“Spending even an hour to decide if I should remove a 10 row table whose purpose is unclear doesn’t seem like a good use of time.”

How does that compare with...

Seems to me that a user should have access with minimum privileges through standard login, and a separate unique account with elevated privileges.  No one should share an account, unless...

I also strongly disagree. Most plumbers and electricians go through a lengthy training period, whether formal education, formal apprenticeship, or just by starting as a gofer.

I've worked with some...

I'm a developer - not qualified as even Junior DBA, though I have to pretend once in a while. 🙂

As a developer though, I used to make temporary backups...

I like the idea of a pre-chapter quiz, to help identify what I can skip and what I should concentrate on.

I also like the idea of integration with desktop apps...

I was having the same issue with DBs on a SQL Server 2005 instance - but the DBs had been imported from an older instance and set to Compatibility 80...