But what if the old way was actually smarter? They built things to last back then with simpler, tougher materials. Maybe that old boiler's steel was so good it didn't need crazy test numbers. Now we over-engineer everything with thinner stuff and just jack up the safety factor on paper. Could be we're just covering for worse craftsmanship now.

Totally agree, that's a huge miss. Tell your friend to add a line for each job about what changed because he was there, like "cut meeting time in half by switching to a new tool." Makes it real.

Found a dead bird" is wild, but honestly it checks out. I used a cheap shop vac with a duct taped hose extension first, which was a total mess. Ended up renting a proper vent blower from the hardware store and it was way better.

Nearly took his fingertip off" sounds a bit dramatic.

Wait, is the fan really the main issue here? @martinez.diana, that story sounds like a classic overheating problem, but a dark nav screen could also be a bad power connection or a failing unit itself. I've seen cases where people replace the fan and the screen still goes out because the real fault was somewhere else in the wiring. Always good to check the simple stuff first, though.