Funny how a plastic bag from a gas station rack can beat a jacket that costs more than my car payment. Sounds like your buddy paid extra for the privilege of getting wet from the inside out. Six hours is way more than luck though, that thing earned its keep. Guess the trail doesn't care what the price tag says, just whether it holds water or not.

Wait, 3 layers in the same pan? That's the real issue here, not the flour. The bottom layers never get heat through that much batter, so the middle stays raw and caves no matter how you measure. Do them one at a time and they'll rise every time.

Seen this same thing with people buying used trucks instead of leasing new ones, or growing their own veggies instead of hitting the store. Everyone acts like it's dumb until the numbers actually work out for you. The pressure to go cloud comes from companies that make money when you rent instead of own. If your setup handles invoices fine after six months, that's not luck, that's proof. The only real regret I ever hear about with local stuff is when people cheap out on backups and lose everything, so just make sure you've got that covered and you're golden.