Spent a whole morning on a quarter crack that looked simple

Had a client's horse in Salem with a small quarter crack on the left hind. Figured it would be a quick patch job, maybe an hour. Ended up taking nearly 4 hours because the crack went way deeper than it looked and I had to do a full bar shoe with a plate. Anyone else had a crack that fooled them like that?

A homeowner in Boise asked me why I was scribing a baseboard instead of just caulking the gap.

He was watching me work on his kitchen remodel last Tuesday, and I explained that a tight scribe looks better and lasts longer than a bead of caulk. He said he'd never seen anyone take the time to do it that way before. How do you guys handle those conversations when a client questions a more careful method?

Had to choose between telling my boss about a coworker's mistake or staying quiet. It was a $500 shipping error.

Just dropped $200 on a dash cam after a close call on the highway

It caught a guy running a red light and swerving into my lane... now I'm wondering if I'm obligated to share the footage with his insurance company if they ask. What would you do?

So I tried mixing mortar by hand for a small repair versus using my little mixer...

Had to fix about 15 bricks on my own chimney last fall, and figured I'd save time by just using a bucket and a hoe. My arm felt like jelly after 10 minutes and the mix was lumpy. Next day, I dragged out the little 3.5 cubic foot mixer I got used for $200... had the same amount done in maybe 3 minutes, and it was perfectly smooth. The difference in my back and the quality of the work was night and day. Anyone else have a 'never again' moment with mixing by hand?

Update: That time a basement pour in Cincinnati went sideways

We were finishing a 20x30 basement slab, and the truck driver dumped the whole load way too fast in one corner. It created a huge wet spot that started to set way slower than the rest. I had to pull two guys off edging to help me work that section with fresnos for an extra 45 minutes straight. We got it flat, but the timing threw our whole rhythm off. Anyone ever have a driver just not listen to your placement plan?

Got a call about a server that wouldn't boot in a hot supply closet

I was at a small law office downtown, and their main file server just gave a black screen with a blinking cursor. The closet was so warm I could feel it. I pulled it out, opened it up, and found a thick layer of dust on the CPU fan. After a careful clean with compressed air and reseating the RAM, it posted on the first try. What's the weirdest place you've had to fix a computer?

My niece asked why I still use a paper journal when my phone has an app for that... and I didn't have a good answer at first.

Update: My coworker said 'it's just a box cutter, they won't miss it' when he took one home, and it's been bothering me for a week.

I realized if everyone thought that way about small things, the whole supply system at our warehouse in Dayton would fall apart, so is taking something that small without asking ever okay?

Hot take: I tried that new ceramic clear on a '92 Ford hood and it cured like a rock in 20 minutes flat.

We were used to the old stuff taking a full hour to set up enough for a light sand. The new stuff was so fast we almost messed up the blend on the fender. Anyone else run into this with the quick-dry formulas?