My old house had a 25 year old boiler. I used a citric acid flush at half strength, ran it for only 20 minutes, and it cleared a lot of sediment without any leaks. The key is a very short contact time on older systems.

Totally get what you're saying about trusting your gut. But honestly, sometimes the angle looks fine and it's something else, like a loose strap or the ground giving way. I've had my gear look perfect, then a buckle I didn't double-check came undone. It's not always the obvious thing you see first.

That bit about meetings just being status reports hits home. It's like when you call a customer service line and have to listen to a long menu you already know. The system makes you go through the motions even when it's pointless. We keep having these meetings because the calendar invite exists, not because we actually need to talk. It's performative work, like hitting 'reply all' on an email chain that died last week.