It's the ultimate rite of passage for new builders. You watch their whole reality shift when they measure that first stud. The nominal size versus actual size thing trips up everyone at the start.

Totally, I had the same shock at an airport once.

Totally agree, that mix is magic. I had a post so stuck I thought the frame was a loss. I used a ton of that stuff, let it soak over a weekend, and then put the whole frame in a bench vise. I whacked the post with a mallet and a block of wood for what felt like forever. When it finally spun, I almost dropped the frame.