What's the actual job you're doing with them?

Yeah I've been doing something like that too, @barbara_grant. My bamboo skewer is always in the pot now, it really does help you water just right.

But isn't a messy draft just part of the process anyway?

Yeah that confusion is so real, I've totally been there staring at a dark rock for way too long. I get what @seanh91 is saying about different tools giving different info, but for me, I need that one reliable scratch test to even start figuring it out, you know? Otherwise my brain just spins in circles. The streak plate thing is a game changer, even a broken piece of ceramic from an old mug works in a pinch. It just makes the whole process less of a guess.

Seeing that always hits home, workers just gulping down food by a metro entrance. It really does feel like they're grabbing those few minutes wherever they can, like Keith said. You spot the same rushed energy in any packed city, honestly.