Man that foreman was right on the money. I did ironed joints on a house in Cleveland back in 2018 and by the third winter I had hairline cracks in three spots. Switched to buttering everything after that and the next house I did two years ago still looks fresh with zero movement. The mud just locks in better when you butter it up nice.

Picked up a breaker bar after a mishap with a rusty brake caliper bolt on a Ford Focus in the snow. I was using my impact gun, chattering away, and it just snapped the bolt clean off. Had to drill it out in the cold and it took me the whole afternoon. Now I always crack those rusty ones loose by hand first with a long ratchet, then hit them with the impact once they're moving. It feels slower at first but saves so much headache, especially when you're dealing with salt belt cars. I also keep a can of PB Blaster in my toolbox and hit every bolt I can reach before I even start.

Client signed? Doesn't mean shit until the money clears.

Did you check the contrast ratio before painting? I always use a contrast checker online now. Learned that lesson the hard way too. Red and green got me once on a sign for a brewery. Looked fine on screen but outside it was a blurry mess. Those color blindness simulators are a must. I run everything through them before I even buy the paint now.

Did you ever hear that thing about how our brains just fill in what we expect to see? I read somewhere that after looking at something for a while your brain basically stops actually seeing the details and just relies on memory of what you think is there.