I like to stay within 30 mins from home but know I need to branch out. 

The supply and return plenums will likely need to be re-worked however if you can use the supply branches to the actual spaces, you could conceivably save a ton of money there. 

Inside the bulk of the tower opening up out the top was a German seat swing (the type that your seat is attached via a chain and it spins, raising you up). 

Yup go to a local credit union or community bank.. a bank that is say less than 3 billion.. and preferably ones that are like 500 million..their charters are written to serve the immediate community... forget large national or semi national.. and be very leery of broker chains and those that promise things and want ANY up front money.

She moved to the U.S. 2 years ago and brought a branch of her company here.

We try to stick to the Carl Albert school district but recently branched out and have not had any issues. 

On another topic, I'm finding it hard to weed through the wholesale chain to get to the bottom asking price...

Possibly a chain drugstore like a CVS but that’d be about it.

Every month I carry cash to my bank branch to pay down the balance of my mortgage, I've been doing it in the last 6 months, because I happened to have cash.I know if I do the same thing to my checking account, it could be flagged to the IRS as "structuring" or "smurfing", but does that apply to mortgage too?

I've even had a lender approve refinances on rentals in a business name (after another branch of the same lender said "we'll only do commercial rates with business ownership"), at residential rates.