The gravel bar in the Smokies sounds absolutely brutal, I would have been so mad. I tried the foam on top trick once with my old Therm-a-Rest and it actually made a huge difference for warmth but the pad slid around all night and I ended up in a pretzel shape by morning. Sometimes the old school gear really does just work better and you gotta respect that.

Yeah my cousin had this same thing happen. She has a 790 and went to Wells Fargo for a car loan. Got offered like 7%. Then her friend with a 680 went to a local credit union and got 4.5%. My cousin was so mad she almost cried right there in the loan office. So she switched everything to that credit union and six months later they gave her a better rate on a refi too. It's wild how much the place matters more than your actual number.

Oh man, that's actually really interesting. I remember watching a video where a pro barista said the grind size matters way more than the exact water temp, and now I just kinda eyeball it after the boil.

You said "learning curve" but I gotta ask - what was the actual problem you were trying to fix with that $1200 software? In my experience people throw money at tools hoping it'll make their workflow easier when really they just need to change how they approach things. Was it a feature you thought you needed or did someone convince you it was the only way? Ive seen this happen a lot where folks buy fancy programs and then never actually use half the stuff they paid for. Just curious what pushed you to pull the trigger on that purchase.

Oh man, I totally went with the deleted ending too!