Friend of mine tried ICFs for the first time on a small basement job and thought he had the bracing dialed in. About halfway through the first pour, one of the panels started bulging out like a beer belly. They had to stop the pump, send a guy running for more struts, and spent an hour wrestling it back into place while the concrete was setting up. He said the foreman nearly lost his mind because the alignment check was supposed to happen every ten minutes but nobody was doing it. Ended up having to chip out a section later that week to fix the rebar that shifted. Bad day all around.

Yeah that bit about "that's just how my old boss taught me" really hits hard. Same here. My first crew lead had me spiking every oak and maple we touched. Called it "the professional way." Took a certified arborist chewing me out on a job site for me to realize I was damaging trees every single day. Now I look back at all those old pruning climbs and feel bad. Those wounds never fully heal. Trees just compartmentalize the damage and keep growing around it.

Wound up buying one of those "smart" garden sprinklers that connects to wifi so you can water your plants from your phone. Worked great until my neighbor got the same wifi password and accidentally turned my sprinklers on at 3am while I was on vacation. Came home to a flooded backyard and a $200 water bill. Still makes me laugh though.

Damn that stings, I've been there too! Honestly though, here's what I started doing after getting burned a few times. Just assume everything at a diner or chain place is premade or frozen unless you see them actually cooking it from scratch. Saves you the disappointment. If you really love a place and their food, sometimes it's better to just not ask questions about the specifics. Your enjoyment of the meal matters more than knowing every little thing about how it got to your plate.

And honestly, even with a good gauge you've gotta test in a few spots. Concrete can be tricky, the moisture content varies a lot from one area to another. Best to take readings across the whole slab before making any decisions.