In a strange turn of events, I was testing some things wrong earlier today and then a magic switch flipped and stuff started working.
I got into the happy place where I get to make code a lot better and actually accomplish my goals at the same time. I'm really happy that things are getting better quickly.
When I get to be the person making things better for a lot of people at once that is what makes me the happiest. I'm going to double-down on making stuff better tomorrow.