I read something similar on Reddit where the whole course was just recruiting.

Read something similar on a tech forum about builders hiding conduit under concrete slabs.

Man that "split-second panic where your brain just blanks" hits hard. I had something similar happen on a job in Utah back in 2019 where I was helping with a trench near an old cliff dwelling and a big rock shifted above me. My mind went totally empty for like two or three seconds before I dove sideways. I think it's that weird survival mode where your body knows what to do but your brain has to catch up first. It's like the panic signal gets sent but the "run" command has to download first or something. Getting that frozen feeling is scary but it's also proof your instincts are working even if your conscious brain is lagging.

You ever have a dive helmet that felt like it was trying to drown you just for fun? That was my old Desco brass hat. I swear it had a grudge. Switched to a KM 17 two years back and suddenly I could hear the surface crew without them yelling through a tin can and a string. The first time I used it I actually finished my inspection an hour early and just floated there feeling like I was cheating.

Man that sweat sponge thing is exactly what happened to me with a memory foam pad I got off Amazon. Three days in and it smelled like a damp locker room. I ended up switching to a wooden one from Etsy, cost me like 30 bucks but no sweat at all. Your buddy with the cutting board sounds like a genius though, I might have to try that with an old cheese board I have lying around. Sometimes the janky solutions are the best ones.