The project shelf
Retirement theory: you finally have time for your projects. Retirement practice: the projects multiply to fill the time. Here’s the current shelf — each one gets its own write-up as I get to it.
The Quantum Computing Explainer
An interactive website that teaches quantum computing basics — superposition, entanglement, why your password isn’t safe forever — with a Futurama sense of humor. Built because I wanted to see if I could make the hardest subject in computing fun. (post pending; live link if/when hosted) Related: How will Quantum Computing differ from Classic Computing? →
The Workstation
i9-12900KF, RTX 3090 Ti with 24 GB of VRAM, 64 GB of DDR5, and a 49-inch curved monitor that generates its own weather. Overkill for email; exactly right for running AI models at home. (post pending — build notes from 2022, still current)
Local AI Lab
Language models running on my own hardware with Ollama — no cloud, no subscription, no sending my notes to somebody else’s server. Plus the bigger project: a self-organizing knowledge base built with Claude and Obsidian that files, links, and cross-references everything I feed it. The batch files grew up. (post pending)
3D Printing
A da Vinci mini w and a TinkerCAD habit. Prints so far: useful brackets, unnecessary ornaments, and the occasional Masonic gavel stand. The 20-minute-print-40-minute-design ratio is real. (post pending)
Off-Grid Radio
Meshtastic — text messaging over LoRa radio with no cell tower, no internet, no account. Started as curiosity, turned into a genuinely useful hurricane-season tool for a Florida household. (post pending)
The shelf refills faster than it empties. Newest write-ups land on the blog →.