Watching people start keeping records instead of the thing itself is a pattern I keep running into everywhere now. My neighbor takes photos of her receipt before she mails the rebate form, my brother screenshots his work emails before he replies to them, and my aunt prints out her bank statements every month even though she could just look online. It's not hoarding, it's self defense. Somewhere along the way we all figured out that the proof matters more than the thing, because the thing can get taken away or twisted and the proof is what saves you. So no, you're not just old and scared, you're paying attention. It's a little sad that this is where we're at, but it beats a lawyer bill.

A mouse caused all that? Seriously?

Have you tried just letting it go and enjoying the ride? That's what worked for me with stuff like this. I used to get hung up on medical shows getting basic stuff wrong, and my wife finally told me to just pick one thing to laugh at and move on. So now I go in expecting the science to be junk and it stops bugging me so much. Your core thing sounds way more solid than my gripes though, so take that with a grain of salt.