People forget how much the pot matters. A small pot with no drainage will kill a succulent faster than any watering schedule. The roots just rot in there. It's not always about the water you give, but where it goes.

Used to think dense packing was a total hack. Seeing it actually work on a real project changed my mind though. The accessibility trade-off is the real problem nobody talks about.

Tell me about it... I had the exact same moment of shame last year. Was fighting a lockring on an old Phil Wood hub, just mangling the splines, and my buddy walks over and points at the notch like I'm an idiot. Slid a hex key in there to hold it and it came right off. Felt like I'd been using a hammer as a screwdriver my whole life. That little notch is a total game changer for anything that's been on there a while.

Huh, that's basically just a free discovery call.

My last garage floor looked like I finished it with a garden rake. I was so proud of the smooth finish, then the sun hit it the next morning and showed every single swirl. Maybe I just don't have the touch for it, or maybe my arm gets tired and I start doing weird things. I'm sticking with my wood float now to save myself the shame.