Welcome - you have found your way onto my blog. If you have not already, my main site is here. That is basically the home base, linking to this blog, my socials, and a couple of ways you can support me.
So, what's the point of this place? Pretty simple. I will be sharing the things I learn as I go - fixes, tools, workflows, and the odd experiment from work or my hobbies. My notes start life in Obsidian, usually a chaotic pile of ideas, and then I turn them into something readable and post them here.
Right now, I am an Operations Manager for a supply chain company that specialises in printers - ironically, the one bit of tech I used to hate the most. Getting into this role has been a journey. I spent 17 years as an EPOS engineer before the entire department was made redundant. Moving from a global corporation to a tiny company has been the biggest shock to the system, but five months in I would say I am adapting well.
The management side has been interesting. Jumping into a team that already had its own way of doing things while knowing almost nothing about the company has definitely kept me on my toes. My favourite part so far is the ERP system - completely broken in all the right ways. It was clearly rushed into production, but that has made it fun. I enjoy figuring out better ways to make it work, streamlining processes, and hopefully fixing the thing. I also run the eBay store, which is a new experience for me and basically my first real plunge into public facing customer service.
Before this, I was an EPOS Engineer. Seventeen years of repairing scanners, printers, handhelds, servers - you name it. I started as a modern apprentice doing an NVQ in administration, but quickly moved into hardware. My favourite devices to work on were the Beetle M3 and the Zebra MC18. Over the years I also ran a workshop of 24 engineers, which gave me my first taste of management. I liked making sure people were doing the right work for their skillsets, keeping cross training going, and helping solve whatever problems landed on the bench.
I also stepped into procurement multiple times, which taught me fast how essential clear purchase orders and good communication with suppliers are - especially when invoices dont line up with what actually turns up.
Something I find really interesting now is being on the supplier side of the whole exchange of goods. At Diebold I used to order this stuff in without really thinking much about what went into it. Now I am part of the company producing the things I used to buy. Seeing the amount of work, time, and effort that goes into getting a single unit out the door has completely changed how I look at the whole supply chain.
On top of that, I was the ERP admin: writing onboarding manuals, building every report used by upper management, setting up users, and being the first point of contact for any issues. If I tried to list everything I did there, we would be here for a while.
When I am not working I love going to the gym. I have no real muscles to show for it, but it is still one of my favourite things to do. I don't watch much TV at the moment and usually just let the family pick whatever they want to put on. I have also grown into loving reading. I tend to lean toward fiction and rebellions, like George Orwells 1984, Suzanne Collins Hunger Games, and Pierce Browns Red Rising. I will read other stuff too, but I find these types of stories are what I enjoy the most. I also do a bit of gaming, but time is my enemy with that one.
Anyway - that's the intro. The plan is to post useful things here as I learn them. Nothing fancy, just honest write ups of stuff I wish someone had explained to me earlier.