Smart move with the pencil first.

Omg yes! It's wild how a room being messy or the light being weird can tell you how a character feels without saying it. Makes you actually feel it with them.

I drove to a tiny fest in Boulder once where the sound system died halfway through. We all just ended up at a bar listening to someone's acoustic set.

My fridge from 2018 had me convinced it was dying last week... I saw a wet spot and immediately pictured a huge repair bill. Followed some online advice about the oily feel, but my hands were so clumsy I couldn't tell the difference. Ended up calling a friend over, and they just pointed at the condensation on the back... felt pretty silly for not noticing the humidity. Now I double-check everything twice before panicking... lesson learned, I guess.