The kinking is the real killer with those kits. The rods are thin walled junk that fold the second they hit any real resistance, and once a rod bends even a little the brush stops spinning true and just polishes the glaze instead of cutting it. What makes it worse is that glazed creosote is basically plastic, it does not crumble like the fluffy stage stuff, so spinning a brush on it just heats it up and smears it around. I have heard the rotary setups work fine on soft soot or a stainless liner where there is nothing to snag, but on a brick flue with shelves and offsets you need something that scrapes, not spins. Your flat wire brush on a rope biting into the corners makes way more sense for that kind of job, and 40 minutes for a whole flue is honestly a good day.

My grandma was the same way with Wheel of Fortune. I used to roll my eyes at it every time I visited, then one night she told me she and my grandpa used to watch it every evening before he got sick. After that I just started sitting with her and calling out the answers, and honestly those nights are some of my best memories now. Sometimes the show is not really about the show at all. Good on you for sitting through those two episodes with your uncle.