Twenty bucks for a monthly bus pass, that's a no brainer really.

Did you try talking to the dirt and asking it nicely to hold your pad up? Because that sounds like exactly the kind of move Austin dirt would pull just to mess with you. Around here we call that "engineer approved soil" since it looks solid until you put real weight on it. Good thing you had those 2x12s on hand, I've seen guys have to use entire sheets of plywood just to spread the load enough. Honestly on some lots you'd be better off setting up on a stack of old tires from the dump.

He said the foam had basically turned into a hard plastic shell." I had an old Stanley tape measure I carried for years, and the spring finally gave out on a job in Michigan. The weird part was the case looked brand new, but the mechanism was completely rusted inside from drywall dust getting in there.

You ever have one of those moments where you realize you've been thinking about something the wrong way for years? That's kinda where I'm at with this. I used to be convinced that going solo meant you'd inevitably cut corners or miss stuff like that damper you mentioned since there's nobody double-checking your work. But hearing you talk about your numbers and that 500 streak makes me think I had it backwards - maybe being on your own actually forces you to be more careful because every callback hits your reputation directly.

Man, I feel you on this one. I was in the exact same boat about two years ago with my home setup. I finally grabbed a used shear off Craigslist and honestly, the first time I used it I just stood there wondering why I put up with the grinder for so long. The cleanup alone is worth the switch, no more little metal slivers stuck to everything in the shop and no more tripping over extension cords. Your mileage may vary on the brand but once you go shear, it is really hard to go back to the grinder for straight cuts. I still keep my grinder around for notches and curves but for anything straight, the shear wins every time.