I mean that notebook thing really stuck with me too, I used to trust carbon dating way more.

People who work at print shops are unsung heroes honestly. That lady probably saved you from throwing away money on a whole batch of messed up prints. It stings in the moment but that kind of tough love is pure gold in the long run.

Is it really that big of a deal though? I mean I've had plenty of solder joints that looked like garbage but worked just fine for years. A little dullness or roughness doesn't always mean the connection is bad. And I've also had shiny perfect looking joints that broke after a few months because I didn't clean the flux off properly. You can get obsessed with making everything look pretty but if the meter says it's good then it's probably fine. Sometimes people overthink this stuff.

You ever seen a guy spend four hours cussing at a hydraulic pump that wasn't the problem? My buddy runs a little one-man operation on the Gulf Coast, and last spring he pulled into a spot where the water looked clear but felt wrong. He had his whole rig torn apart checking seals and impellers, even called a mechanic from two towns over who charged him a weekend rate. Turned out he was pumping in a zone where a small creek dumped freshwater into the saltwater canal, and his gauges showed suction dropping by a solid 10%. He said once he just throttled down and ran his pump slower, the numbers came back to normal. Made him feel like an idiot for not checking the salinity first.

Yeah that study is a real eye opener... makes you think twice about any fabric called "green" without seeing the full picture. Ruby659 is right, it's wild how much water goes into just growing the flax before it even becomes fabric. After learning that, I started looking for brands that actually share their total water use, not just talk about the fiber type. It's a lot harder to find than you'd think... most just say "natural" and leave it at that. Really makes you question the whole "eco-friendly" label on everything now.