...so that was the exact same problem I had when I was doing a big install a few years back. I had this old crimper I got from a garage sale and every third connector would just spin loose or give me a bad signal. My neighbor who does commercial work told me to just buy a compression tool and I was pretty skeptical because of the price difference. But after my first couple of compression ends I could see right away the connector was actually gripping the cable like it was supposed to. The funny thing is now I keep that cheap crimper in my truck specifically for the rare times I need a quick temporary fix on something I don't care about. The compression tool lives in my tool bag for everything else though.

Honestly I used to think recommending shows was kinda pointless. Like just let people find stuff on their own. But @the_barbara hearing you describe watching your sister react to The Wire makes me rethink that. I pushed my brother into watching Justified for years and when he finally texted me after the first season finale I realized I was missing out on that shared experience. It's like getting to relive the best parts without even rewatching.

My uncle bought a 30 dollar jig from Harbor Freight back in 2012 and built an entire set of kitchen cabinets with it without a single blowout. He checked the alignment with a square every 10 holes and replaced the bushing inserts after about 200 holes for 8 bucks. The real trick is knowing the tool's limits and working within them instead of treating a cheap jig like a production-grade tool. Three cabinet doors wasted sounds more like user error or clamping technique than a jig that suddenly shifted out of spec.

You mentioned it's "usually not worth the money for power alone," but I've seen enough dyno runs on common 4-cylinders to think even that claim is generous. The factory airbox is already pulling cold air from the fender, and most of these intakes just add noise for the same or worse intake temps.

That "echo of his footsteps" comment from @nelson.gavin hit me hard because my old manager actually told me the acoustics change when a mall empties out. The sound bounces differently off all the empty storefronts and it messes with your head after a while. Nobody really talks about how the building itself starts feeling hollow before the lights even go out.