There is a lot to be learned from the people who came before you.
My long-gone friend and mentor “Professor” Fremont Lobbestael of Ann Arbor, Michigan once told me about how things were when he first got started.
“Back then, the plumbers used to fix leaks in old radiators by tamping lead wool into the holes,” he said. “Lead wool was better than steel wool because it’s not brittle. It packs and it stays put,”