My buddy bought one of those fancy carpet seam irons with the digital temp readout, paid like 260 for it, and it sat in his garage for almost a year because he kept using his old junky one. Then he got a job doing a bunch of berber seams in a church and that thing cut his time in half, no more scorched backing. He says he still feels dumb about the money but he'd buy it again tomorrow. Kinda the same deal as your kicker, sometimes you just don't know what you need till the right job shows up.

Man, this is such a real thing and it happens everywhere, not just lawns. We just do stuff on autopilot for years because nobody ever told us different. Like my buddy who spent a decade putting his bread in the fridge thinking it stayed fresh longer, till a baker told him that's why it always went stale and rubbery. Or people who scrub their cast iron with dish soap for years until someone finally says something. The wild part is Dave probably watched you do this for three summers before he said a word, which means other folks saw it too and just minded their own business. Anyway, 40 bucks a month back in your pocket plus a green lawn? That's a win all around.