It reminds me of a painter friend who started billing for color consultations... that extra meeting always ran an hour over. The buffer just makes it fair for your time.

Yeah, @andrew916, I used it on an old bike chain once and the smell stuck around for weeks.

Actually, optical sensors use infrared light, so color shouldn't matter. Maybe the pad's surface was too glossy or something.

Man, those old hardware stores are lifesavers for this stuff. I grabbed a whole box of fuses for my dad's old receiver at a place like that, dirt cheap. It's crazy how such a tiny part can bring a whole unit back to life. Always makes my day when the old tech just needs a simple fix.

Consider how much recipes can vary for the same dish. A timer works if everything is exactly the same each time, but my chicken pieces are never identical. The thermometer just cuts through all that guesswork for me.