Oh man, the physical sticker thing is such a trap. Why do they make you go in person when everything else is online? That is absurd. What did the person at the counter say when you finally got there, did they act like you were the hundredth person that week making the same mistake?

Does the guy calling them lazy also skip watering his plants for three weeks and then wonder why they're dead? Succulents just happen to be good at surviving our mistakes, but getting them to actually thrive takes more attention than people give them credit for. Maybe the real issue isn't the plants but that some folks think their own gardening style is the only valid one.

Did you try reseating the connector on the PFD after it cooled down? I fried a screen once and just unplugging it and plugging it back in after a few minutes fixed it like nothing happened.

I have the Stihl battery blower and its been going strong for two years now. Bought it after my neighbor let me try his, he uses his for everything. Honestly sounds like you got a lemon, which happens sometimes with the cheaper brands. I hear people complain about the ones from big box stores all the time at my shop. The battery tech is still catching up to gas power, but the good ones last if you treat them right. Raking is fine but my back can't take it anymore, I'll stick with the blower.

That's a great point and it actually taps into something bigger I've noticed. Seems like every single industry has been quietly moving this direction for years now. I see it with my own home insurance for example - they used to send an actual person out to look at everything, now it's all satellite images and algorithms to estimate roof age. Same with my car loan that got approved in like 15 minutes using just my bank history and credit score. The whole system is shifting to trust data and patterns instead of sending humans to physically verify stuff. Saves time and money most of the time, but sometimes I wonder if we lose something important when nobody walks through the place with their own two eyes. Still, I bet the big banks hate that credit unions can do this stuff since they're stuck in their old expensive ways.