Sounds like you spent two days doing what a variable speed sander on low would have handled in an hour. Heat shifting the tone is real, but you can control that with slower speeds and lighter passes instead of going full caveman with a cork block. If the job paid for the extra time and the client was happy, fine, but calling it better than every power tool you own seems like a stretch.

And that reminds me, my buddy Mike wore the same pair of hiking boots for like eight years, always complaining about his toes going numb on long trails. Turns out he never knew you could get them in wide widths, he just thought his feet were weird. He finally got fitted at a proper outdoor store and it blew his mind that his boot size was actually a half size bigger than his sneaker size too. Now he won't shut up about it every time we go out, telling anyone who'll listen to get their feet measured. Makes you wonder how many other small things we just accept as normal when they don't have to be lol.