+++
title = "Hi, I'm John."
description = "A brief introduction to me, this blog, and what you're likely to see here."
timeless = true
comments = false
+++
![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](/series/vra8) (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 part of a small platform engineering team within that same large corporation, focused on leveraging DevOps thinking and tools to help our internal customers modernize how they operate IT, build code, and ship products, while designing solutions to help them accomplish those goals. 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](/series/projects) in my little homelab (and share some of those adventures here). I also help out on Google's product support forums as a [Product Expert](https://productexperts.withgoogle.com/what-it-is), where I support Pixel phones, earbuds, and watches, as well as Chromebooks (primarily with Linux-related queries). Helping users troubleshoot their issues scratches my problem-solving itch, and it keeps me connected with some really great like-minded tech enthusiasts.

On weekends, I race my daily-driven 2014 Subaru BRZ in local [autocross events](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwzr4uKY-x-EwCv-rWNGefdikuW6Oy9O_) 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)
- [CounterSocial](https://counter.social/@john_b)

Securely chat with me via:
- [SimpleX Chat](/simplex/)


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