Ugh, did it just show you random dots and call them ghosts? I bought one of those apps for a trip to a supposedly haunted hotel last year. It was just a random number generator making spooky noises. My phone even died faster from it running in the background. Total scam for sure.

Honestly, I get what you're saying about it looking neat, but that surface-mounted conduit is probably a code thing, not just a style choice. In a big open space like that with high ceilings, they can't just hide the wiring in a ceiling that isn't there. The fire alarm system needs to be super easy to get to for any fixes or checks. It's cool that they made it look clean though, a lot of places just slap it up and call it a day.

Ever try a cold chisel for that?

Man, that reminds me of my old multimeter. The thing would give a different reading if you breathed on it too hard. I tried checking a wall outlet once and it just blinked "OL" at me for everything, even the good sockets. Ended up trusting a friend's gut feeling more than that junk. Sometimes the cheap stuff just adds to the mystery.

Oh man, water is the best cheap tool there is. I had a brutal time with compacted, dry clay last summer putting in some posts. My dumb trick was using a pressure washer with a dirt cutting tip. I'd blast it into the pilot hole for a minute to make a slurry, then the auger would just eat through it. Made a huge wet mess, but it beat fighting the machine all day. Sometimes the simple fix is just adding liquid.