Welcome to the club Wiseowl.
One way to deal with the hotspot that even your wife will not object to is a cheap page magnifier like the Midi-sized one at www.magnifyingglasses.co.uk. This will even out the brighness on the ground glass and help you to compose without going mad bobbing your head about. Some people find the Fresnel grooves irritating when doing fine focus with a loupe, but if you hold the magnifier on with Blu-tak it's easy enough to remove when you want to fine-focus.
One way to deal with the hotspot that even your wife will not object to is a cheap page magnifier like the Midi-sized one at www.magnifyingglasses.co.uk. This will even out the brighness on the ground glass and help you to compose without going mad bobbing your head about. Some people find the Fresnel grooves irritating when doing fine focus with a loupe, but if you hold the magnifier on with Blu-tak it's easy enough to remove when you want to fine-focus.