The only insider joke I'm interested in is "the new version of Electrum is working perfectly and safe for everyone to download".

Wait... is that a joke? 

I'm hoping it's not a joke, this upgrade has gone on far too long and I'm getting somewhat bored looking at the arcana on this thread.

Best of luck with the upgrade though, I'll check back in to see if 1.9.4 is actually gonna fly or whether people looking for a best-of-breed straightforward wallet like Electrum 1.8.1 are still expected to become involved in its development and testing.