Did you check the hinge placement on those cuts before they fell? I've seen too many guys rely on luck and call it skill, and that's how houses get crushed. Good rigging is one thing, but three oaks in a row without a scratch sounds more like the trees were leaning perfectly and the ground was stable. Every time I've had a perfect day like that, I looked closer and realized the conditions were just right more than my own doing. Nothing against the homeowner being impressed, but I'd rather be honest about the luck involved than pretend I'm some kind of tree wizard.

Man that story really stuck with me too! I actually went back to a volunteer board at my library about a year later and was surprised one of those faded flyers was still hanging there.

That's the real problem with these cheap testers, they'll pass a link that's marginal or even failed on a real meter which just wastes your time. The false positives are way more dangerous than a false fail since you think everything is good and leave the job. You end up spending more money on labor chasing issues than you would have just buying a quality tool from the start.

Three years ago I taped a cracked taillight on my truck with duct tape and it lasted all winter. @ben_lopez25 you act like duct tape is supposed to hold the world together. It's a quick fix for small stuff not a miracle cure. If your car bumper is falling off then yeah duct tape isn't gonna cut it but is that really the tape's fault? You're making it sound like it's a major crisis when half the time people just need a little patience and a real repair.

It's like when people obsess over fancy kitchen gadgets but a good old cast iron pan does everything better. The simpler stuff just gets out of your way and lets you do what you need to do. Have you noticed that with other things too?