That older tech's comment about multimeter leads stuck with me all week
Was on a shared job site in Cleveland last Friday fixing a walk-in freezer unit. This old timer, probably 25 years in the trade, watched me swap out a defrost timer without checking resistance first. He just said, "you're trusting the part, not the problem." Didn't mean to be rude, just a fact. And he was right, I've been burned by brand new parts DOA at least 3 times this year. Now I test everything before I bolt it back in, even if it takes an extra 10 minutes. Anyone else got a habit they picked up from watching another tech work?