Man, I used to think staying that long meant you were stuck or something. But seeing someone put in forty years at one place, they must really know their stuff inside and out. That kind of steady commitment is actually pretty rare now. It makes you respect the craft a lot more.

My buddy did the same thing last year with a Festool. He'd been fighting with this old pine floor for weeks, his cheap sander just gumming up and leaving swirls. He finally gave in, and the first pass with the good tool was like night and day. It took him maybe two hours to finish what would've been another full weekend of misery. He said it wasn't just faster, the whole job just felt less like a fight. I'm starting to think the right tool really does change everything.

So when does it stop being a time waste and start being the actual problem solving? Some jobs just need that extra touch to get right.