Tighten that stop with a lock washer, never had mine drift after that.

Wait, so you were looking for a missing semicolon in Python? That doesn't really work that way since Python doesn't use semicolons at all except for putting multiple statements on one line. You probably meant a missing colon, right? That one gets me all the time too though. Forgetting a colon after a for loop or a function definition can make the whole thing crash and you'll just stare at it forever. Its like your brain sees what it expects to see instead of what's actually there. I've spent a good hour hunting for a colon that was right there the whole time but I just kept glossing over it. Slow and steady is the only way with syntax stuff.

Three attempts and I still set my soldering iron on fire trying that.

Man I used to be EXACTLY like your neighbor. I thought spending more meant getting something that would last forever. Picked up some "pro grade" lights for my basement a few years back and felt real proud of myself. But one of them started acting up after just 18 months and the other one makes this weird hum now. My brother bought the cheapo ones from the same home store and they're still flawless after 3 years. Really changed my whole way of thinking about this stuff. Sometimes the simple designs are just built better without all the extra frills that can break.

Yeah, "no shame in keeping the meat from drying out while you fix the smoker" really hit me. I was one of those guys who thought if you didn't ride the fire all the way through you were cheating. But a few months back my controller went haywire on my pellet grill and I spent like an hour fighting with it before just giving up and using the oven. The brisket came out just as good if not better because I wasn't opening the lid every five minutes. It kind of changed how I look at the whole thing. Now I'm way more chill about finishing in the kitchen if the smoker decides to act up.