Yeah, I felt that way about "Of Mice and Men." Everyone talks about how sad the ending is, but I always saw it as George saving Lennie from a much worse fate. The mercy in it hit me harder than the tragedy.

Man, that really hits home. That slow build-up is the whole point, isn't it? You can't fake those layers. My big worry is that all the modern wipe-on finishes that promise a similar look in an afternoon just create more problems down the road. Don't you find they often get gummy or wear through way faster, so you're actually redoing the work more often? That kinda seems like the opposite of saving time.

Honestly, it sounds like people are just bored and overthinking it. Your watch working normal is pretty solid proof nothing's actually wrong. Tbh, I don't get why everyone acts like it's some huge mystery.

Totally know that sunset race feeling. What saved me once was picking out one really weird shaped rock or a broken wall early on and using it as a anchor point. You stop looking at the big empty space and just focus on getting back to that one spot you know. It makes the whole thing feel less huge when you're just going from one marker to the next. My dad taught me that trick and it has pulled me out of a jam more than once.

See this happen with lots of stuff beyond batteries. People stick to name brands out of habit, missing out on cheaper options that do the same job. What made you finally try something off-brand?