Had the exact same thing happen with stainless steel a few years back. Spent months blaming the machine until I finally tried a coated carbide with a different helix angle, still chipped like crazy. Ended up using a stubby HSS roughing endmill running super slow with lots of coolant and it just plowed through everything no problem. Made me feel like a real rookie.

oh yeah i was totally in the same boat, thought it was just backyard chicken hype. my barred rock hen, pepper, had mites so bad last fall she was losing feathers around her neck. i did the whole coop dusting with DE and reapplied it a few times over the next week and it cleared up way faster than i expected. i think the key is making sure its dry and you get it in all the cracks and crevices where they hide. i was honestly shocked it worked that well, figured id have to break out the chemical sprays.

Hannah, I gotta push back on that a little. You say it's all about "someone to call out the obvious stuff you missed" but I don't think it's that simple. Sometimes the field guys are used to working a certain way and they'll tell you your dims are wrong just because THEY don't like cutting it that way. I've had framers tell me my risers were off when I checked the math three times and the stairs fit perfect after they installed them. The framer you mentioned might have been right in THAT case, but it's dangerous to just take every field guy's word as gospel without verifying yourself. I see too many designers letting contractors talk them into bad details just because they feel intimidated on site. You gotta trust your own numbers sometimes.

Day 5 mold is basically the sauerkraut gods testing your commitment to the cause. You'll be fine unless it smelled like a gym sock, then toss it and start over.

Overthinking is basically my hobby, so I feel personally attacked right now.