This became particularly noticeable once I moved to teaching online. Whether in calls or in Zoom meetings, I became quite conscious of how much noise my chair might be making. I tried to be careful about not leaning back unless I knew that I was muted.
Today, with my mother's insistence on my using, and my wife's help in finding, 3-in-1 oil, I decided to take action. It was a surprisingly simple and clean process. Now, I can finally lean back without any concern of disruption.
The thing is ... it feels like something is missing now. It's interesting how the absence of something, even an annoyance, can draw attention to itself. I'm not saying that I miss the squeak, but that it feels strange to subconsciously expect something to happen and then have that expectation unfulfilled.
It's kind of like ...