Yeah, the romance is totally gone now. I miss getting that special rust patina from a bumper, or the mystery alloy that turned into a glittery mess when I tried to weld it. Now I just click a button and perfect metal shows up. It's so boring and reliable, it feels like cheating. The forklift driver at the yard never judged my project ideas, but my internet history absolutely does.
You think the forklift driver didn't judge? That guy had an opinion on every piece of metal I pulled out. He'd just shake his head and mutter about my life choices while loading it. The mystery was fun until you wasted a whole weekend on a chunk of something that cracked as soon as you looked at it wrong. I'll take boring and reliable for actually finishing a project.