Split database during construction?

[twgonder]

You remind me of my youngest brother. Long story short, he always felt like a square peg surrounded by round holes, and could never understand why...

In the interest of civility, I'll abstain from extended comment.

 

[twgonder]

Applications are living things. They evolve over time. At least the good ones evolve. The bad ones just die.

As to your table sample, I don't have a problem with it. Self referencing tables are common. Employee tables and bills of material are two examples. Queries to represent them in an orderly fashion can be complicated though

Yes, but as you can see in the table sample, combo box headings and selection data as well as definitions for what could be ten tables (GEOgraphy) are somewhat cross-referencing ("cross" used as in cross-training--mixed).