Man I hate when that happens lol.

Huh, interesting take. But doesn't that kind of skip the whole "having someone nearby who can actually handle stuff if it goes sideways" part? I'm just thinking, what happens if your mail forwarding service loses a package or the online setup glitches and your address gets flagged? In my experience, having a real person you can text or call to run interference is still worth something, even if it takes a bit longer. Your mileage may vary though, maybe I'm just old school about it.

My barber's name is Mike and he's been at the same shop downtown for 15 years. He told me once that the best part of the job is how every chair brings a different story, and after a while you start seeing the same patterns in people's lives. It's like that in regular jobs too, I swear. I noticed after running the warehouse for a few years that the real work isn't moving boxes, it's the folks you help get through their shift or the new guy you teach something to. That's the stuff that sticks with you past the numbers.

Honestly, is it really that brutal though? I've swapped those start relays out for ten bucks and had the fridge run for years after. Yeah, if you catch it too late it can toast the compressor, but that's usually a worst-case scenario. Most of the time a bad relay just means the compressor clicks on and off weird, not a total meltdown. I feel like people get way too scared about this stuff and end up paying for a whole new appliance when a $5 part would have fixed it. Ngl, I think a lot of the "you have to use OEM" talk is just fear mongering from repair guys who want you to buy their parts.

Oh, I gotta push back on that one. @elliotr39, I still think rules exist for a reason with baking because science doesn't care about convenience, and cold eggs can mess with your emulsion if the butter isn't exactly right.