I work in a library as a circulation assistant, which is basically a mildly glorified desk clerk. The overwhelming majority of my day is down time, so I decided to put it to use by practicing rudiments when I'm not otherwise occupied. I got a copy of Stick Control and I'm working through the exercises, but I have a couple of concerns. A) I can't use my practice pad at work because it's too loud, so I'm just tapping out the rhythms on my knee. B) A clicking metronome would be disturbing to patrons, so I can't use one. Am I screwing myself up here? I know that rudiment practice is all about conditioning. By playing on a surface with no rebound and without a metronome, am I conditioning myself to have bad habits? Also, can anyone recommend a good browser-based metronome that uses visual cues like flashing lights instead of audible cues? Thanks for any suggestions you may have.