Oh man, that hits close to home. Had a similar thing happen a few months back running a big batch of stainless steel parts. Walked away thinking everything was set right, came back to find the coolant stream was hitting the chuck instead of the cutting zone. Wasted almost a whole shift and a good chunk of material before I caught it. Little things like that can really throw off the whole day, makes you want to double check everything twice before hitting the green button.

$25 for calibration is a bargain honestly. Most people just toss those things, @lilymurphy has the right idea. Cheap tools can be saved if you know where to look.

So why do people claim they see trails every day if only 56 operations existed?

My cousin swears by a 30 page rule for non-fiction. She read the first chapter of "Atomic Habits" and tossed it because she said the guy was just repeating his blog posts. I tried that once with a mystery novel and bailed at page 35. Felt weirdly guilty for a day but then I read a killer thriller about a missing hiker instead and forgot all about it. 75 pages seems like a solid compromise though, gives the writer enough rope to hang themselves.

My friend's kid calls his birth mom "the pancake lady" from their diner meetups.