Hello Kitty!
Welcome to the forum where wallets go to die
I feel you on the introduction point, I feel like I haven’t really engaged in forums actively for over a decade up until fairly recently. It’s a lovely bunch of people here though, so worry not!
Let me be the first to say that it is indeed near impossible (so chalk me up as one of your three voices on that) but it’s quite a fun journey finding that out, especially if you’re creative and like getting your hands dirty. I’ve gone through a fair number in just the last two years alone, from standard, to very small, to ortholinear, to split, and all the way back again. Once you get an idea of what you like, you’ll always be keeping your eye open and that’s half the fun. It helps that the community has a very active aftermarket too, hehe.
Rest assured, nobody will be telling you to go back to a Dell membrane.
To respond to your p.s - yes, the verification goes away after a number of posts, I believe, not very many at that.