Man, a good set of flush cutters. I was using cheap ones that mangled component leads. Got a pair of Knipex ones and the clean cut every single time saves so much cleanup.

My buddy got burned the same way on a cabinet job. He opens one box from the pallet now and runs a few slides all the way a dozen times. Catches bad bearings before they go in.

My old Nest thermostat got replaced by a simple dial model after it kept changing the schedule on its own. Felt like I was constantly fighting with an app just to be comfortable. Sometimes the tech that just does one job well is way less stressful. I'm totally with you on going back to basics.

But that cab ride is way less stressful after a long flight.

Man, that's rough. So you've got mold and soft drywall already. Have you checked how far up the wall the damage goes, or is it just behind the shower curtain? That's going to tell you a lot about how much you need to tear out.