Accomplishments During my Aug 2023 - Dec 2025 Career Gap
Tech
- Created a Docker-based Linux homelab, with automated backups, redundancy, and 1-1 replacements of popular services (like Spotify, Kindle, etc.). I live a largely Big-Tech free lifestyle now.
- After years of feeling the pain points of maintaining my own infrastructure, I rewrote my homelab in NixOS. I much prefer Nix over Ansible, Docker, Podman, and all other imperative 'Infrastructure as Code' solutions. That said, I'm not stuck with Nix; I'll keep an eye on Guix and Nickel as they develop. (If you are a DevOps or server admin reading this, feel free to DM me because I love to nerd out about this stuff.)
- Got heavily into functional programming + language design + compilers, all of which has had a strong influence on my upcoming side-business. It has also strongly impacted how I see software correctness; I can pull up examples of bugs in my career that could have been prevented by design. These techniques would have been especially valuable in the highly regulated environments I used to work in. (If you are a programming language geek, feel free to DM me. I love to nerd out about this stuff.)
- Daily drove a Linux machine this entire time. I've gotten very familiar with its pain points and strengths. (I skipped 'Arch btw' and Gentoo and went straight to NixOS 😛)
- Created a static website with tutorials on self-hosting your own homelab.
- Created a custom project management system to keep myself organized during this period. No other project management system could keep up, so I built my own.
- Performed acceptance testing and feedback for a friend, allowing him to launch his side business
Activism and Root Cause Analysis
- Used my website to write about free and open source software (FOSS), bottom-up digital communities, and related business/ecosystem/social incentives. These articles were from a strong systems-thinking and cybernetics point of view. (Thanks Donella Meadows!)
- Marketed my blog on social media. Some of my articles were shared by others, including by academics.
- Contributed to several FOSS projects, sociocratic communities, and mutual-aid.
- Read various related books, resources, and discussions to aid me in these efforts.
Creative
- Produced music for a sociocratic music label. Some songs even had listeners in Japan!
- Picked up the piano, various music synths, and retro music trackers. Dabbled in modular synths, too (meaning I had to understand the complex wiring involved).
- Produced graphic and web designs using Penpot and other similar tools.
- Gave feedback on stories, short stories, novels, and even screenplays!)
- Dabbled in game design (including exchanging colleague feedback on designs)
- Gone through a plethora of fiction books
Home Projects
- Various projects around the home, including a debugging exercise of a pesky wiring problem.
Social
- Went to various meetups and met people from all walks of life, including museum curators and midwives.
- Most importantly, this gave me the privilege to experience many different styles of intelligence and perspectives. As a result, my world is bigger and richer compared to when I surrounded myself with only like-minded tech coworkers.