Wait, dollar store batteries are zinc carbon? I had no clue that was even a thing, I just figured a battery was a battery and the cheap ones were the same stuff in a plain wrapper. That would explain so much about why the ones I grab for my kid's toys die in like a day. So you're saying the brightness boost is basically a trick and they're burning out faster the whole time? Guess I need to actually time a set instead of just judging by the first minute, that's fair.

Open rate drop could be bots from that free PDF.

That electrician handed you 20 bucks because he knows he broke it. That's not carelessness, that's him paying for his mistake. Most guys would've pretended nothing happened and walked. You got something out of it. The real issue is you left a Leica sitting on a bench in a room where guys are pulling wire. That's on you. A camera like that belongs in a case or on a shelf, not out where a tool bag or ladder is gonna knock it. And drilling it yourself for 40 minutes could've wrecked the threads way worse than the screw was. You got lucky, not smart.