The month of October signals the end of the third quarter in our funny misaligned fiscal year. That's useful, in part because I promised some things by the end of the quarter, and a little push is a good thing. So,

• That little push helped me make progress with revamping a set of moribund customer profiles, and the latest increment of that work is now out for review. Thanks, October!
• I got out and plugged in and noodled on my keyboard (nothing fancy, just an M-Audio KeyStation plugged into Garage Band), filling in little obligatoes to the usual evening Spotify soundtrack. Good fun, and long overdue.
• Fancy pictures (MRI) of my knee reveal what seems a relatively simple explanation for the oddball problems I've been having and have been slowly worsening over years. (Can I afford the remedy? TBD.)

I got to the end of the week feeling like I worked hard but didn't accomplish much. Lots of managing, a lot less doing, and the things I said I would do by the end of the quarter are now hanging over my head a bit. But

• I have a solid plan for the number one item on that list, and the one thing that can truly block me from enacting that plan produces its own plan.
• New mentees are finding me and so far I've been able to help each one. It's a mix of folks! Researchers, new designers, more senior folks, etc. Some of my advice has started to converge (apparently I'm consistent in what I think!), but I believe I'm giving an appropriate level of individual attention to each person and not spouting platitudes. I recognize that that's an available danger and promise to be vigilant.
• I once joked that my superhero identity was "explains-a-concept guy." It has been especially true this week.

It took two trips to Home Depot and a barked knuckle, but I repaired a leaky shower handle in less than an hour for $22. This included finding the shutoff for the whole unit and working around others' demands for water. I even managed to notice and fix the hot/cold swap that I inadvertently introduced before buttoning everything up. #capabledad #stillgotit

Just a little too late for this project, I also thought that it would be a good idea to write the brand and cartridge part number on the back of the escutcheon to help the next guy. Too bad, next guy!

• One-time mentorship conversations are fun, and they remind me how I think about issues. So far everyone has been pleased with our conversations. https://adplist.org/mentors/jon-plummer I wish I was as readily eloquent when it came to writing these posts.
• My knee is much more stable now than it was when it was irritated recently. This is only now that I have PT and ortho referrals coming up, of course. Murphy sometimes mistakenly interferes in a way that makes things a little better.
• If you need something done at a hospital, call the patient advocate. Changing the channel from email to phone, and changing the recipient from a barely-interested secretary to a person whose job it is to chase things down has produced enough of my chart from 31 years ago to greatly inform what's to come next, whatever that is. As I say often to the people I support, "f you aren't getting the engagement you want, try changing the channel."