Oh man, I feel this so hard. I did the same thing a few years back, except I was stuck with a hand saw for a whole year because I was too stubborn to change. The old timers in my shop would watch me struggle and just say shit like "you gotta feel the bone" and honestly it was useless advice. Once I got my band saw dialed in, I never looked back. Yeah, I snapped a couple blades learning the tension thing too, but that's just part of it. My cuts are straighter, my wrists actually rest now, and I can do in one morning what used to take me all day. The grief from the old guys faded pretty fast once they saw me finishing way ahead of them.

...and honestly the blending trick is the whole game changer. I do the same thing now, thirty seconds with the sugar like you said, and it fixes everything. The cold eggs just need that extra time to get air in and break down the yolks fully, that's what stops the lumpiness. I also give my cream or milk a quick zap in the microwave for like fifteen seconds, not warm, just takes the fridge chill off it. That plus the blended eggs and I never wait for anything to hit room temp anymore. Saves me like an hour every time I bake.

Treating it like a test? Man, I once got read the riot act for not checking the tag on a hoist chain, and I'd been on that same unit for three straight weeks. The BA looked at me like I'd shown up drunk. I still catch myself double-checking tags in my sleep now, so maybe that's the point, but it stings when you think you're just doing the job. That Detroit crew sounds like they'd make you sweat over a missing glove clip just to see if you flinch. Honestly, I'd rather lose two days redoing patch work than sit through that lecture again, so maybe you got off easy.

Man, bet that count keeps going up after you finally get a backup unit.

Pure black is for screenshots, not for actual eyes.