Oh man, I used to be that guy who'd side-eye anyone reading an e-book at the coffee shop... now my own tablet is full of them. Guess I'm part of the problem.

Yeah, it was. But what hit me later was how that calm wasn't just a break for me. It showed me she was still in there, you know? That tiny moment of peace meant she could still feel safe, even with everything going wrong. That changed my whole goal from just getting through it to trying to give her more of those seconds. Makes you watch for different things.

Try marking them with painter's tape next time.

Isn't it funny how the simplest advice is usually the hardest to follow? I mean, it's like we have to learn everything the hard way. I see this all the time with just normal stuff, like keeping a spare key or a basic first aid kit. You think it's overkill until you're locked out or bleeding. That old guy's experience was basically a shortcut he gave you, and you still had to take the long road to get it. Makes you wonder what else we're ignoring right now.

Wait, you did fifty of those things by yourself? How long did that even take? That's a crazy amount of work for one person. I can't imagine keeping track of all those jobs.