There's a cumulus cloud over Mt. Tabor that I drove past a hundred times without ever really looking at it. Then my kid pointed out it had a bear shape and now that's all I see when I'm stuck in traffic on Belmont. I used to roll my eyes at the whole naming shapes in clouds thing, figured it was just something people did to pass time. Turns out once your brain locks onto a shape it just stays there, and you can't shut it off no matter how hard you try. So yeah, your neighbor isn't crazy, she just rewired your brain for free.

Man, always get that unit number in writing before you pay a cent.

Tbh I used to roll my eyes at people complaining about reading on the beach. I was like just bring a paperback and enjoy the sun, how hard can it be? Then I tried to tackle "Gravity's Rainbow" on a trip to the Outer Banks last summer and yeah, that changed my mind completely. The sand gets in everything, the pages get all wavy from the humidity, and you end up squinting so bad you get a headache. Plus you're constantly flipping pages back to check notes and then a wave splashes your towel and you lose your spot. It's not relaxing at all, it's like fighting with the book the whole time.