Making progress! Shots from this AM.
Haven't really changed much besides flushing 2-3 seconds of water through the grouphead before pulling the first shots. Doing a one-and-a half pull fellini move for the extra volume.

How's the taste compared to the previous ones?

They are all "pretty good"... better than my old machine. I am surprised at the flavor profile people talk about with lever machines- all these shots taste sweeter and thicker than my old semi-auto. Too sweet almost. I am making lattes and I'm not horribly excited about the beans I am using, so I'm a bit hesitant to make too many observations on taste yet. Also my shots & technique aren't consistent.

I think my grind may be too fine. Two reasons I am thinking this:
[*]A fair bit of grinds in the cup
[*]I'm using a good bit of force and the espresso is just barely dripping out of the PF.

Does that seem like a logical conclusion? I'm going to try 1/2 click coarser on the rocky.