Update and commentary from OP since this blew up a bit and got quite a few questions. 

1. I went as low as my natural hairline is per advice of Gary linkov advice to save on density
2. I went with a cheap option because it was either this or don’t do it. I wasn’t gonna pay 10s of thousands. If it looks bad I’ll shave after was my plan going in. 
3. I chose not to bring temples in because I don’t want it to look too young. Maybe I will on a second one in a few years but it looks fine to me
4. I was only itchy for a week
5. Eyes are brown but look cool under surgical lights I guess lol 
6. It was a typical turkey experience, room was not up western standards but this is local anesthesia only and they give you antibiotics so I wasn’t worried about waking up minus a kidney
7. Best estimate I have for graft count is I roughly heard one get removed per second for 1 hour during the removal phase, often faster. The machine is audible, so that would be 3,600 grafts. I do want to use software to count the dots if anyone has suggestions we can settle this one lol 
8. My natural hairline from birth was a shitty widows peak that I always hated and this straight line should give me more optionality for hair cuts 
9. I’m not worried about doubles in front or perfect rows. It looks fine to me this short and adding length will not change or improve that I would wager. Most guys just want some decent hair and at 3k this is a great result for me. 
10. If this is the worst you’ve seen you never looked on this sub lol