My cousin said their system crashed and lost a whole shift of notes.

Yeah, that's the thing, it feels like we're all just chasing the next upgrade now. I see it with phones, game consoles, you name it. People work hard for that first nice thing, and then immediately start saving for the newer version. It's like we're stuck on a treadmill, always wanting the next model even when the one we have works perfectly fine. The goalpost just keeps moving further away.

Oh man, I had a Fluke for years and it was a tank. The display finally got dim and the dial got weirdly stiff. I switched to a Klein Tools one last year, and honestly, it's been solid for the price. The temperature readings are pretty quick, which is all I really need.

Mooching is the real life hack, but you gotta rotate which service you pay for (to keep the password mooching going strong).

Actually, Wesley's five minute rule doesn't always hold up. Some stuff is just truly frozen in there from years of rust and gunk. In my experience, the "let it sit" advice is way more reliable than trying to force it right away. Even with good tools, a seized part can laugh at you if the oil hasn't had time to work its way into the threads.