Man that spongy pedal struggle is the worst. I had a similar thing with my old Tacoma where I could pump it up for days and it still felt like stepping on a marshmallow. The pressure bleeder is a total game changer though, once you see that steady stream of fluid with no bubbles you realize you wasted years cussing at a helper who can't hear you yell "hold it" from under the truck. For anyone still doing the pump and hold method, try cracking the bleeder just a tiny bit on the first caliper and letting gravity do its thing for a few minutes before you even hook up the pressure bleeder, it saves you from fighting the initial air pocket.

Oh, come on. I gotta disagree with the whole "cold grease" thing being the main culprit here. In my experience, it's way more about the battery being weak or the camera being improperly stored. Yeah, you warmed yours up and it worked, but that could've been the contacts making better connection from the heat, not the grease softening. F2 shutters are mechanical for the most part, so cold grease shouldn't be a total showstopper unless the camera was already on its last legs. I've shot my F2 at minus 10 degrees out west without a hiccup, never had to warm it up between shots. It's more about keeping the whole system dry and the batteries fresh, not babying the grease. Your mileage may vary, but I think people blame the cold too quick.

Four times seems more like a pattern he's set than a phase.

My uncle used to keep a spiral notebook behind the counter at his hardware store with customer names and what they fixed their boats with, got real particular about which brand of silicone caulk he'd even sell after seeing too many deck leaks come back. Found it in a box after he passed and those notes were like reading a secret history of every mooring failure in the harbor.

Honestly, I used to think metal detecting was a joke, but this is pretty convincing.