I manually spread the paste fairly evenly, with a relatively thin layer, then I kind of pushed some in off the edge and put it down way better this time, that clamp bracket loosened up some, so it wasn't a pita to snap the ring in that I tighten down. I didn't take a pic of the paste because I wanted to get it on there before it started setting. I'm looking at the CPU and cooler with a dentist-like mirror thing. There's a hair of paste that squeezed out, but it's just stuck to the copper of the cooler, not dripping down the sides or anything. Kind of like if you squeezed a cheese sandwich, the paste just barely popped out a hair, but no drooping. I'll see if I can take a pic, it's tight down there, like she said.