That salty-sweet thing you stumbled on is actually a real flavor combo, like salted caramel but for bread. I did something similar with a brownie recipe that said "1 teaspoon of chili powder" instead of cinnamon, and now I add a tiny pinch of cayenne to every batch. The heat just makes the chocolate taste deeper somehow. Kind of makes you wonder how many of grandma's "mistakes" were happy accidents.

Was always a string guy myself, but yeah, that sag killed me too and laser just makes sense.

Tried the same thing on an old Canon FD mount a while back, stripped the hole again within two rolls. Still swear by helicoils for anything brass though, they bite better than people give em credit for. You tested yours on a full roll already, that's more than I can say for half my repairs.

Is the game actually fun or do people just like the rules?

Read somewhere that the gluten in bread flour is basically a whole different animal compared to all-purpose. That's why the dough can finally hold in those air bubbles and actually rise up instead of flopping sideways. I did the same thing for weeks, blamed my oven thermometer and my tap water. Turned out I was just treating my starter like it needed a pep talk when the flour was the REAL problem all along. Makes you wonder what else we're just blaming the wrong thing for.