The IDC cable backwards SNAFU reminded me of my design mistake while making my first (and so far only) PCB. At the PCB layout stage, for some stupid reason I convinced myself that I have to translate the pinout on my PCB in relation to the LCD module's pinout, essentially making a mirrored image. As if the LCD was to be connected by straight-through pins instead of a 1-to-1 IDC ribbon I intended all along. The result: magic smoke from the LCD upon first power-on, some two-week wait for the new LCD breakout from Adafruit and undoing of my "clever pinout translation" via swapping of each wire pair and soldering them directly (instead of using IDC connector) at the breakout board side.