what a small world! i did the port bend thing after the issues first popped up, but eventually that stopped working as well.

interestingly, when i try to charge from right / thunderbolt port, it doesn't seem to work / the led doesn't turn on, and I saw another post with a thunderbolt flash guide that i might look into. thanks to you and everyone else who commented, i think i have a new sidequest to end the weekend with : )