Totally get the "eating my words" feeling. I was the same way, telling everyone you needed a CS degree. Then my cousin did a bootcamp and was building full web apps with user logins and payment systems in like, month three. I was still in school writing essays about old programming languages. It really flipped my view. What program did your friend do in Chicago?

What, you didn't enjoy your two-day backcountry cooking show? My Squeeze gave up on me once in similar silt, felt like a real dummy carrying it.

My old Magic Clip crapped out last year after like three years of heavy use. I was totally in the "just buy another cordless" camp until my buddy's corded Senior saved my skin during a power outage. You're right, having that one corded backup is a different level of peace of mind because it doesn't rely on a charge at all. I still use cordless for most cuts, but I keep a corded one in the bag now and it just makes sense.

That paper backup story from @emeryp23 is a good point, but tech fails are just a new kind of problem to solve. We used to lose paper charts in the wind or rain all the time, and nobody called for going back to memory. The future is digital tools with better batteries and sun shades, not avoiding them.

My dentist told me most people brush way too hard. Sometimes common sense is just old habits we never question.