Monday-Friday: Senior DevOps Automation Engineer at IntraFi, building pipelines and automating infrastructure.

Saturday night-Sunday: Baker, prepping dough and selling at the Olney farmer's market.

How do I balance both? The same way I approach DevOps:

⚙️ Batch everything for efficiency ⏰ Protect dedicated time blocks 📊 Track data and iterate 🤖 Automate wherever possible

The exhaustion is real. So is the satisfaction.

DevOps taught me to approach baking systematically. Baking taught me patience and trusting intuition alongside data.

Each world makes me better at the other. And somehow, living between infrastructure automation and cookie decoration keeps me energized in both.

My stand at the Olney winter market is in the back walkway. Not on the main paved path. Just me, the smoothie stand, and the coffee folks.

Most people don't wander back unless they're specifically looking for me. So how do I get them to make the trip?

I've been testing strategies that are actually working:

🍪 Strategic sampling (36% higher sales last Sunday!) 🤝 Partnerships with the empanada stand to send people my way 📱 Monthly market announcements + free pickup for online orders 💡 Future plans: whiteboard for flash sales... and maybe an inflatable tube man? 👀

New blog post breaking down what's working, what I'm trying next, and how I'm treating my market stand like a tech system (spoiler: data tracking is everything).

Why does my bread dough feel like the Sahara in winter? 🍞❄️

Low humidity is the secret villain of winter baking. Indoor humidity drops to 20-30% during winter, while most recipes are developed at 40-60%. That difference is enough to:

❌ Dry out your dough within minutes ❌ Make cookies crumbly and weird ❌ Turn pie crust into a cracking nightmare ❌ Create static flour that clings to everything

My winter survival tips: ✅ Add extra liquid to dough (trust your hands, not just measurements) ✅ Cover EVERYTHING while it rests ✅ Work faster to minimize air exposure ✅ Store baked goods immediately—winter shows no mercy

Think of it like deploying to a production environment that doesn't match your testing setup. You've got to adapt your approach to survive.

But here's the good news: mastering winter baking makes you a better baker. You learn to read your dough, trust your intuition, and adapt on the fly.

As we move through this season with all its challenges, remember why we bake: connection, warmth, and sharing something made with our own hands.

May your ovens stay warm and your kitchens be filled with the people you love. Happy baking, and happy holidays! 🎉

Tired of slow, flaky tests in your CI/CD pipeline?

I switched from Selenium to Playwright + Python and the results speak for themselves:

• 70% faster test execution

• Zero flaky tests

• Cross-browser coverage

• AWS CodeBuild ready

Automating AWS Security with Python: From IAM Monitoring to Real-Time Alerts

As backend engineers, we need immediate visibility into IAM changes. In my latest post, I walk through building a production-ready Lambda function that:

✅ Detects IAM changes via CloudTrail

✅ Classifies events by severity (Critical/High/Medium)

✅ Sends formatted alerts to security teams via SNS

✅ Includes complete, tested Python code you can deploy today

Whether you're managing a single AWS account or multi-account organizations, automated security monitoring is non-negotiable. I've included the full Lambda function, IAM permissions, EventBridge configuration, and best practices I've learned from production deployments.

Plus, a sneak peek at my next topic: using Python and Playwright for end-to-end testing in CI/CD pipelines!

My favorite holiday tradition? Making aged eggnog in the fall and cracking it open on Christmas Eve!

Yes, AGED eggnog—it sits in my fridge for months getting better and better (the anticipation is half the fun). The result? Smooth, perfectly spiced, and absolutely worth the wait.

While I can't sell the eggnog itself, I can tell you it pairs beautifully with every dessert in my shop.

August 2020: I'd never deep-fried anything in my life. Then I made homemade apple fritters.

The Results:

• Bakery-quality, golden perfection

• Neighbors texting "Can you make these every week?"

• Zero leftovers by morning

Turns out, they're like any good tech project—intimidating at first, totally manageable once you figure out the temperature controls.

The best part? Sharing them with neighbors when we all needed something sweet.

Working in cloud tech and baking has given me a unique vocabulary problem. Here's a sneak peek from my latest post:

COOKIES

• In the Cloud: Data stored in your browser to track your digital footprint

• In Baking: Deliciousness stored in your mouth to track crumbs across your counter

SCALING

• In the Cloud: Adding resources to handle increased demand

• In Baking: Multiplying recipe quantities without creating a structural engineering disaster

CACHE

• In the Cloud: High-speed storage for frequently accessed data

• In Baking: That secret chocolate chip stash in the back of your pantry

The confusion is REAL, folks. When someone says "we need to clear the cookies," I need at least three seconds to figure out if we're debugging a website or making room in the cookie jar.

Read the full glossary of terms that mean wildly different things in my two worlds!

We’ll be at the Olney Farmers’ Market on December 14 and 28, come by!

Wind warnings, vendor vehicle Tetris, and the best community conversations—my latest Olney Farmers Market adventure was full of surprises!

Plus, I'm dropping hints about my next product. Pecan pie fans, you're going to want to read this one.

Last week we covered Groovy fundamentals. Today, we're putting it all together with real Jenkins pipelines that actually work in production. What's inside:

Declarative vs scripted pipelines (and when to use each)

Multi-environment deployment with ONE Jenkinsfile

Complete Docker → ECR → ECS pipeline

Deployment verification & automatic rollback

Parameterized builds for dev/staging/prod

This isn't "hello world"—it's the exact pattern we use to deploy microservices across environments.

Jenkins powers over 30% of enterprise CI/CD pipelines in 2025. If you're in DevOps, you WILL encounter it. I just published Part 1 of my intermediate CI/CD series - a practical guide to Jenkins and Groovy that skips the theory and jumps straight to production-ready code. What you'll learn:

- GString interpolation for dynamic AWS commands
- Building multi-environment pipelines with one Jenkinsfile
- Docker + ECR + ECS deployment automation
- Deployment verification and rollback patterns

Sweet Bytes and Bites will be participating in the Winter Season of the Olney Farmers and Artists Market!

Still managing separate AWS accounts for each user? There's a better way. My latest article breaks down how SAML enables seamless Single Sign-On and what alternatives exist in Azure.

Halloween night, midnight raves, and the moment I realized this community is way bigger than I expected! Part 2 of my Goblyncon journey takes you from a quiet first night (thanks, Halloween!) to Saturday's whirlwind of sales—shoutout to my wife for being the world's best cookie barker. I stayed up past midnight feeding dancers, connected with fellow vendors who became instant friends, and learned that gluten-free and dairy-free options aren't just nice-to-haves—they're essential. From market saturation on Sunday to my biggest takeaways for the next convention, here's what happened when the baking stopped and the real adventure began.

My first convention was supposed to be about cookies—but it turned out to be a masterclass in problem-solving! From ovens running 20 degrees too hot (hello, giant butterscotch cookies!) to an emergency Michaels run for bigger boxes, I learned that baking professionally means adapting on the fly. Join me behind the scenes as I prep three signature cookies, navigate two equipment disasters, and discover why rigid storage containers are non-negotiable. Plus: I've got leftover Megabyte Chocolate Chunk Cookies and I'm running a flash sale—your chance to taste what Goblyncon couldn't get enough of!

AI recipes and pictures of desserts get on my nerves, but there might be potential underneath the fake exterior…

Trust the process - something patience is the secret ingredient.

Believe it or not, I wasn’t always a baker - my passion for doing so came from a special place…