Did I ever admit that I used to judge fans until I realized I was being a snob?

For slabs bigger than a basketball court, power trowels cut finish time from days to hours. @sarah_fox33 has a point about reducing risk when the clock is ticking. @uma_martinez's Oaxaca method works for small scale, but try that on a high-rise foundation. Workers' safety and schedule demands make machines non-negotiable.

Totally get what you mean about "working smarter could beat working longer"! I was the same way for years, always the last one out the door trying to prove something. It took my own burnout to realize that the long hours were just making me slow and tired. Now I focus hard during the day and shut it off at a normal time, and honestly my work has never been better. It's a game changer for sure.

Yikes, that's a rough way to learn. Honestly, everyone talks about the physical part, lining up the stick, but nobody mentions the overconfidence. You see a video and think "that looks easy," so you stop treating it like a delicate part. It's the cheapest part to buy so you get careless, and that always gets me. The real cost isn't the RAM, it's forgetting that patience is a tool too.