My buddy Phil tried this with a 2018 expired last year. He called the guy, and the guy still had the same voicemail message from his old agent. Phil said the guy answered and started yelling, "I told you people to stop calling!" But Phil just said, "I know, I'm sorry, I'm not them. I'm someone else." The guy paused and then said, "Well, you're the first one to apologize." Ended up getting a listing out of it, believe it or not. So yeah, sometimes that anger is just leftover frustration, and if you catch them on the right day, it works out.

Watching a pro mechanic swap a transmission in 20 minutes while I spend 5 hours just removing bolts is a humbling experience. They have the muscle memory and sequence down so nothing gets in their way. Most of our daily headaches come from doing things the long way because nobody taught us the short way. What's a task you learned to simplify by watching a pro do it first?

Question whether this is some profound moment or just old junk. I get appreciating craftsmanship, but those riveters were just doing their job for a paycheck, not trying to make art. You see the same thing in old cars or tools, just people putting things together the best way they knew how. The perfect seams and hammer marks, that's just what happens when you do the same thing 500 times a day for years. It wasn't some magical lost skill, it was hard labor with basic tools. Is the museum trying to make this into something bigger than it actually was?

Haha yeah, "most of those nests are empty anyway" is exactly what I tell people. I did a whole row of flues last spring and only hit one live nest, and that was just a handful of wasps, not even a big one. I mean, you get used to the risk after a while, and honestly the time you save not checking every single one adds up fast. Plus, like you said, you learn real quick to be careful where you stick your hand.

Oh man I've been there too. Found a board that looked absolutely pristine, no scratches, no discoloration, nothing. Plugged it in and got nothing but a reboot loop. Took me three days of testing every single component before I noticed one of the ground pins on the edge connector was sheared off right at the base. Must have happened during manufacturing or shipping cause the plastic was still perfect around it. I tried to solder a new pin on but it was so close to the edge of the board I couldn't get a good connection. That board ended up in the trash too.