Ha, I spent years chasing half a degree too, so I feel that pain. I run 1:8 mostly but honestly the wood probably doesn't care which one I pick.

That line about the soft pad getting it flat in half the time is what gets me, cause flat and straight aren't always the same thing on a curved panel. I still hit the long boards by hand for final blocking but I'll rough it in with the DA first now, saves my shoulders for the stuff that actually matters.

Man this hits home so hard. I moved 800 miles for a 12k bump two years ago and I'm still not right. My old crew used to grab beers every Thursday and now my "friends" are guys I nod at in the elevator. My kid asks when we're going back to see grandma and I gotta change the subject every time. That money gets eaten up by flights home and takeout because nobody's around to watch the kids on date night. You're not crazy for looking at listings back home, you're just doing the math nobody else did.