Fourteen minutes of checking is a lot, but I gotta ask, are you actually having parts come out wrong when you skip it? I've been running machines for 12 years and the whole "story, not a promise" thing sounds like something a guy says to make himself feel better about skipping steps. Mike's not paying for your scrapped parts if his little motto turns out to be wrong. I get that Z and tool length matter, but on a VF-2 the fixture offsets drift with the weather, especially if the shop temp swings at night. You're saving 15 minutes now, but one bad part that sneaks through on a critical tolerance will eat up way more than that in rework. I'd say keep checking until Mike's willing to sign his name on every one of his setup sheets.

Man, that reminds me of a client who wanted a mullet for her wedding photos and I almost talked her out of it.

That comfort hoodie thing you said nailed it, @patricia_rodriguez, and it’s the same pattern I see everywhere now, people sticking with the same coffee order or the same gym playlist for years. It’s not fear, it’s just building a little corner of the world that doesn’t surprise you, and that’s worth something.