I mean, it's just a coffee dripper, right? People act like it's some life-changing thing.

Read an Illinois Tenants Union guide online that says Chicago judges are pretty used to landlords pulling this. They see the same "scuffed floors are damage" claim all the time. You need to show you made a written request for the deposit back first, that's a legal step before you can sue. Small claims court is actually set up for people without lawyers, the forms are all online and the filing fee is around $100. Your move-in photos plus any emails about the floors being scuffed when you moved in should be enough if you keep it simple.

Yeah that flap thing is a total nightmare. I tried a magnetic one once and the glue gave out in like two weeks, ended up just sliding around inside my bag. What worked for me was just sewing a simple elastic band to the back cover, loop it over the front. Costs like 50 cents and it holds your pen flat against the notebook so no flopping. Plus if the elastic wears out you can just replace it in five minutes. Your buddy Mike should try that, way better than shelling out for some overpriced leather thing that falls apart.

Learned that lesson the hard way myself years ago. Old tricks sometimes just make a bigger mess.

That Comcast guy must have been doing it for years. I've been in the trade about eight years and tried a flex bit once on a job in an old house. Got it stuck in some insulation and spent an hour trying to yank it back out. The magnet trick sounds clever but I wonder if it works on every wall or just certain types. I'm not convinced one good experience makes up for a dozen bad ones. Maybe I need to watch a few more videos before I trust those things again.