Try using them for reheating pizza instead.

My buddy's last order from them was a total brick too.

Man, I wonder if the guy actually wanted to play or just wanted the hangout. Some people show up for the social time and the snacks, and the game is just the excuse. After three sessions of Gloomhaven, not getting initiative is like not knowing where the brake pedal is in a carpool. It shows he wasn't even trying to engage with the main activity. Maybe he'd be happier just meeting for beers instead.

Last year I had a prompt about "a locked door" that just stalled me out. I spent a week trying to describe the door itself and got nowhere. Then I flipped it to write from the perspective of the key that was thrown away years ago, and the whole thing clicked. That shift from object to history is what made it work for me.

Ever think about how that hammer holds the memory of his hands? Like the handle is worn smooth exactly where his grip was. It remembers the angle he hit nails at, the force he used. That's a physical record of his work no photo could ever really show.