That bit about the "huge traffic jam" near the miter station is exactly it. I mean, I see this everywhere now, like in my kitchen where I put the trash can in a spot that made me walk across the room ten times while cooking. It's like we're all blind to our own little blockages until something points them out.

That exact thing happened to my buddy at the auto shop last month, lost a whole set of socket heads into an oil drain. It feels like half the magnetic stuff sold now has a weak grip. I've started just using a heavy metal tray with a big lip, the kind you'd get at a restaurant supply store. It's not fancy but it doesn't go anywhere, and if it tips, everything stays in the bowl.

Wait, does that starchy goop mess with the texture too?

Yikes, that's terrifying! I read that copperheads love hiding in debris like that, so your new routine makes total sense.

Clone the drive first like you did, that's key. Ddrescue works fine for SSDs, but watch for trim issues. With HDDs, you get more warning before failure. SSDs just die fast, so imaging early saves your data. Lost a drive once because I waited too long.