Man, that's rough. My buddy got a warning last year because his welcome mat had a football on it and they said it was too sports-related for the community standards. Then the HOA president's son had a giant inflatable snowman up in November and nothing happened to them. It's always the little stuff they come after you for, right?

Wait @christopher594, aren't you supposed to check the basket before preheating every time? Even a tiny piece of foil or breadcrumb can smoke up bad, I learned that the hard way.

Wait WHAT, someone brought snacks and it threw off the whole investigation? I need to know what snacks we're talking about here because that detail changes everything.

Are you giving it a quick tap on the bench first to take the chill off a little? Because that's my trick, just enough to knock the cold edge down but not enough to heat the whole thing up. If you're going straight from the counter to the glass on something thin like a vase, you're basically asking for a thermal shock disaster. I keep a cold jack on the side for when I need that sharp, clean break, but I'll warm it in my hand for a few seconds if I'm worried about cracking. You get a feel for it after a while, the cooler metal really does grip the glass better for certain moves.

Heard the same thing on a machining forum, those cheap laser tools are basically toys.