Man that 7am panic is so real, I have been there with a batch of cupcakes that came out flat as pancakes and I wanted to cry. It is such a gut punch when you put in all that work and the scratch version just will not cooperate. The fact that you saved it with two boxes and a couple of tweaks is honestly a win, not a loss. I have had the same thing happen where the boxed stuff with a little extra love beat out the fancy recipe every time. People just want cake that tastes good, they do not care where it came from. Scratch baking has its place but it is not some moral test, and anyone who acts like it is has never had a bake sale in six hours.

Heard on a podcast that epoxy's slower cure lets the wood relax into the joint.

Used to figure any hollow that size meant the tree was a goner and we should just take it down. Seeing one wall itself off like that with solid wood behind the callus changed how I look at old wounds, the tree basically built its own barrier and kept going. That owner was smart to get a second opinion before letting someone cut it.