Alright, this sounds good - officially interested in joining a MP game!
I've messed around for like 15 minutes, but the UI makes it difficult to learn. I think I'll have to hunt down some Let's Plays or something to cover the basics - anyone have any suggested resources/streamers/etc?
I agree that starting post-holidays is probably wise, and 24 hours a turn seems reasonable.
The game's starting menu has a selection for, I believe "Tools and Manuals" that should take you a series of informative youtube videos. You can also get to an interesting, informative, and gigantic manual as a PDF somehow, but I can't remember how to right now
It always amazes me how often people on forums would rather accuse you of misreading their posts with malice than re-explain their ideas with clarity.