How is my IP address detection *still* wrong?

hey folks, remember that "my public ip is wrong!" thread? well, i thought i had it sorted, but seems like my ip address detection script for getting my external ip address is still playing games with me.

i've been trying to verify my public ip again, especially since i'm doing some geo-targeting tests for my saas. but no matter what i try, my server's detection logic keeps spitting out something... off. it's not even my vpn's ip sometimes, just some random internal-looking thing.

here's what my simple python script (which just hits a public ip API) is showing:

$ python get_my_ip.py
Detected Public IP: 10.0.0.5
Timestamp: 2024-07-25 14:30:01

like, seriously? 10.0.0.5? i'm not running a local proxy or anything obvious. what could possibly be messing with my public ip detection *this* consistantly?