Dont blame the heat gun too hard. Most of those have a trigger lock or a variable dial that can shift in a bag, but 300ft of pull means you probably had the jacket scraped up before the heat even got there. The real fix is checking the temp with a scrap piece of cable first, takes ten seconds and saves you a whole re-pull. And always carry a spare connector kit, cause once you melt the jacket theres no saving that run.

That neighbor laughing every Saturday is what gets me. How long did they just stand there watching you hang clothes before someone said something? I mean, I get not wanting to be nosy, but eight years of silent judging from the window seems like its own weird hobby. Did your roommate ever ask the neighbor why they never just yelled over the fence? Seems like a lot of people knew about this but nobody thought to give you a heads up until it became a running joke.

Kinda disagree with you there, and here's why. Sounds are the detail that separates a good mechanic from a parts changer, at least in my experience. I had a Nissan that made this faint whine only on cold mornings, and if I'd just said "it started after I drove through a flood," they'd have never checked the alternator bearing. The sound told them exactly what was wearing out, the timing just told them to look. That pothole thing is useful context for sure, but honestly, most people can't tell you the exact day a noise started, let alone what they were doing. You gave them a better clue than most customers do, even if it took a few extra trips to figure out.