Before I retired, I was working 80-100 hours a week. So I've got several decades of getting very good at picking and choosing which things I enjoyed doing enough (or liked the outcome enough more) to spend my precious time. Bread - using a machine - yes. Bread by hand - no. Homegrown tomatoes, peppers, and herbs from a garden - yes!!! Homegrown broccoli or celery - yuck definitely not - way too many bugs and a stronger, less pleasant, taste. Chopping veggies for minestrone soup - definitely worth the time for a uniform cut (rather than a food processor). Cooking beans from dried beans - definite yes. You get the idea. If the mixing and kneading part of bread baking brought me joy, I'd invest my time there. But other things bring me more joy, so I choose to spend my time on my garden, for example.
But I've got the same decades-long recognition of when the dough is right (both from hand-baking back before I switched to bread machines, and from bread machines since then). That's why this experience is so odd.
Also before I retired, I'd take the (old) bread machine to school with me and throw a loaf in before I started a study session with my students, and by the time we were done we had hot fresh bread to enjoy. Since they were studying for the bar exam nearly 24/7, and living off the vending machines, that was a pretty good trade-off to get some wholesome food in them at not much personal investment of time.
And, aside from anything else, right now I don't have an oven. Or a counter. Or a stove.
Most of my kitchen is in boxes in the basement or on a shelf in the family room. . . . and I'm trying to bake a bunch of loaves to sell at the local farmer's market.
It's amazing how few stand-alone appliances I need to prepare decent home-cooked food. Right now I've got the bread machine, an instant pot (soups, "roasts," veggies, yogurt, fresh mozarella cheese, egg bites, cooking beans), a food processor (hummus), and an electric skillet, an outdoor grill for meats and grilled veggies
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