Interest rates seem slightly correlated with spending sentiment, but I have mostly just seen folks reigning in excessive project spending and trying to manage project cash flow a little more aggressively. Might depend on the subset of mfg you are involved with.

Sesame oil in ramen definitely takes it to the next level. Another fun addition is liquid dashi concentrate, which lends a nice deep umami flavor.

The other umami adder that’s worth playing with is fish sauce. I find that as it cooks it loses its aroma, making it easy to use in a wide variety of recipes.

OpenWRT is good option another that could be worth looking into might be Vyos. As far as I can tell the big issues in this space is comprehensive hardware support.