Wait, so, your hobby is rocket science?
Casual rocket science, but yes. I may be a newly minted computer programer by occupation, but at heart and education I'm an engineer. We like solving interesting problems, and if need be will invent new ones if existing problems are either lacking or boring.
Anyway, I think I've figured out why my brilliant I-can't-believe-no-one-has-thought-of-this solution isn't practical. Sure you can (in theory) make a 180° turn around a planet or Lagrange point, but when you're moving 30 km/s relative to the Sun, a likely 1km/s relative motion U-turn around the moon is small compared to both your sun-relative speed and the oberth effect potential at Earth itself.
I maybe sort of knew all this back when I first posted, but at the time watching my idea crash and burn I was stuck somewhere between denial and bargaining.