That Beckett quote is defeatist.
This evening’s tinkering session is going to involve yours truly double-checking a breadboarded circuit I assembled last week, to assure myself that it correctly replicates a circuit included in a datasheet for an EOLed Hall effect sensor and then, if no boneheaded mistakes in my handiwork leap out at me, substituting one of the 2N3638As shown above for the less-outmoded PNP transistor that I tried using, unsuccessfully, while waiting for the 2N3638As to arrive.
Which Beckett quote? This Beckett quote.