---
title: "/about"
date: "2024-05-26T21:19:08Z"
lastmod: "2024-11-28T19:40:30Z"
description: "A brief introduction to me, this blog, and what you're likely to see here."
timeless: true
toc: false
categories: slashes
---
**Hi, I'm John.**

![Me, +/- a few decades](/images/john.jpg)

You've (somehow) managed to stumble upon my dark corner of the internet[^1].

I've enjoyed tinkering with computers and their code since discovering I could alter variable values in [`GORILLA.BAS`](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gorillas_%28video_game%29) on my dad's work computer to imbue the thrown bananas with enough explosive power to level the entire city. I thought, "hey, that's neat," and then spent much of my childhood free time learning how *else* I could bend computers to my will.

Once I grew up[^2], I found a career in system administration, and I leveraged my passion for coding to write scripts to help manage systems more efficiently. While managing a global-scale VMware environment, I was tasked with implementing [vRealize Automation](/categories/vmware) (now called "Aria Automation"). I didn't realize it at the time but that was the start of my DevOps transformation. I started thinking about infrastructure-as-code, and began using [HashiCorp Packer](https://github.com/jbowdre/packer-vsphere-templates) and a CI/CD pipeline to automatically build fully-up-to-date VM templates on a weekly cadence.

I'm now a platform architect at a smaller corporation, focused full-time on leveraging the DevOps mindset to streamline IT operations and enable software developers with automation and self-service tooling. It's a great blend of my virtual infrastructure operations background, hobbyist development experience, and hunger for solving problems, and I really enjoy applying these skills to solve interesting challenges at scale.

On my off time, I tinker with new [projects](/categories/self-hosting) in my little homelab (and share some of those adventures here). I love experimenting with new (to me) technologies, and I've found that actually _using_ something is typically the best way to learn it.

On weekends, I race my daily-driven 2014 Subaru BRZ in local [autocross events](https://l.runtimeterror.dev/my-autox-vids) or wrench on my 1974 Volkswagen Karmann Ghia.

And in the free time I have left, I game on my Steam Deck.

### See what I've been up to on:
- [GitHub](https://github.com/jbowdre)
- [Weblog](https://srsbsns.lol)
- [status.lol](https://status.jbowdre.lol)
- [Fediverse](https://goto.srsbsns.lol/@john)
- [CounterSocial](https://counter.social/@john_b)
- [/now](https://now.jbowdre.lol)

### Connect with me via:
- [SimpleX Chat](https://l.runtimeterror.dev/simplex-chat-invite)
- [Signal](https://signal.me/#eu/lyHZbMnlM16O0w48j3rshYBofO0K-iXOt9LGwln7TS-fNKEHCrxH3La325q8IjRU)
- [Matrix](https://matrix.to/#/@jbowdre:omg.lol)
- [XMPP](https://conversations.im/i/jbowdre@omg.lol?omemo-sid-1374125881=a620f3c57733601a6646f6f13a71c86fc9be8dd4126fd158ef3e0a26beb0b434)
- [Electronic Mail](mailto:jbowdre@omg.lol)
  - [PGP: 613F B70C 4FA7 A077](https://l.runtimeterror.dev/pgp)

[^1]: Congrats? And also, *thank you.*
[^2]: A bit. I'm still in the "fake it until you make" it phase of adulthood.