That $220 square probably does one thing really well, but how often do you actually need that one thing? A speed square marks, measures, checks square, works as a saw guide, and you can drop it off a roof and not care. The fancy one needs a clean edge, a flat surface, and probably a padded case so it does not get knocked out of whack. Tools that live in a drawer because you are scared to mess them up are not tools, they are decoration. I get wanting nice stuff, I really do, but if the cheap one is what your hand reaches for every day then the expensive one already lost. Maybe the real lesson is that the fancy square was a treat and the speed square is the job.

For a long time I figured phones made the awkward quiet easier to handle since you always have an escape hatch. Now I'm not so sure, because sitting through that silence with someone forces you to find out if there's actually anything there. The phone just lets you hide from the answer.