I was one of those people who rolled their eyes at thermal cameras. Thought they were a gimmick for guys with more money than sense. Then my buddy brought his to look at a breaker panel that kept tripping. Pointed it at the box and there was a single wire glowing like a Christmas tree. Five minutes of work fixed something I would have spent hours chasing with a multimeter. That changed my mind fast. So yeah, I get it now. The time it saves is real.

...that wiggle test is a lifesaver honestly, I learned that one the hard way after spending three hours chasing a ghost fault on a 430 that turned out to be a connector I thought was "good enough". Kim_Davis is spot on about the visual check too, I've definitely been that person who hears the click and walks away feeling smug, only to find out later I was one pin off and basically playing electrical roulette. My trick nowadays is to count the pins out loud like I'm a toddler learning numbers, because I've definitely mixed up a 25 pin with a 15 pin before and felt real dumb...

Picked up a piece of obsidian at a flea market once for two bucks. Turned out it was just really dark glass from an old bottle factory. Still have it on my windowsill though, reminds me not to trust everything shiny.

Used to think I was just being difficult if I pushed back on stuff like that, but seeing how they ghosted you after you said no kinda flipped a switch for me. Now I just tell people up front that any extras need their own quote.

Wow, that price tag is wild. But seriously @mitchell.thomas, was it at least from a top notch steakhouse with a good reputation? I'm just curious what makes it worth that much to the people buying it.