The signals still work fine, we just quit trusting them" is a line that hits hard. We do this everywhere now, like how nobody memorizes phone numbers or reads a paper map anymore because the phone has it covered, and then the one time the phone dies we're stuck. Something works, then a new tool comes along, and we just let the old skill fade even though it's still solid.

The penny thing actually still kinda tracks if you think about it as a price index, not a literal penny count. Old books list 16d as the size, so the number never was meant to match today's cost. My favorite dead term is "horsepower" on a nail gun box, since nobody's measuring horses anymore.

That line about pulling the cream right off it hits home for me. I used to swear the edges crumbled because the mix was hot or the sun was baking it too fast, spent years blaming everything but my own hands. Had a guy watch me work a while back and tell me the same thing, that I was working it too long and working it wet. I didn't buy it at first, figured 11 years of doing it one way had to count for something. Tried his way on the next pour and the edges came out night and day better, so I had to eat my words on that one. Funny how a bad habit gets so comfortable you stop seeing it.