I don't mine iron. I scrap cars, beds, vending machines, lamp posts. All of the minable nodes extend directly beneath the top rock but it may not be visible after you harvest the top layer. just aim dead center
Don't know how funny it is but the one I always remember was quite a few releases ago before they had the red sky and lightning to signal a zombie night. My base was in a POI that was mostly concrete that you can't find anymore. I had replaced the door with with an iron door and was making...
I've never ever had anything like this happen to me. I make a point of frequently going to my base and boiling water or cooking something or making iron bars.
Are you playing on a server with other people?
This sounds like you hit a bug. submit a bug report. What version are you playing?
That would be more like a gym than a bookstore. But you could combine the two. That would be interesting. Instead of having a loud music that you don't like, you would work out in silence reading a book. I wouldn't mind that at all
I make my own base. Early on you get a lot of XP by making an upgrading stuff. Later on the benefit isn't so great. It does mean the first couple of days I spend a lot of time gathering materials. Rather than looting or doing missions.