Two years is wild, but honestly the deposit part bugs me more than the wait. He took your 40 bucks, never called, never touched the thing, and only fessed up when you ran into him by chance. That's not a parts problem, that's a guy who doesn't want to admit he's drowning in other people's stuff. And you fixing it in 20 minutes with a flathead pretty much proves the "too hard to source" line was garbage. I'd go ask for that deposit back and maybe peek at the back room while you're at it, because I bet there's a whole shelf of cameras with names on tags collecting dust.

Heard a podcast last year where a guy said the 15 laughs number is kind of a myth, like nobody really knows where it came from, but the point still holds that adults laugh way less than kids. Made me pay attention to my own day and man, some days I might hit three. What works for me is old sitcom bloopers on my phone while I do dishes (the outtake reels where the actors keep breaking). Something about watching other people lose it makes me lose it too. Cheap fix and it beats another quiet night on the couch.