#2 made me cackle, for which I thank you. And apropos of #15, I have now read in more than one place descriptions of how people in uncertain/precarious situations manage (with specific reference to present-day Kabulis and to POWs during the Vietnam war), and the tl;dr seems to be that it's very damaging to expect freedom or safety to come at a date certain, because that only invites repeated disappointment and thus dispiritedness; and also that one doesn't plan for or attempt to look far into the future, because the future is, well, an abyss, and (iirc, a Kabuli was quoted as saying) "when I look into the future, that's when I panic."

Obviously for those of us safely in the middle classes and up (I'm making an assumption here about you) the situation is far less dire, but I think some of the psychology still applies. Or, at least, when I try to look too far into the future I panic, too, so I think it's probably a good idea to manage a little at a time.