Kissed together huh? Mine just blows the puddle out sideways. Hard pass.

Wait, 70% on a single card outweighed a spotless payment history? That's wild. I had no idea the algorithm could punish you that hard for something that feels so harmless. I get nervous even going near 40% now, let alone 70. Did you have to pay down the balance aggressively, or did you spread it across other cards first?

The squeak is the easy part to find. What nobody talks about is what that old grease does to the plastic gears inside the winding mechanism on these. If that tar sits too long it can actually crack the little nylon teeth, not just make noise. Those parts are getting impossible to find, so you are basically looking at a shelf queen or a parts camera. Caught mine early enough that a soak in naptha saved the gear. Waiting on a squeak is a gamble because by the time you hear it, the damage is already done to the plastic, not just the metal. Most folks only check the curtain and miss the real time bomb.