Outside of work, I have many interests and hobbies. Here are a few highlights:

Woodworking

I enjoy woodworking, especially building custom furniture. Check out my work at my other site.

Home Automation

This has been a big one lately. I started off with a few Zigbee lightbulbs which quickly balooned into a rather large system, all built upon the back of the awesome open-source Home Assistant. I even wrote a few modules that are included in the software (the Blink camera system, as well as the Google Wifi sensor). I’ve got a ridiculous amount of stuff running on home-assistant, including some pretty awesome automations. I put all my configuration info up on Github for anyone interested in checking it out.

Boardgames

I’m a pretty big board game fan and have a fairly decent collection. My tastes vary, but usually the quality of the game is dictated more by the chemistry of the group playing. I’m always down to try out a new board game and enjoy introducing new players to the hobby.

Music

I have been playing guitar since I was 9 years old and, although I’m not nearly as active as I was in my high-school days, I like to pick up the axe now and again. Over time my music tastes have morphed quite a bit. When I was younger (say middle school, or somewhere around there) I primarily enjoyed Metallica, Led Zeppelin, Rush, Alice in Chains, Nirvana, and Pearl Jam. As I got into highschool, I was drawn towards Motley Crue and Van Halen and, eventually, into Dream Theater. Dream Theater was hands down my biggest musically influence for a large portion of both highschool and college (I’ve seen them live three times and each time was amazing- though I’ve yet to see them since Portnoy left the band). Anyways, Dream Theater opened the door to progressive metal bands (Porcupine Tree, Opeth, Gojira, Riverside, The Ocean, Cynic, etc) that I would’ve otherwise never been exposed too. I really enjoy those bands. Honorable mentions to Tool, NIN, Primus, and Mastodon since I love them as well, but they’re not quite progressive metal. Over time though, I’ve found listening to those bands to require some energy to listen to which is difficult when I’m trying to pour my energy into my work. Nowadays, I find myself going back to 90s alternative bands like Smashing Pumpkins, The Presidents of the United States of America, Weezer, Live, etc. Overall, though, I’ll listen to pretty much anything. Except country. Can’t stand it.

Hockey

I have been a Buffalo Sabres fan since birth (probably because that’s where I was born…). I played hockey when I was younger (actually played with Dominik Hasek’s son when I was really young… didn’t know who the hell that was at the time). I can still feel the pain of the ubiquitous No-Goal in 1999. I am an avid reader of /r/hockey as well as /r/sabres and set time aside to watch every Sabres game. I’m also just a raw hockey fan, so I like to keep tabs on other teams like the Minnesota Wild and Winnipeg Jets. I also keep tabs on what the Maple Leafs and Bruins are doing because I hate both of those franchises. Keep your friends close and your enemies closer, or so they say.