>> so I LEARNED THE HARD WAY.
I think that's the best way to learn. Otherwise, we just copy each others habits, mistakes and good ideas blindly. When you can say "I tried it several ways and this was the best for me", then you LEARNED something.
And it might have been something that few other people knew, or that you tried for the very first time anywhere. When one person learns something NEW the HARD way, we ALL learn something new.
If it weren't for people learning new things the hard way 10,000 years ago, we would still be hunter-gatherers instead of gardeners. Hooray for the hard way!
