Caught myself staring at a 7-tile rack for 3 minutes this morning

Woke up early, made coffee, opened my word list app. There it was: A E I N R S T. A bingo waiting to happen — 'RANITES' or 'STRAINE' if I'd just rearranged my brain. Instead I just stared, counting tiles, the way you do when you know the answer is there but your mouth won't say it. It took me three minutes to see 'RETAINS'. That's the game, isn't it? The same letters, the same mind, but some mornings the door just sticks.