Yeah, heard a carpenter say the same thing about crown molding. Just a tiny back bevel makes the whole corner slide together.

Oh man, that's such a good point. It's like that small action breaks the chain of bad luck before it can really get going. I've started doing something similar by just making my bed right away, even if everything else is a mess. It forces a tiny bit of order and makes the rest of the chaos feel a little more fixable. That five minute reset is the difference between feeling like a victim of the day and feeling like you still have the wheel.

Keeping the cabbage under the brine is the hardest part. I had a batch go bad last year from the same problem, and it's so frustrating to keep fighting the mold. Using a plastic bag filled with extra brine as a weight finally worked for me.