*** LOCK THIS THREAD*** if that’s the sort of thing that’s done here.
So, long story short, I am an idiot.
Short story long, apparently I had accidentally clicked a button I did not know existed, one in the top-left of the timeline which “enables or disables previews.”
So, although I got no editing done for several hours, I *did* clean the bejeesus out of my computer.
Alex, thanks for the help.