Today was the day - I had myself wrapped up like a mummy, although nothing dramatic happened.
First I sharpened up an upholstery regulator(basically an ice pick) and gently tapped that into the HV anode. The anode metal seemed rather soft, and it appeared that the point of the regulator seemed to be helping keep the pinhole sealed. So I agitated the regulator around gently and could then hear the air softly hissing in. I also had a couple clear plastic bags wrapped around the CRT, so those were possibly dampening the hissing sound. Anyhow, mission accomplished. I really appreciated everyone's input. Not so scary anymore.
