Yeah, the carabiner trick is solid. Gotta really pinch it as it goes through though, not just slide it. Lets you feel any tiny flat spots your hand might glide right over.

My uncle's 1960s fuse box had a label just saying "upstairs lights". Tbh, that covered three bedrooms, a hallway, and a weird outlet in the pantry. We spent an afternoon just mapping it out with a lamp.

It's crazy how many people try to skip basic safety steps just to make a sale go faster. You see it with used cars, rental apartments, all sorts of big purchases. That wiring could have started a fire, and someone wanted you to just ignore checking it. Makes you wonder what else gets pushed under the rug every single day. Always trust your gut and demand the basics.

Man, that's so true. My grandpa could tell what was wrong with his car just by listening to it idle, but I just plug in a computer. It's like what @torres.riley said, you have to actually get your hands dirty to learn. We're all just following instructions without knowing why.

Yeah that's the kind of small error that throws everything off... always seems to happen with the older tools. A quick check against a known straight edge before locking it in saves so much headache later.