Every Rule Has a Scar
The rules file is for how to work. Everything else has a home, and putting it in the wrong one is how a rules file turns into a junk drawer.
The VM That Never Sleeps
Last year I wrote a whole post about letting a jump box kill itself, because I couldn't be trusted to shut it down. The agents clean up exactly as well as I did. Same answer: don't ask, enforce.
The Only One in the Room
I've been the only technology person in the room for most of my career, and I never learned to write software. This year I built an environment where AI agents do most of the development, plus the rails that keep them from doing damage. This is the record, not a victory lap.
I Gave Up Too Early. The Problem Was One Line.
Three months of Google Analytics on a blog I built to avoid Google Analytics. The problem was one Caddy directive. I stopped looking too soon.
Transformation Without Narrative Is Easy to Erase
When nothing breaks, no one notices. This is about the quiet failure mode that follows successful transformation—and how narrative preserves continuity.
I Didn’t Break Git. Git Broke My Brain.
A small failure that exposed a bigger assumption about tools, context, and how easily mental models can drift.
Building Real Technology Inside Facilities
Building stable systems inside a large institution taught me that quiet competence is fragile—and narrative is part of the job.
