Wasted three hours detailing a brick pattern they never even looked at.

That $130 could have bought you a stack of blank tapes to re-record over if anything got eaten, so the math never adds up for me. @kevinc84's Discwasher at least kept his gear working, but a rewinder is just doing the same job slower than the VCR would. Sounds like you got lucky selling those tapes, but for every one of you there's nine people with a dusty paperweight in a closet.

Man, I had the exact same thing happen with a wheel bearing awhile back, customer kept telling me it was gonna overheat if I didn't hit the torque right and I blew him off until I had to replace the hub three weeks later. Now I don't argue with the old timers, they've seen stuff fail in ways you just can't picture until it happens to you.

That "dragged it through a bonfire" line hit home. I've been there too. The bitter bite is almost always from the charcoal burning too dirty, especially at the start. Try letting your lump get fully gray and ashed over before you put the brisket on. Also, I started mixing a few chunks of apple wood right into the charcoal bed. That way you get the deep bark from the coal but the sweet smoke covers up that sharp acrid taste. One more thing, check your airflow. Too little air makes charcoal smolder instead of burn clean. That's usually what causes that harsh note that never fades.

Ha, that judge probably couldn't sauce his way out of a paper bag, so take it with a grain of salt. Maybe he was just salty you made him look bad with all that clean work, lol.