That butter block shattering is just life telling you to take a break.

I cleaned a church in the fall that had a similar buildup, but I found out the pastor had a wood-burning furnace in the basement connected to the same flue. That mix of creosote from the furnace smoke and the candle soot made it way worse than just old soot alone. Might be worth asking if they've got any extra heat sources tied in next time, just a heads up.

Yeah absolutely I had the exact same thing happen to me last year. I was just checking my spreadsheet for the hell of it and saw I had closed on 152 residential units total. I didn't even realize I had crossed that line until I saw the number. It felt weird because each one was just its own deal with its own problems and victories and then suddenly they all added up to something bigger than I expected. Made me think about all the late nights and the showings and the negotiations that went into that pile of paperwork. Kind of a strange feeling honestly like you just look back and go oh I actually did something here.