Man, I feel this one in my bones. I did the exact same thing on a run out in Dripping Springs last spring, trusted my first two posts and never looked back at the line. By post five I was almost three inches out and had to pull two of them, concrete and all, which is a miserable job with a digging bar in July. Now I keep a cheap string line tied off on the first and last post and check it with a torpedo level after every single one, no exceptions. It only takes ten seconds and it has saved me twice since. Nobody wants to tear out a post after the mix sets up, that is just money and sweat down the drain.

Wait, 18 cents a bowl in 1974? That is wild to me. I knew food was cheaper back then but seeing it written down like that really hits different. A ham hock alone costs me like four bucks now unless I catch a sale. Your grandma was basically running a restaurant for pennies and I bet she never even thought twice about it.