Honestly I've seen patches hold up for decades with the right prep work.

Totally get what you're saying about the coms being clear. But I'm curious about the actual work getting done faster. With the old gear, were you guys wasting a lot of time just trying to hear instructions or repeat yourselves? Like, did a simple "hand me the wrench" turn into a five minute game of telephone?

Anthonyhunt is right about appreciating it more. My uncle tried growing a single bush once and it took three years just to get a handful of beans, it was kind of sad.

Wait, you had a SIX MONTH old starter and it just quit like that? That's not a starter, that's a family member. My two-month-old one is a drama queen, but a six-month veteran should have been tough. The fact it was perfect right before makes it so much worse. That's a real tragedy.

Bro that's wild, 10k hours is like being a crane savant. My logbook is a mess of coffee stains and scribbles, I think I logged my lunch break as crane time once. You must have the forearms of a superhero from working those controls all day.