projects

The work, as it happens

Each project is a series of check-ins written while building, grounded in the real git history, including the wrong turns. New entries land as the work progresses.

Projects9 Writing9

Spooky HollowSpooky Hollow: the math game Hannah actually asked to playHannah needed more addition practice and already loved Roblox obbys, so I built the worksheet into a ghost hunt. One long day produced eight levels, 72 ghosts, 17,600 math checks, and a better lesson in what AI still cannot test by itself.10 Sept Stadium EscapeStadium Escape, three weeks laterThe catch-up post: one park became eight, the AI got eyes, a secret sandlot got a very large dog, and the game went live. Also what three weeks of building with AI taught me about taste, judgment, and why PMs and engineers still matter.19 Aug CompassA network engine that happens to be job huntingCompass is a system for the 2,164 people I have met over twenty years. It is pointed at a job search right now because that is where I am, and the search is the forcing function rather than the point.19 Aug CompassThe half of Compass I did not need to buildCompass runs my job search against a target list I built by hand. Two or three working hours went into building the other half, the part that would generate that list for me, and the useful result was killing it.19 Aug Stadium EscapeStadium Escape: building a ballpark with my sonMy son has been asking what I do at work since he could talk, and the answer I gave him was always true and useless. So we built a Roblox chase game set in an homage to a very recognizable Phoenix ballpark. The premise came from two kids in the back seat on the way to Ace Hardware.10 Aug PersonalOSI stopped re-explaining myselfEvery session starts from nothing. PersonalOS is a vault built so an agent reads my decisions before it acts, and I never explain them twice.31 Jul PersonalOSMy journal was empty for seven days straightI built a daily journal, then checked whether I used it. Seven days, seven empty entries, while the same week produced 120 commits. The tool was fine. It was pointed the wrong way.31 Jul Budget EngineThe Budget Engine: trust as an architecture decisionA household finance engine built in five days of commits: stdlib-only Python, every number traceable to a source row, and a decision log that records the wrong turns on purpose.27 Jul HandoffHandoff: a take-home, taken seriouslyHow a Principal PM take-home became a working operations prototype in seven days, and why the most important commits deleted code.27 Jul