I totally agree. I found that I had a complicated and detailed need at one point and jumped into JS for that. Once you are comfortable with 1, then getting equally proficient in the other feels like learning a second language unnecessarily. I respect people that try to stick with standard nodes (NR is a visual programming environment after all), but once I mastered the function node with JS hammer, I saw a lot of nails that it could care for. 
temp edit: I think I have a good solution, and will post it once I verify that it does what I want.
Shared solution at: https://community.hubitat.com/t/node-red-flow-samples-sharing/45207/573
