my second comment was mistaken, i see it is used.

my point is that the in the case of openvpn nodes, the expression:

    try{openvpn.gateway_address} || try{nodes_like_me[:services => 'openvpn']['location.name' => location.name].field('openvpn.gateway_address').shuffle.first} || try{nodes_like_me[:services => 'openvpn'].field('openvpn.gateway_address').shuffle.first}

Will always just be `openvpn.gateway_address`, so we might as well just use the thing that is shorter and more clear.