Man that totally stinks, I'd be frustrated too if I found out my efforts meant nothing.

My buddy Travis had an old 1995 Cummins he swapped into a Ford and could not get it to prime for like a full weekend. He was out there with a turkey baster trying to fill the filter housing, cussing up a storm. His neighbor came over, saw what he was doing, and told him to just take the fuel cap off and blow into the tank with his mouth for a few seconds to pressurize it. Travis thought he was messing with him but tried it just to shut the guy up. Damn thing fired right up and ran perfect after that. He still talks about it every time someone cracks open a diesel book manual.

Man I totally agree with you on this one. I mean, I see so many younger barbers these days who just grab the blending shears the second they hit a line, instead of actually learning how to blend with their clippers. It's like they skip the whole step of understanding grain patterns and how hair naturally falls, and just rely on those shears to fix everything for them. And yeah, you can get away with it for a while, but it always looks softer and more natural when someone knows how to slice with straight blades or dial in their clipper work first. Maybe it's just me but I think if you really want to level up, you gotta struggle through the rough blends and learn from your mistakes instead of masking them with tools. That mentor you had gave you solid advice for real.

Doesn't it feel like every time you swap disposables for something reusable you find a bunch of other little improvements you weren't expecting?

Yeah, 'one tiny step you skip' is exactly right. I've seen that same thing with rotors on a few different cars. That little bit of rust buildup can make the rotor sit crooked and then you get that horrible pulsing or grinding noise. It's SO easy to think you're done once the caliper is off, but you ABSOLUTELY gotta hit that hub face with a wire brush or a scotch brite pad. Saves a headache and a pissed off customer every time.