My cheap pen tester once told me a wire was dead and my arm disagreed real quick, so I get the paranoia. But $89 to catch a mislabeled breaker is way cheaper than a hospital bill or a funeral. Your lead guy can keep his $15 pen, you keep your fingers.

That bit about your back feeling better but the weight distribution giving you white knuckles near Raton Pass hits home. It's like when you trade one problem for a different problem and have to decide which one you'd rather live with. I've seen that same thing with guys switching from sleepers to day cabs, or going from company to owner op. The new setup fixes the old pain but hands you a fresh one you didn't see coming. Feels like most big changes in this line of work just shuffle the hard parts around instead of getting rid of them.

Plot twist: parking lots in Tulsa fix everything.