vonB

If the rib has already been in contact too long, can it be rehydradet or is it "toast"?

If the burn mark to the left of the tailpiece is from the cigar the player smoked, the scratches might be from the player lighting the matches on the only area of the top with enough friction, due to the rosin buildup. The violin was probably played in a smoky saloon in the wild west and recieved stains of whiskey, chewing tobacco, knife fights and gunpowder.

What kind of tuning pegs are those? Friction pegs made out of stainless steel?

But that is in line with how it works inside EU now(at least partly as i understand it). If I order (from Sweden) bicycle parts from one of the big german e-shops, I pay swedish VAT to the german company which in turn pays it to the swedish tax office.

So what would you have prefered: Mass more distributed mostly along the perimeter? It seems so specific... Equal mass over the hole plate? It seems so specific...

Because if you do a good job in a large organization you become promoted. If you still does a good job in your new position you eventually become promoted again, until you land a position where you are unqualified or just to a bad job. There you stay until you quit or die, so an organization will slowly fill up with morons.