Oh man, this kind of thing is everywhere now, feels like every company treats a few bucks like you're laundering money. My grocery store self-checkout held up a $2.19 purchase for "manual review" last month, so it's not just Venmo.

The "suddenly it was 1am" part is way too real. My record is falling asleep mid-row and waking up with the needles still in my hands, so at least you actually finished something. Muscle memory is a funny thing though, because for me it only kicks in once I stop caring about the pattern and just let my hands do the work. Two months stuck at row 80 then hitting 200 in one night is honestly impressive, even if your sleep schedule disagrees.

Six months and it's already splitting is actually fast for oak. Around here you usually see the cracks show up in year two and that black staining is the giveaway, armillaria moving in through the open wound. The real killer though is the decay you cant see, the heartwood goes punky way before there's any external sign, and then one ice storm takes the whole crown off at the cut. That callback in 5 to 7 years isn't even the worst case, sometimes its the homeowner's insurance calling you after a limb lands on the roof.