Did the old guy also make you sweep up sawdust for an hour before sharing that wisdom? Because that sounds exactly like the kind of lesson that comes with a side of unpaid labor. My uncle pulled the same move on me years ago with a crooked door frame, made me hold a level against it for twenty minutes while he drank his coffee and watched. By the time he finally spoke I was ready to just rip the whole wall out. But here's the thing, he was right, and I still trace old frames by hand before I even open a tape measure on my phone. Funny how the guys who never touched a computer are the ones who actually know how a house breathes.