I use my truck about the same as you. But get 13mpg towing, and 18 not.
1995 Ford 250 PSD.
It's not comfortable, it's not fast, it's not fancy. But it'll pull whatever I put behind it. Carry almost anything I will ever need to (definitely more than I want to physically unload), and it's economical, and "future proof" in that I can modify in almost any way and still register without new diesel problems (high pressure pumps eating the entire system, def fluid and filter plugging, egr cooler plugging etc.)
Personally I'd say get an older diesel that is in ok shape that you can make what you need.
Hmmm. While that would technically stop Russia from needing the troops in Ukraine, I don't think that just giving a dictator sections of land because he claimed them is a good path.
"Just give up when I take your shit" is a shit take.
Is it ok to be cautious? Yes!
But mostly when you want to setup your own system and record or monitor your own premises. In which case you can select systems or cameras that have features and functionality, as well as connectivity, in ways you decide.
You want to use the ring app to be notified someone is at your door? You're gonna have to give their system access to the video.
But, you can also setup your own system without ring, and use self hosted tools to do essentially the same thing.
As for being cautious that cameras on the street are tracking you? Hard to really do anything about that (even though the effort required would be prohibitively immense to track an individual through all the various systems).
Yeah, make them out of metal, that rolls on metal roads.
And those metal tires can carry a ton more weight, so put a lot of people in them who are going the same way.
I store in home Depot containers with desiccant in the bottom.
And have another modified to print from. (Printed spool holder with bearings, reverse Bowden through container side)
It really didn't change my workflow, just where to get the spools to load, and where to load them.