Isn't it funny how everything just freezes in time till we open it again?

Took me a week to adjust to taller right stick only, same split setup.

Growing up around old houses, my dad always said the only real fix was to pull the boards and screw everything down from underneath. I believed that for years, and I even argued with a buddy about it once. Then my own stairs started that awful 5am racket and I was not about to rip up a finished staircase. Squeezing caulk in the gaps sounded like a hack to me at first, honestly. Turns out the squeak is just wood rubbing against wood or nails, and filling those gaps stops the movement cold. Mine have been quiet for months now, so yeah, I was wrong and you were right.