Hey @colegarcia, do you ever pre-heat your cooler with hot water first? I dump some in, let it sit for a minute, then empty it out before the meat goes in. It kinda stops that first bit of heat from getting stolen by the cold walls.

Learned that lesson the hard way when I ignored my coolant for like five years. Had to replace the entire radiator because the sludge clogged every single tube. The mechanic showed me the chunks of rust and it looked like something from a horror movie. Cost me way more than a simple flush would have. Your mechanic friend is totally right about the acid eating everything. That two year plan is solid advice.

In my backyard in Arizona, sandy soil is a constant issue. That wood brace idea seems like a quick fix, but it won't last. Wood rots fast in damp ground, even in sand. Once the brace gives way, your post will lean again. I've seen it happen multiple times with neighbors who tried similar tricks. A proper concrete footing is the only real solution for stability.

It's the same reason we can't have nice parks or public libraries anymore, everything gets trashed.

Seriously, everyone pictures the bloody injury, but nobody talks about the mountain of paperwork after. stella111, you hate the time it takes, but a five minute check is nothing next to the months of incident reports, OSHA visits, and fighting with the rental company over who's at fault. The real time suck isn't the safety step, it's the endless hassle when you skip it and something, even a near miss, goes wrong. That junk can tie up a crew lead for weeks, not minutes.