Ugh, my friend's cheap software did that, and the penalty was brutal.

Oh man, the "ran to my kit in the car" part gave me flashbacks. My friend had a similar meltdown doing a bridesmaid's lip wax right before photos. Her warmer just died, no backup. She ended up having to carefully tweeze the whole thing in a panic. Now she keeps one of those tiny travel-sized hard wax pots in her bag, already full, as a total emergency backup. She says it heats up fast in a pinch. That timing thing is the worst, it throws your whole rhythm off.

My neighbor's kid brought home a "bird" that fell in their yard last spring. It was a starling, but its wing was split open. Inside was just this little gray box and some copper strands, like thin wires. No blood, no feathers stuck to anything. They put it in a shoebox, but by morning it was gone. Just an empty box on the back porch. Always gave me a chill.