I’m convinced that writing is dead. I’ve been writing for decades. In the 90s and early 2000s, while learning tech, I tinkered a lot while blogging about the journey. It cemented what I learned, shared knowledge with others, and gave me a helpful career reference point.
During Marine bootcamp, my rack mate Kuchenbecker let slip that I knew tech. Voila. I was named scribe. While recruits slept, I got to build a Microsoft Access recruit-tracking app so Drill Instructors could track metrics. Give a nerd a computer and they’ll use it. I sent short letters to family checking in and saying hi. The DIs would’ve blown a gasket if they’d found out about this little “integrity violation.”
This rebuild has been a long time coming. I finally carved out some time to work through my Obsidian -> Gitea -> GitHub -> Cloudflare Pages pipeline.
Obsidian has become my Personal Knowledge Management platform. Editing all the content in the same place I take notes, brainstorm, and organize my life really is a comfortable setup.
Gitea has become my playground for automations without incurring the personal costs or data sovereignty concerns over on GitHub. Since this is where my projects live, it only makes sense to keep it there.
Recent ThinkPad X1 Carbons replaced the right Ctrl key with a “Copilot” key. But instead of implementing it as a single, remappable scancode like any sane manufacturer would, they hardwired an absolute mess into the firmware.
What actually happens when you press it:
The embedded controller fires a rapid sequence:
Left Shift down (0x2a) Left Win/Meta down (0xe05b) F23 down (0xe06e) F23 up (0xe0ee) Left Meta up (0xe0db) Left Shift up (0xaa) It’s a hardwired Win+Shift+F23.
This hits close to home. As a cybersecurity and tech professional, I’m often asked for similar advice, but on the digital side. Managing passwords, accounts, that entire technical footprint we all accumulate.
I’ve lost two employees: Jason Fehrs and Kevin Lee. I think about them a lot. Both times, their loved ones were locked out of accounts and struggling to find their footing after sudden loss. Ghost profiles still celebrating birthdays on Facebook. Work anniversaries on LinkedIn. It’s not just an aging issue. It hits mid-career professionals just as hard, often harder.
Finally had a chance to get through the Kubernetes and Cloud Native Security Associate (KCSA) course and exam. Thanks snow!
Next up: Certified Kubernetes Application Developer (CKAD).
As expected, the KCSA went over standard security fundamentals of containers, Kubernetes, network protections, and trust boundaries, along with industry practices such as threat modeling, risk frameworks, and compliance. It’s still multiple-choice like the KCNA, but the questions were a notch deeper. I was caught off guard by a couple products in the microVM and sandboxing space that I hadn’t come across in preparing.
The context trap. Netflix popularized microservices. Google invented Kubernetes. Amazon built their own everything. Spotify gave us the squad model.
These are real innovations from smart people solving real problems. They’re also almost certainly wrong for your organization.
I know that sounds harsh. Let me explain.
Netflix runs a global streaming platform serving hundreds of millions of users. Their engineering team is measured in thousands. When a monolithic architecture became a bottleneck to their ability to deploy independently and scale specific components, microservices made sense. For them.
The cargo cult of “Enterprise”. From Seattle to Bentonville, I keep hearing this phrase in meetings: “That’s how they do it at [insert Fortune 500 company].” " “It gets used like a trump card. Like the name itself is evidence. Like having worked somewhere successful means you understand why it was successful.” " “Here’s the problem. During and after World War II, some Pacific Island communities observed military planes landing with supplies. After the war ended and the planes stopped coming, they built wooden control towers and runways out of straw. They mimicked the forms they had seen, believing these structures would summon more planes. They didn’t understand logistics, manufacturing, or global supply chains. They just knew what it looked like when planes showed up.” " “We do the same thing in technology.” " “Someone spent five years at a massive retailer or a Fortune 100 manufacturer. They saw org charts, tools, processes. They participated in initiatives. Now they’re at your company, and they want to recreate what they saw. Not because they understand why it worked there, but because it’s what they know. The structure becomes the strategy.” " “This isn’t malicious. It’s human. We pattern match. We default to the familiar. But “Enterprise” isn’t a body of knowledge. It’s a collection of individual career experiences dressed up as universal truth.” " “Now, I’m not saying experience has no value. Of course it does. Someone who has been through a major ERP implementation or a security incident at scale brings hard-won lessons. The problem is when we confuse exposure with expertise. When “I saw it done this way” becomes “This is the right way.” " “The companies we admire built their practices to solve their specific problems at their specific scale with their specific constraints. They didn’t copy someone else’s homework. They figured it out.” " “Next time someone invokes a big name as evidence, try this question: “What problem did that solve for them, and do we actually have that problem?” " “You might be surprised how often the answer is no.
Stop chasing tools, start measuring maturity. Here’s a pattern I see constantly." " “Team identifies a problem. Team sees a demo of a shiny tool. Team convinces leadership the tool will solve the problem. Tool gets purchased. Tool gets partially implemented. Tool gets blamed when problems persist. Cycle repeats.” " “Gartner estimates that 90% of organizations invest in ITSM tools without first assessing their maturity. We buy solutions before we understand where we actually are.” " “Maturity models exist precisely to break this cycle. They help you assess your current state, identify gaps, and build a roadmap for improvement. Not a roadmap to a tool. A roadmap to capability.” " “Most maturity frameworks use some version of a five-level progression. Level 1 is ad hoc, reactive, inconsistent. Level 5 is optimized, data-driven, continuously improving. The levels in between represent increasing degrees of standardization, documentation, and measurement.” " “The value isn’t in reaching Level 5. Plenty of organizations operate successfully at Level 3. The value is in knowing where you are and having a deliberate plan for where you’re going.” " “Research consistently shows that higher maturity correlates with fewer end-user disruptions, better employee retention, and fewer security incidents. These aren’t tool outcomes. They’re capability outcomes.” " “Now, I’m not saying tools don’t matter. They do. But tools amplify capability. They don’t create it. If your processes are chaotic, a better ticketing system gives you well-documented chaos. If your team lacks clear roles and accountability, workflow automation just moves the confusion faster.” " “Before your next major technology decision, try this. Honestly assess your current maturity level. Not where you think you should be. Where you actually are. Then build a roadmap from there.” " “You might find the solution isn’t a purchase order. It’s process work, training, or organizational clarity. Less exciting than a new platform, but a lot more likely to move the needle.
I’ve spent the vast majority of my career in manufacturing. They haven’t all been the companies that show up in Harvard Business Review case studies, something I’ve come to see that as an advantage.
When you’re not at a company with infinite resources and a thousand engineers, you learn to be deliberate. You accept constraints while still delivering results. No excuses. You can’t buy your way out of problems. You can’t throw headcount at complexity. You have to understand what actually matters and focus there.
Escaping the hype cycle (and the vendor noise). Your vendors want you to buy. Your peers want you to succeed. These are not the same thing.
I don’t say that to be cynical. Vendor relationships matter. Good vendors genuinely want to help you succeed because your success is their success. But their incentive structure is optimized for sales. The information they share is filtered through that lens. The case studies they present are their best outcomes, not their typical ones.