How much did the cafe noise mess with your focus? I can't get anything done with all that background chatter, so a quiet space makes total sense. That 40% jump is seriously impressive.

Totally get that feeling with keyboards. You could actually feel when you hit the right key without looking. Now it's just guessing on a flat piece of glass.

Are you new to the planet? Phoenix is so hot the wood on my neighbor's deck warped into a slide last summer. It gets hot enough to fry an egg on the pavement, which is a dumb party trick but proves a point. The heat out here will absolutely wreck building materials. They have to use special wood and sealants just to have a chance. It's a constant fight against the sun.

My Denver buddy does 20% and it works fine for him.

Totally get what you mean about learning the hard way. I read this tech blog that said specs on the box are basically just marketing half the time, especially for battery life. They said companies use the best possible test conditions that nobody actually matches in real life. So that "10 hour" battery might be five hours if you're just watching videos. My friend had the same thing happen with some wireless headphones. The case said 30 hours, but with the noise cancelling on it was more like twelve.