My friend traded a vase for a lamp last week.

Yeah, that bit about "losing the ability to just let things BE normal" is it. My dad gets that way about weather reports, convinced they're hiding a cold front behind the barometric pressure.

What if that wire had snapped on a steep hill though? Relying on random stuff you find sounds more like luck than skill. Good mechanics use the right parts for a reason, because they're tested and safe. Making do can get you home, but it's not a real fix you can trust. Having the proper tools and parts shows you actually respect the machine and your own safety. Sometimes real skill is knowing when a quick fix isn't good enough.