Dude same here. That 21 day window is legit magic for ribeyes.

Funny you mention that, @amyh21. I used the thumb method on my first car for like two years and honestly thought I had it down. Then a buddy let me borrow his cheap gauge and I found out I was running about 4 psi low the whole time. Car drove smoother after I fixed it, but man did I feel dumb. Now I just keep a little gauge in the glovebox next to the napkins and a pack of gum. Its not fancy but it beats guessing and hoping for the best. Those little moments where you upgrade from a hacky trick to a real tool are always worth it.

What @wendy72 said about the thermal camera is exactly what I read on a home inspector's blog, they swear by those things for finding hidden leaks. That flapper issue you had is way more common than people think, my neighbor had the same problem and it took him a month to notice because the leak was so slow. So frustrating when something as dumb as a piece of rubber can cost you that much money.

The todo list app is basically the rite of passage for this whole thing. I did the same thing with a weather app that just showed the temp and condition. Three days of messing with an API key before I realized I was calling the wrong endpoint. That kind of failure sticks with you way better than any tutorial where everything works perfectly. Plus when you finally get it working you remember every single mistake you made along the way. Those "masterclass" courses just hand you the answers, but you never learn how to find them yourself. Breaking stuff and fixing it is the real teacher.

But doesn't having bidirectional control let you actually test the cat and other parts before you throw money at it? I'd rather waste time testing than waste cash on parts I don't need.