I did the same thing two years back when I was doing mostly older Kenmores and it changed everything for me too. Pulling the diagnostic out of the repair price meant people who were never gonna fix the thing stopped calling, and my days stopped being a mess of running around for nothing. The guys who do pay it end up being the ones who actually want the work done right, so I can take my time pulling the drum and checking the vent run instead of watching the clock. Only thing I do different now is credit the fee toward the repair if they go ahead same day, keeps the sticker shock down without bringing back the free lookers. Twelve percent callbacks on 10 year old machines sounds about right, those things are always gonna have something else waiting to go.

A foot and a half from a little wind seems like a stretch.

The real trick is that writing slows down your spending enough to let regret catch up first.