Yes, just add "--failover-only" to your command line arguments.

Why "ride it out"?  I'm assuming you have historical stats to compare.  Just create a new address and switch, then compare results after a few days.

And yes, I am closer to uswest...

Pinging uswest.middlecoin.com [54.214.242.184] with
Reply from 54.214.242.184: bytes=32 time=45ms TTL=47
Reply from 54.214.242.184: bytes=32 time=46ms TTL=47
Reply from 54.214.242.184: bytes=32 time=46ms TTL=47
Reply from 54.214.242.184: bytes=32 time=45ms TTL=47

Pinging useast.middlecoin.com [54.197.251.210] with
Reply from 54.197.251.210: bytes=32 time=98ms TTL=42
Reply from 54.197.251.210: bytes=32 time=61ms TTL=42
Reply from 54.197.251.210: bytes=32 time=64ms TTL=42
Reply from 54.197.251.210: bytes=32 time=61ms TTL=42