Right there with you man, some people just don't get the craft till they see it done right.

Don't you just love how those tiny measurement issues seem personal sometimes? I had a similar thing with a kitchen island I was installing, where the drawer front was rubbing on one side because the whole thing was like a hair out of square. Ended up shimming it with a piece of a business card at 11pm on a Tuesday (that's a good look).

Gotta be honest, I used to be the guy grabbing the cheapest option every time. Thought I was being smart with my money. Then I bought a cheap pair of headphones that died in three months, and a bargain blender that couldn't crush ice. The headphones were $15 so I went through four pairs in a year, spending way more than if I'd just bought one decent set. Have you had a cheap purchase that ended up costing more in the long run?

Yeah @felix_hayes64 I used to think you gotta have perfect setup but that story changed my mind.

The real kicker is how these expensive gadgets basically become useless once your plant is rootbound, too. @grace_wright touched on the sensor tech being basic, but nobody's talking about how if the roots fill the pot completely, the probe can't get a good read because there's no soil contact anymore - just air pockets between roots. I had a moisture meter give me totally dry readings for weeks on a snake plant that was clearly doing fine, turned out it was just smashed against the side of the pot with no dirt touching the sensor. The finger test at least lets you feel if the pot feels light and if there's actual moisture deeper down past the roots, which is way more useful than a blinking light pretending to be science.