Honestly, the game changer for me was trying to cut a recipe in half. Doing that with cups is a total messy guess, but with a scale you just divide the grams. It saved a huge batch of waffle batter for me last week when I realized I only had half the buttermilk.

Did you use the kind meant for metal? I made that mistake on a garden gate once and it bubbled up in two days. Primer is the only thing that sticks to outdoor metal for real, it bites into the surface. Without it, any moisture or heat just lifts the paint right off. Now I have to scrape all that gunk off and start over, which is the worst part. A lesson you only need to learn once.