Hold my breath? That sounds backwards to me. In my flying dreams, I have to breathe out slow and steady, like I'm blowing up a balloon. If I hold my breath, I get too heavy and drop like a rock. It took me a bunch of tries to get that right. Funny how everyone's brain makes up its own weird rulebook for this stuff.

But sometimes the ground is just fine... you can overthink this stuff and end up doing way more work than you need.

That copper shim story is too real. Dropped like $40 on a "pro" anti-static mat and wrist strap set for building PCs. My old pink one from the 90s works exactly the same, it just doesn't look as cool in photos. The fancy stuff is just for show most of the time.

Honestly the BIGGEST power move is knowing the law BEFORE you move in. I always take photos of the exact state code about deposits and send it with my first month's rent check. Sets the tone that you're not someone they can mess with.

Ugh, absolutely. My old tripod head made this tiny clicking sound right as the Milky Way lined up perfectly. It felt like pure mockery. Just total betrayal by a piece of metal and plastic. You spend all this time getting to a dark spot, and your own stuff decides to quit on you. It's the worst kind of frustration.