Totally agree about branching for every idea. It feels like a safety net, so you can try wild stuff without fear. Naming branches clearly helps too, like "add-photo-filter" instead of just "new-stuff". That way you remember what each experiment was for later.

My gym tried a similar thing with towel returns and people just started taking pics of random towels from home.

That exact thing happened to me with some 1084. My Parks 50 was cold from the shop overnight and I got a warp. I started warming my quench tank to about 120 degrees before I start, just using a scrap piece of hot steel dipped in a few times. It made a huge difference for me. Warping can come from other stuff, but cold oil for sure can do it. What's the coldest you've run your oil without issues?