12 June 2019 _ PopularMechanics.com
ALZAY/GETTY^IMAGES(PLIERS);^ EGAL/GETTY^ IMAGES^ (FLATEARTH)Unproven home remedies, with Nick Mastro-
pasqua, the manager of our office’s gym! Does
taking shots of liqueur before bed cure colds?
And: What does senior writer Jacqueline Detwiler
believe is the “chicken of the plant world”?Executive editor Peter Martin and senior
associate editor Kevin Dupzyk describe
the movie Bird Box without having seen it.Our favorite conspiracy theories, featuring a
reading from the Flat Earth Society’s FAQ pa ge!POINTLESS
MECHANICS
Once every year, we turn the Most
Useful Podcast Ever into the Least
Useful Podcast Ever with a heap
of random facts and information.
Highlights this year include:FROM THE PODCASTYES, I DECIDED one night, I’m ready to fix the leak in the
kitchen sink. I was back in my hometown for the first
time since college, living on my own and assembling an
adult’s tool kit, figuratively and literally. I could handle
a little plumbing. A screw in the center of the hot-water
handle seemed like the natural starting place. I had
gone maybe three-quarters of a turn when the screw,
the handle, and my screwdriver exploded in a scald-
ing geyser. I grabbed a pair of pliers and dove under the
sink to shut off the water, but the plastic valve handle
was caked with old paint and wouldn’t budge.
By the time the on-call plumber arrived, the kitchen
was a pond. I told him I’d tried to close the valve—I at
least knew to turn the water off. He just said, “Let me
see your pliers.” Pliers are pliers, I thought, sloshing
to retrieve what I now know are lineman’s pliers. He
said nothing insulting, just dashed out to his truck
for a pair of Channellocks roughly three times big-
ger (thus providing 657 times the torque), and calmly
turned the water off.
Then, noticeably less calm, he began digging
through my cupboards. “You never know how high off
the ground the wiring is in these apartment buildings,”
he said, pulling out a cup. “All this water—I don’t want
to get electrocuted.”
I looked down. He wore shoes with rubber soles.
I was barefoot. I grabbed a cup, too, and together we
shoveled water into the sink. Then I thought twice.
This would take forever. And what had I just learned?
Being an adult isn’t having tools; it’s knowing the right
tool. So I did the wise thing and called my mom. She
had a Shop-Vac.
There Are Pliers.
And There Are Pliers.
Senior associate editor Kevin Dupzyk on
the importance of having the right tool.
The new
SuperEight gose
from Dogfish
Head Brewery in
Delaware
is made with red
sea salt, toasted
quinoa, and a
heap of fruits. It’s
light, tart, and if
for some reason
you’re tired of just
drinking your beer,
its pH also suits
it to developing
film—the brewery
developed
this recipe in
partnership with
Kodak, in honor of
the iconic Super 8
film. We think it’s
better on the
beach than in the
darkroom, though.WE’REWHATDRINKING(LESS THAN) GREAT
MOMENTS IN HOME REPAIRSWhy does Peter use Bing and not Google—
even though “Bing...misinterpret[s] everything”?
(Bonus: How many dedicated bagpipers has
the Queen of England employed over the
course of her reign?)We determine whether or not the
newest flavor of Coke is any good!Stream these 46 absolutely frivolous minutes
on Stitcher, Spotify, or the Apple Podcasts app.