That's brutal, man. I had a 10-foot piece of 3/4 inch do the exact same thing last month. It just folded right in the middle with a loud crack. The worst part was I was almost at the top of the stairs, so it made a huge mess. Sheetrock is way more fragile than it looks when you're carrying it long ways. I ended up having to go buy a whole new sheet, which was a real pain.

How many of us have a lens like that? I bought a 50mm prime for portraits and used it maybe three times. It just sits in my bag now.

Maybe he was just trying to get it to the judges on time. A perfect rest doesn't matter if you miss your turn in. Sometimes you just have to slice and serve.

Man, that sounds like a rough day. I've been there with a stuck race on an old blower motor shaft. Did you try a three-jaw puller with some heat on the race itself? Just a propane torch, get it good and hot, then crank the puller. Sometimes a few sharp taps with a hammer on the puller screw as you add pressure can shock it loose. If that doesn't work, carefully splitting the race with a chisel is the last resort.

Wait, is that actually how it works for everyone though? I raised mine once and just got a bunch of ghosting lol. Feels like a gamble that only pays off if you're already established.