Here is the blower again, removed from its housing, stripped of its fancy metal face plate, and with its guts laid upon the floor (I really should have taken an intermediate picture, may update with that tomorrow. maybe not, no one cares!)
Here you can see the front "bearing" if it can so be called. I popped it out of its little fitted cavity. No apparent lubrication, or if there was any, it was negligible enough for me to write it off as imaginary!