Oh! Half a day. Well, sheesh, impatient me. I guess it's just the nature of the beast. I thought something wasn't right with my system.
I've been saving to both jpg and hdr when i finish rendering, just 'cuz.

Thanks for that, MonkeyCloud... that really helped.

Monterey/Mint21.x/Win10 - Blender3.x - PP11.3(cm) - Musescore3.6.2

Wir sind gewohnt, daß die Menschen verhöhnen was sie nicht verstehen
[it is clear that humans have contempt for that which they do not understand] 

Metaphor of Chooks