Bridge loans only work if your bank knows you. First timer gets eaten alive.

Remember that the raccoons were probably coming for the smell long before it went slimy... that's more about what you're adding than how often you turn it. Meat, oils, and cooked food scraps will smell like a buffet no matter what bin you use. The real problem in Bothell is the rain, you need way more browns than you think, like double what most guides say. All that moisture packs down and suffocates the pile, turning it into that anaerobic mess you described. A tumbler helps because it keeps things drier and easier to spin, but you still gotta add shredded cardboard or dry leaves with every food scrap drop. Honestly, I'd skip the fancy setup and just do a simple wire cylinder with a lid, keeps the critters out and lets the rain drain better than any closed bin.

Wait, are we really pretending that knowing what a tolerance means is the same as knowing when to apply it? Honestly, I've seen plenty of new guys nail the definition in a day, but they'll slap a tight tolerance on a plastic part that's gonna warp anyway. Tbh, @jana_fox50, the real skill is knowing which tolerances matter and which ones are just making the shop hate you. Same thing with the old guys and layers, they know the rules but refuse to use the tools right. Ngl, I'd take a kid who asks why over a veteran who just assumes every part needs to be held to a tenth. The hard way isn't better, it's just what they're comfortable with.

Whoa, hold on. I've run PVA at full blast for way longer than that on thick stock and never had the platen melt, so I gotta wonder if your pot's thermostat is lying to you. Before you change your whole routine, check the actual temp with a probe, because if it's hitting like 180 instead of the usual 140-150, that's your real problem. A cheap thermometer will save you a lot of trial and error, and you can dial it down to where the glue flows but doesn't cook the board.

Oh the little accidents are just life's way of teaching us that half the stuff we stress about is optional...