It sounds like a good idea to do some short oil changes to clean out the gunk.

The extracted oil from the bottom is dark, but after running a bit the cap gets brown with sludge. I suppose the emulsified oil tends to rise to the top of the engine.

I bought some MMO and replaced 20% of the old stuff with the MMO as recommended on the product. I plan to drive it to work and back, then change the oil and use another 20% as recommended.

This may clear out some gunk, but I won't really know unless I can inspect the pan or perhaps I no longer get gunk on the oil cap. That said, if I want to do a few short changes, often that is done with cheap oil so that you don't waste money on synthetic.

However, there is a sort of religious attachment by many to using ONLY rated 0W-40 as stated in the manual. Some suggest using a 5W-40 for short changes.

I bought the Mity Vac so it would be easier to change oil, but perhaps a drain might be better in this case.

I cannot agree more with actually driving the car to prevent this, but that is my problem. It's winter here in MN and driving is not always a good thing to do. The only thing I can think of is to start it 5 minutes before I leave home and work and use MMO regularly.