Yeah did you try explaining the dutchman joint to them? I once messed up a stair tread by 3/4 inch on a walnut staircase and ended up inlaying a strip of purpleheart to make it work. The homeowner thought it was a design choice and asked if I could do it to the other stairs too. I told them the truth but they insisted anyway so now there's this random colorful staircase that gets compliments all the time. Made me realize sometimes the goofs turn into the best features if you lean into them.

Wait, a PARROT learned to do THAT?!

Gotta push back on this one. Those 4 hours weren't wasted at all. You caught a potential issue and dug into it until you proved it was fine. Way better than skipping it and having a reader tear apart your story later because you missed something real. Plot holes are like termites man, you gotta check every board even if most of them are clean.