josh Maraney4 months ago in Journal
How to Choose a Dentist Without Getting Talked Into Things You Never Wanted. AI-Generated.
A few years ago I sat in a dental chair while someone I had met ten minutes earlier told me I needed roughly forty thousand rand of work. Veneers on the top six, whitening, the lot. I nodded along because I did not know any better, and because it is hard to argue with a person holding a mirror up to your own mouth. I went home, felt uneasy, got a second opinion, and it turned out I needed one small filling. That experience taught me more about choosing a dentist than any glossy website ever could.
By Josh Maraney4 months ago in Journal
What At-Home Neurofeedback Actually Involves, and How to Think About It Before You Try. AI-Generated.
A friend asked me about neurofeedback a few months ago because she had seen it mentioned in a parenting group. She wanted to know whether it was legitimate, whether it was something you could do from your living room, and whether it was worth the money. I did not have a good answer at the time, so I went and read quite a lot, talked to a couple of people who had tried it, and formed a more grounded view. The honest answer sits somewhere in the middle, and that is usually the most useful place to be.
By Josh Maraney4 months ago in Journal
What I Learned About Borrowing Against Your Car When You Need Cash Fast. AI-Generated.
A few years ago a friend of mine in Pretoria found herself in one of those horrible short gaps. Her salary was three weeks away, her geyser had burst, and the plumber wanted paying that day. She owned her car outright, a paid-off little hatchback, and someone told her she could raise cash against it without giving it up. She had never heard of that before, and honestly neither had I. So we went and learned about it together, and I want to share what we worked out, because there is a lot of noise around this topic and not much straight talk.
By Josh Maraney4 months ago in Journal
What Every North Texas Homeowner Should Know Before Hiring a Roofer. AI-Generated.
If you own a home anywhere between Fort Worth and the Red River, your roof lives a harder life than it looks. We get spring hail that can turn a healthy roof into a leaking one in twenty minutes, summer heat that bakes shingles until they curl, and the kind of wind that peels back edges you never think about. I have watched neighbors go from "my roof is fine" to "there is water in the hallway" in a single storm season, and almost every time, the trouble was quietly building long before the ceiling stain showed up.
By Josh Maraney4 months ago in Journal
What Safe Demolition Actually Involves, and How to Hire a Contractor Without Getting Burned. AI-Generated.
Most people only hire a demolition contractor once or twice in their lives. That is exactly why it is so easy to get it wrong. You are spending real money on something you have never bought before, the quotes are all over the place, and the whole thing looks simple from the outside. A machine arrives, a wall comes down, a truck hauls the rubble away. How hard can it be?
By Josh Maraney4 months ago in Journal
Keeping Tramp Metal Out of Your Plant: A Practical Guide to Magnetic Separation. AI-Generated.
If you have spent any time around a processing plant, a quarry, or a recycling yard, you already know the sound. It is the sudden clatter, the shudder through the frame, and then the sinking feeling as someone reaches for the emergency stop. Somewhere in the flow of material, a stray piece of steel has found its way into a crusher, a mill, or a shredder. In our trade we call that stray steel tramp metal, and it is one of the quietest, most expensive problems in bulk materials handling.
By Josh Maraney4 months ago in Journal
