Alright, well it looks like I will just abandon the TE blues altogether. I bought another TE with mx brown switches from my roommate because he bought three when they came out and now only uses one.
I really, really wanted to like the blue switches. I love the sound that they make, but something about their action and my typing habits hurts my pinkys. I've learned to type more lightly on these boards now, which also helps with the pinky problem, but ultimately, boring comfort must trump aural excitement
Also, those force diagrams make a lot more sense now that I have some experience to apply to them as well. The blue switches seem to take more force to actuate than the browns, and now I'd love to try some mx red switches now just to complete the great experiment
I also bought a Leopold tenkeyless with mx blues just to see if I would like a standard layout with mechanical switches as much as these TE boards, and the answer is a resounding no. I seem to be completely ruined by the stupid Home/End/PgUp/PgDn left hand "arrow" keys and bang on the space bar trying to hit end all of the time on standard layouts now.
All of that said, I'm wondering if the Kinesis Advantage would be a good next step for my apparent new keyboard addiction (nearing $1000 so far!?!?!). I am curious as I've seen these boards for a long time and people here seem to love them too. Anyone have an extra they would be willing to swap for a go with this TE with blues?