That podcast host being 14 is the key thing. It's wild to hold someone to stuff they wrote before their brain was even close to done cooking. jamesf26 is right, that context changes everything. The real problem is when people double down instead of just owning it like haydenbutler did.

Been there, stripped a lens mount with a bad tool once. People forget to check if the tool itself has a warranty or a hardness rating. A real JIS tool should be marked, sometimes they just stamp it on cheap metal. Try looking for old watchmaker or machinist supply brands, they often made small, precise tools that work on camera parts.

Wow, your friend really took "set it and forget it" literally.

Ugh, learned that lesson the hard way too. My brilliant idea was to just hit it with a tiger torch for ten minutes. The thermal shock made a sound like a gunshot and we had to chase shrapnel across the shop floor. Now I'm a full hour pre-heat convert, no shortcuts.

Actually think staring at the screen is part of the process. That flooded city story might just need you to push through the bad part to find the good idea again.