In which I win

Weather: A cool day and a perfect evening
Encounters: Nothin' but the wind, sugar
Spare tires: -1
I've kept a small set of bike repair tools for a while now, but never bothered to actually take them with me. They were for fixing things before going out, not for accidents out in the wild. Out here in Seattle, with my bike my only transportation, I finally started carrying all my gear with me. I've questioned the value of lugging along a pannier everywhere I go (I also have just enough stuff to bring to work daily that one of those little frame-mounted bags wouldn't cut it), but I've stuck with it. And today... VINDICATION! I finished work, pulled my bike out of the rack, and the rear tire was flat as a pancake.

Twenty minutes and minus one spare tire later, I was on my way. I'd much rather be twenty minutes late than out $20 for a cab, thank you very much. Now I just need to replace that spare tire before lightning strikes twice. (:

Speaking of twenty minutes late, it's funny how things can change when your routine shifts just a little bit. I've gotten used to dodging sprinklers on my ride home, but nearly every single one had already turned off by the time I passed them tonight (except for one yard, which I've never seen on before!). It's the little things.

But on to more important stuff. I did have my one-on-one with my lead today (it was up in the air due to network shenanigans and temperamental* build machines), and it couldn't have gone better.

"How do you think things are going?"
"Much better."
"I agree."

He praised my renewed focus without qualification, mentioned that one of my coworkers had talked about how quickly I was doing my work, and even said I'm nearly as efficient as he and one of the other leads when they tag-team a test pass. I finished up the meeting by mentioning that I'm eager to learn more about the processes going on behind the scenes - the builds and servers that we use - and he was totally encouraging. It really couldn't have gone better.

I've gotten so used to disappointing people and failing to meet expectations, and breaking that pattern is such a relief. Maybe I can do this after all. No victory laps yet, though -- it's too easy to slip back into old habits, and that's the last thing I want to do.

Wish me luck.

* I never realized "temperamental" had two As in it. Thanks, spellcheck!