I heard from Technology Connections on YouTube that there is a common trope of mid-westerners that when something breaks, you fix it. There's a frugality of sorts. I've taken this to certain lengths over the years. I find myself nowadays attempting to do literally everything myself. I don't trust anyone. Products are getting worse and worse and everything is more closed off than ever. With this mindset of fixing stuff and doing everything myself, I find myself jumping into random worlds far too complex for one person to collectively tackle perfectly. Below is a list of everything I've sunk time and money into for the love of the game.
This one is a pretty loaded one because I've done so much in this field. I'll limit it to just what I've done with conventional PC's. Even then, the stuff I've done is so extensive I might need to make a bulleted list.
Built at least 5 computers at this point.
Helped countless people solve problems with their computers.
IT Certification???
Built a little homelab type server.Â
Currently hosting a Minecraft server.
Learned enough about Linux to install Arch just so then I can say "I use Arch btw".
Fixed up and resold an iMac G3.
Rebuilt, cleaned, and got stolen from me a gaming PC.
Set up Home Assistant and remote desktop to access anything I want at my house from anywhere.
Probably more things I'm missing. This page was made in a day.
My desktop
This is the MEASURED frequency response of my desk after EQ. 20-20,000Hz, completely flat.
Something I always say is that most audio issues can be fixed with EQ. You can make a bedroom audio setup sound like one of the most natural things you've ever listened to with a razor sharp precisely calibrated parametric EQ. Over the years I've built a rather impressive audio setup in my bedroom back home. It consists of two Polk T15's, a BIC Formula F12 subwoofer, and a Denon AVR-X2100W. These alone don't sound amazing, but with a calibrated microphone and about an hour of tuning, I have it sounding absolutely amazing. You don't hear the speakers anymore, you hear the music.
March 23rd, 2025, I decided it was a good idea to drive all the way from Brooklyn Park, Minnesota, all the way to Madison, Wisconsin, to pick up a Sony A7II. Why did I drive for 6 hours? Well, one, to spend time with my boyfriend, and two, it was only $250 with a broken shutter. I knew that with a few hours and a new shutter off AliExpress, I could fix it. These photos are proof! Nearly 500 dollars saved. I don't plan on doing this professionally, but as a hobby, and someone who likes flexibility in doing anything, having a full frame mirrorless camera is pretty cool to have.
Life is more fulfilling when you do something creative. Photography is creative, but at least for me, half of it is logistics. That big image right up there took 30 minutes to take. That's why I make all my backgrounds myself in Blender! To the right is my Polywave wallpaper. A fractured low poly sea with a broken glass icosahedron in the middle. What is the meaning? I dunno. Look at it. Looks kinda cool... right?
My logo.
My mobile wallpaper called Mono, using a black and white version of that icosahedron from earlier.
I dabble in music production. I have like 150+ Ableton projects and about 2 that I think are good. It is really awesome to make something that you think sounds good. If anything was fulfilling, this would be it.
This is the biggest money sink of them all, and the thing that I find the most fun. How fast can you make a 3D printer without it falling apart? Here is my rather very modified Ender 3 V2 ripping around at mach 10 to print a 3D Benchy.