Man that story hits close to home. I had a list comprehension with a nested conditional that I was pretty proud of, showed it to a coworker and he just stared at it for like 20 seconds and asked what it even did. That stung but he was right. Now I write the boring loop version first and honestly future me reads it way faster at 2am when something breaks. Splitting things into small steps isn't selling out, it's just being kind to whoever has to read it next, including yourself. Clever code feels good for about five minutes, then it just turns into a puzzle nobody wants to solve.

Ouch, that ceiling drip is the worst. Been there.

Is opening the door really the whole reason though? I mean sure you lose some heat but a quick peek takes like two seconds, that alone shouldn't turn a loaf into a brick. What probably helped more is that you finally left it alone for the full 35 minutes instead of yanking it out early every time, because underbaked bread is dense bread plain and simple. The 15 degree oven thing is a real factor too, so your "fix" might just be that you stopped messing with it long enough to let it finish.