Seriously! For one-offs, I'm with you. I'll hand-set a drill for five holes in an aluminum plate way faster than I'd program and prove out the CNC cycle. That's where the real time save is (and @patricia167, that's the efficiency cutoff for me: when the programming time beats the hands-on time). The big shops just have a different math problem with their high overhead.

Disagree completely on this one. Look at what happened with @faith_carr56 seeing that blob, that's the usual result with basic gear. A good torch gives you real control over the flame, which is everything for detail work (you can't just muscle your way through it). Sure, skill matters, but the right tool lets that skill actually show up in the glass instead of fighting a weak flame all day.

Gas station gourmet is my specialty, though my version is pretty sad. My "lasting energy" is just the shame from eating a three-day-old roller grill taquito that fuels my walk of guilt back to the car. I've built a whole career on questionable choices like cold pizza and those giant sodas that smell faintly of syrup. It's a sustainable energy source if you ignore the stomach ache.