The part about them banning trading after your first win really gets me, because that is such a classic move. I went through something close to this with my old Risk crew years back. I won one game after losing something like seven in a row, and suddenly the guy who hosted started saying the dice were cursed and he needed a break from the game. We never played again. It stings more than the losing did, honestly, because you figure out the game was never the point for them. Dave not answering your texts says a lot about him, not about Hacan. Give it a couple weeks and see if he cools off, but if he doesn't, that is his problem to sit with.

What'd you actually pay for that thing?

Man this hits home. Had a guy named Dale do the same thing for me on a water tube job about six years back, eight weeks and I was running my own stinger. He told me the books teach you the code but the job teaches you the work, and that stuck with me. We pulled 40 some welds and passed x ray first try while a couple apprentice guys were still practicing on scrap. The four year thing feels less like safety and more like a gate some folks want kept shut. Not saying school is useless but acting like its the only door in is straight up wrong.