Routine is everything. Stick it out past the first two weeks and the savings just stack up naturally.

Dang, that's brutal... a 20 degree difference on an $8 thermometer just wrecked a whole day of work and a $150 hunk of meat. I honestly don't trust those dial ones at all anymore, they seem to drift so bad over time. Digital probes are cheap enough now that there's really no reason to risk it, I got a two pack on amazon for like twenty bucks a few years back. Still feel for you though, that's a rough way to learn that lesson.

Lol @fiona_lewis37 you're mostly right but the bubble level was actually 45 bucks, not 30. Still cheap insurance compared to that digital one though!

Is it possible she's actually good at managing if her team's still sticking around through all that?

Right, because nothing says "preserving history" like a half-rotted beam held together with Home Depot nails. Maybe they're just trying to stay period accurate with the 1970s handyman specials.