It seems some Cessna 150 owners have been finding cracks in the
vertical tail attach bracket.

It seems the FAA thinks the same thing, since they issued an Airworthiness
Directive in 1980 for that same problem. See AD 80-11-04.

I do wonder if we are mis-understanding each other. The inspection i'm
trying to describe was according to the A&P an optional inspection, and
a new one. He's normally on the ball.

Several repetitive AD inspections checked
New oil and filter

Had nothing to do with the annual INSPECTION.

Spark plugs cleaned and gapped

Had nothing to do with the annual INSPECTION.

Yes, technically you are right. However, almost everyone describes the
inspection and the repair as "the annual". And this is a useful bit of
speach. And you've already made this point several times over the
years. And if you really want to be technical, I didn't say "annual
inspection" I just said "annual". But I think you are being picky for
no reason.