Drinking the ocean" is such a perfect way to put it. I once made a soup so salty my partner asked if I was trying to preserve it for the winter. I get stuck in my ways too, and it takes a brave friend to tell you your food tastes like the Dead Sea. Have you tried the less-salty batch yet?

Bad prep is the worst, man. We had a similar thing on a header weld where the bevel was too shallow. The root pass didn't fuse right and it failed a bend test. Now we always check the fit-up and gap with a gauge before the first arc is even struck. Saves a ton of headache later.

Right, that "box of random bolts and regret" is too real, @abby308. I swear those boxes just collect broken dreams and stripped threads. My old parts kit is the only reason my project car even runs, it's all mismatched but it works. That coolant smell is a special kind of awful, it sticks to your clothes for days. Finding the leak before you start is a legit superpower, total save.

My buddy found a lamp like that and it totally changed his apartment.

My buddy had a water heater from like 2005. His gas bill kept creeping up. He finally swapped it out last month. Said the new one uses way less gas to do the same job. It was just sitting there in the basement, wasting money for years.