My old apartment in Chicago had pipes that would sing every winter. I wrapped every exposed inch with that foam stuff from the hardware store. It didn't look pretty but it stopped the banging and kept the hot water hot longer. That was the only thing that got me through a few brutal winters there.

Thought hostels were fine... until my first video call dropped.

You said "reducing the overall risk," but a 60-ton hitting the building is a MUCH bigger risk than an extra hour of work.

Honestly, checking online fan ratings is the best move. Sites like MyAnimeList have separate scores for filler episodes, so you can see what people actually enjoyed. It saved me from skipping the One Piece G-8 arc, which is a total gem. Just look up the arc name and you'll find a consensus pretty fast.

Ugh that's the worst, when you skip a basic step and waste a ton of time. Feels like half of life's problems are from assuming instead of checking the simple thing first.