True that, 400 in a month turns your brain into scrambled eggs. I hit that once during a crunch and started having full conversations with my coffee mug. By week three, I was pretty sure my left eye was just permanently twitching and would never stop. The weird thing is, you don't even realize how fried you are until someone asks you a normal question and you reply with a work term they don't understand. Totally feel your pain on that one.

Oh the roots were pure mush" is such a gut punch, I know that exact feeling. I once paid $60 for a variegated monstera cutting that the seller swore was "well rooted" but when I opened it, the roots were basically brown sludge and the stem was soft. I ended up trying to save it by cutting off all the rot and putting it in sphagnum moss, which is what I usually do with sick plants, and it actually pulled through after like three months of sulking. Your mileage may vary, but sometimes the boxed dead ones can recover if you catch them fast. That said, Etsy can be a mixed bag for rare plants, I've had way better luck with specialized Facebook groups where people post reviews of sellers.

Totally agree, game changer for sure.

right?? i did the exact same thing with mine. felt like a total goof when i realized my bolts were way undersized.

That's a rough break man. $12k for a pump plus two weeks sitting still is brutal, I've been there with equipment failures and it makes you question every choice you made. Auction stuff is always a mixed bag, sometimes you get a gem and sometimes you get a money pit. The older Liebherrs are solid rigs but when they go wrong they go wrong expensive. Sounds like you got the short end this time but don't let it sour you on auctions completely, just gotta factor in a bigger repair fund next time.