Oh man, the library coffee reward is genius. It's wild how the smallest ritual can trick your brain into doing the stuff you hate. I've been in that same boat where one person leaves and suddenly the whole system collapses. It makes you realize how much of our motivation is just social pressure dressed up as responsibility.

Bought a used Bosch off Craigslist and tested both ways for a month - scrape only worked better but only if I ran the hot water in the sink before starting the cycle.

Stake the edges on an angle and use a rope line between two trees for extra support.

Wait, you're telling me the flag was actually waving?

Used a wet burlap method on a 40x30 shop floor in Phoenix last summer. Covered it with wet burlap and plastic, kept the burlap damp for 7 days. That floor is solid as a rock with zero cracks three years later. The constant moisture made a huge difference in the surface hardness too.