I wouldn't say the AC experience itself made me better at my job, it's more like a lifetime of acquiring "random" experiences have made me overall much more cap

I wouldn't say the AC experience itself made me better at my job, it's more like a lifetime of acquiring "random" experiences have made me overall much more capable than I'd be otherwise, and some of that helps with work. Tackling the AC is just an example of that class of thing. But I do think back to this specific experience often when I need a reminder that "I can probably figure this out" when I am confronted with something unusual. I do have to say that I have a tendency to chase shiny objects and it's important to keep that in check. EG if I ended up spending a year on the AC it wouldn't have been worth it - there's a line somewhere. IDEALLY, we strategically select the discomfort we want to experience as being the specific discomfort that will grow us in the way we need to, rather than just swinging at a lot of different things as I sometimes tend to. And - I am really glad you enjoyed the tale and it reminded you about something you care about.