1908 was the year my grandma's row house went up, and that brick is softer than a sponge cake. I spent three summers scraping out cement mortar from a previous hack job before I could even think about repointing. Lime putty was the only thing that made that wall look right again after all that damage. You nailed it about the cracking thing too. That hard mortar traps moisture behind it and then the freeze thaw cycles just pop it right out. That church basement job you did probably breathes better than a lot of modern walls now.

Oh man, I need that library just to hide from my own smart speakers. My Alexa keeps piping up with "By the way" and I'm like, no one asked you. A little quiet corner to fake-read a book while my devices gossip about the weather sounds perfect.

That broccoli fact would change anyone's mind honestly, but what got me thinking is the 50 gallons of diesel number. Like, did he tell you if that's just for ONE trip or does that count the whole supply chain from the farm to the warehouse to the store? Because I read somewhere that a lot of those trucks make multiple stops and the real fuel burn is way higher per head of lettuce or whatever. Also, did he happen to mention how much of that California broccoli actually gets thrown out before it even reaches shelves? I feel like the waste part is the hidden piece nobody talks about.

OH NO, that is SO frustrating. I feel your pain completely because I did the EXACT same thing with my first bathroom floor - just laid those hexagon tiles right next to each other thinking tight was right. It took me THREE YEARS before someone pointed out the uneven gaps. The worst part is once you see it, you can't unsee it, right? Your eyes just go straight to the wonky lines every single time.

Not to get too technical, but those cheap mag drills often use a different kind of magnet than the good ones. The expensive ones use neodymium magnets that hold way stronger, but the cheap ones use something called alnico or just a basic ferrite. I've heard of guys buying a cheap one and swapping the magnet out for a neodymium block if they're handy and it fits. Takes some work and you might void any warranty, but it's a possible fix if you're stuck with it. Your mileage may vary on how well that actually works though.