Grandma was right on this one, the second rise is where the texture actually comes from. Give it a full hour somewhere warm and you'll taste the difference right away.

I read a thread on a masonry board a while back where a guy said wider joints helped him correct drift on tall walls, same as you're saying. A 1/2 inch gives you more slack to nudge each course back to plumb before it sets, while 3/8 locks you in tighter with less room to fix. Old timers learned on a different brick and mortar than we use now, so a rule that worked then doesn't always hold up on today's jobs.

Did you see how sweaty that guy got by the end? I used to run my blades into the ground too until I spent a whole Saturday on one tiny hallway closet. Now I grab a fresh blade every couple rooms even if the old one still looks okay, it's just not worth the headache.