Pro tip: my first solo job in Omaha in 2011, I laid 300 bricks out of level because I trusted a wall that had been painted | Bricklayers - The Community Guide
Did that wall ever get fixed or did you just have to eat the cost on that job? I cant even picture trusting a painted wall for level, that sounds like a total nightmare. I mean everyone has that one job where something you trusted screwed you over. I poured a small patio once off a string line that a buddy "set" and it was off by almost two inches across the whole thing. You just learn to double check everything after that, even stuff that looks fine.