Hold on, are we sure this is as bad as all that? I mean, drywall screws are pretty flimsy in my experience, but 12 boards popping up in 8 months seems a bit much unless you really cheaped out on the gauge or something. Could it be that the wood was wet or you didn't pre-drill enough? Not saying your neighbor was right, just wondering if maybe it's not the end of the world like everyone's making it out to be.

Think my sewing style is basically "hoping the safety pins hold until the cat jumps on it." That lady giving you a 20 minute demo next to the quilting fabric is a true hero though, most people just give you a dirty look for blocking the aisle. I'd trust a random fabric stranger over half the YouTube tutorials out there.

I watched a video from a pro chef on YouTube talking about the same thing. He said most home cooks ruin their knives by going too steep with the angle. I switched my Wusthof to a 20 degree guide and it made a huge difference. My old technique had me at like 25 degrees maybe and the edge would chip after a few weeks. Now it stays sharp way longer and I don't have to re-sharpen every month. The guide really does take the guesswork out.

Isn't starting slow better than jumping straight into the action?

Did you ever find out later if that iodine was old or anything? I had a similar thing happen over by Agnew Meadows, my buddy's filter cracked and we ended up sharing a single pack of purification tabs with a couple from France. @juliashah's right about the cheap filters, I watched a guy's knockoff explode when he tried to backflush it on the trail. That couple saved our trip but my buddy still jokes about the funky mineral taste.