Why are you letting him get to you though? He's a contractor and you're not, you don't need to carry the same stuff. Those six pens and extra cables might actually save you one day when your coworker needs a charger or the office runs out of pens. Honestly sounds like you're just prepared, not overpacking.

Did you try getting a caseworker to help you? I had my phone number wrong on one form and they almost sent me back to square one, but my social worker called them and sorted it out in like 10 minutes. Sometimes you just need someone on the inside to translate their nonsense.

Kept thinking about this all day after reading it. I've noticed this pattern where the people who've been gardening or doing anything for decades give advice that sounds old-fashioned or silly (like hardware cloth, seriously?) but it's usually because they've already made every single mistake you're about to make. They know the exact failure points because they patched their own beds and fences and roofs thirty years ago, you know? It's like there's a whole secret manual of "stuff that will go wrong" and the only way to get it is to either listen humbly or learn the hard way like we all end up doing. I'm trying to get better at just nodding and saying "okay, I'll do that" instead of arguing, because usually the person offering the advice has the scars to prove it.

Magnet trick is solid but you gotta be careful with the setup. Some magnets aren't strong enough for the bottom, especially if there's silt or muck in the way. A neodymium one on a chain works way better than a cheap bar magnet.

Man I feel this. I signed up for Hulu with no ads and still got hit with a 90 second ad for their own show before the episode even started. Kinda makes me miss the days when I could just flip channels and not feel like I was getting nickel and dimed for the same experience.