I hope you don't stay embarrassed. We could improve parts of the interface, and we need feedback like this to know what people think is going on, so that we can decide how to change the interface to show people what is actually going on.
Thanks for leaving the comment and I hope you enjoy using Sandstorm!
I think it took so long because it's so different from what I'm used to. It seems like a powerful idea but challenging to make sure your customers' expectations are managed.
The sidebar/navbar clearly is part of the strategy, well done there. But the gulf that exists between the specific-app content pane and the sandstorm navbar is the tricky bit.