Hard lessons are the ones that stick, for sure.

Totally agree about those old shops. Sometimes they can even rebuild a dead adapter if you bring it in, saves you hunting for the exact match.

Yeah, that line about "working hard to defend it" is the whole game. It turns your effort into the proof. I had the same thing happen with my uncle and some political stuff. You can't win with facts because they see the facts as part of the cover up. It's so frustrating. You put in all that time just to have it used against you. Makes you want to just not bother next time.

I've had good luck with a long soak in evaporust... then a drop of tri-flow on the pivots.

That part about running across the room to check files. I felt that. My setup is so bad I use my phone as a second screen. Propping it up on a stack of books. Real high tech stuff. Makes that library table look like a spaceship.