Nice knowing half the 'facts' I drop at parties are probably from some dusty 80s file cabinet. Guess my dinner party trivia game just took a hit.

A convention full of people fighting over bathroom deaths while a guy in a cheap jumpsuit mumbles through a song does sound pretty rough. But you can't let some bad actors at a tribute show ruin the actual music. Plenty of people enjoy a good Elvis song on the radio without dressing up or arguing about anything. Seems like you just stumbled into the deep end of a swimming pool and got surprised it was wet.

Oh man, climb milling on aluminum is like cheating on a test and getting an A. I tried the same switch on a batch of 6061 plates and my finish went from looking like a cat scratched it to mirror smooth. My machine even stopped making that scary chatter noise, which was a nice bonus for my blood pressure. Still blew a tool the next day by being too greedy with the depth of cut though, so I can't claim I've got it all figured out yet.

Breading stays on way better with that method too.

...but here's the thing about exposed aggregate in a place like Tucson. I've seen more of those jobs end up with the stones popping out after a couple years because the heat just bakes the surface and the bond gets brittle. That guy might have gotten lucky with his mix design or maybe he had a really good base underneath. A broom finish is way more forgiving when it comes to thermal expansion and contraction. The texture hides minor cracking better too, while aggregate just shows every single rock that comes loose like a damn checkerboard.