A story of how this place came to reality.

It was a normal November day. I was using my personal laptop when I saw the notification that macOS Big Sur update is available to download and install.

I decided to install it. First, I had to clean up some old stuff to make room for it. It needed >30 GB of free space if I recall.

Once that was done, I continued as usual.

Returning to my laptop, I was surprised to see the screen blank. I thought that it was still rebooting from the update. I left it alone.

After a while, coming back to it, there was no change. The Apple logo was lit, but there was no activity whatsoever.

Long story short, the update bricked my laptop. After some research, it seems that only some MacBook owners of models 2013-2014 are affected.

https://mrmacintosh.com/big-sur-11-0-1-20b50-released-to-block-install-for-2013-14-13-mbpros/

Of course, I'm part of the “lucky” ones. No point in dwelling, I immediately started looking for a replacement.

Finding a new model is easy. Paying for it is harder.

I already knew I wanted the MacBook Pro 13" model. And I looked for the one with 4 ports. Easy, right?

But the price was hard to swallow. Especially now, with my current WFH setup that involves device separation.

I looked up some more budget-friendly alternatives. Nothing really worthwhile. But that's a story for another day. Maybe.

And then it hit me! Why was I stuck on a laptop?

Why not build myself a new desktop from scratch? Dual-boot Linux on it to work on personal projects in my own time and Windows to maybe play a game once in a while.

The idea started to grow on me. I started remembering the good old days when all day long I was either playing a game, tinkering with PC parts or researching the market.

After that trip down-memory lane, I started doing my thing:

• catching up with the industry
• researching current offers
• writing down what I needed
• picking parts

Right around this time, two ideas collapsed.

First there were all these memories that brought joy. And the idea of building something again was exciting. Then, I knew I had to change some things around. I haven't used Windows in many years and Linux only via ssh.

Using 3 operating system regularly meant I needed to make sure always had cross-platform in the back of my head.

Now is a good time to tinker with the JAMStack and Static Site Generators

This excitement continued and fueled my desire to learn or try something new. Since I've been reading about SSGs for some time, everything was set.

I believe that the best way to learn something is by doing. Reading, listening or watching others is good. But getting my hands dirty makes things really stick and speeds up the entire process.

Why not Medium? Why not WordPress?

The decision to switch from Medium was quite easy (for me). Don't get me wrong, it's a great option for many people. First and foremost I wanted to own and be in control of the content I produce.

Then, I wanted an easy way to create it (markdown), to maintain it and to move it from one place to another. Or even keep it offline if I desire.

Of course, WordPress would have been an easy option for me, but I wouldn't have learned anything new.

So here we are.

I'm very curious to see where this road will take me.