The old baker on Delaney Street who told me my dough was too cold to proof

Back in 2019 I was working mornings at a small shop on Delaney Street and an old guy named Walt would come in every Tuesday for a seeded rye. One rainy morning in March he watched me shape loaves at the front bench and said, "Your dough is fighting you, son, it's too cold to rise right." He put his hand on the bowl and told me the dough should feel like the inside of your wrist, not a cold counter. He came back the next week with a beat up thermometer and showed me my water was running 14 degrees below where it should be. My loaves opened up like a different bread after that, and I still keep that cheap thermometer in my kit. Any of you ever get corrected by a regular and have it stick with you for years?