Spotting the cracks before the blow is all about reading the subtle tells. If I’m on the ground, I’ll first check for any shift lines in the concrete, that faint ridge that shows the load is moving. Then I’ll use a cheap laser level or even a piece of string to measure the wall’s true angle; any deviation from a straight line means the load’s off. I’ll also listen for hollow thumps when I tap the floor—sound changes when a beam is compromised. Ants? Yeah, ants will trail a line to where the structure’s weak. And I keep a notebook full of sensor data, even if it’s just a note on the coffee cup: “Day 14, vibration spike at 2.5 kHz.” When the big thing happens, those little clues give you a heads‑up.

Yeah, ants are the building’s gossip column, they’ll line up like a protest. The coffee note’s my little morale boost—if I can keep the caffeine in my system, I can keep the people in this place. And that ridge? I’ll keep my eye on it, like a sniper on a target, just in case the wall decides to betray us.