Software I use, gadgets I love, and other things I recommend.

Below you'll find what I use on a daily basis to do what I do.

Workstation

  • 27” iMac, 4 GHz Intel i7, 32GB RAM (2014, eek)

    This thing is gettin kinda old, but still works great for my needs.

  • SHW 55” Electric Height Adjustable Standing Desk

    Sitting down for 8+ hours a day isn't good for you. This electric height adjustable desk is super affordable and was extremely easy to put together. I liked it so much I bought another one for my gaming station.

Education

  • Laracasts

    Being in software development means you'll be learning until the day you retire. If you're a web developer, or wanting to be one, go sign up for Laracasts immediately. It will be the best investment you've ever made to further your education.

Tech stack

  • Laravel

    As a PHP developer there is simply no better framework than Laravel.

  • Livewire

    As I'm writing this (Oct 2023) I just recently switched over from using Vue to using Livewire. I'm loving it.

  • Alpine.js

    If you're using Livewire, you might as well use Alpine (because Livewire does).

  • Tailwind CSS

    Other than discovering Laravel I don't think I've ever been more in love with a web-development framework than Tailwind.

  • Backend

    As a full stack developer I work in the backend as well - I mostly work with MySQL databases.

Development tools

  • Sublime Text 4

    I'm missing out on some pretty fancy IDE features but I've been using Sublime for so long I can't bring myself to change at this point.

  • Github

    Where else would I store my code? My Github profile is pretty boring, most of my repo's are private since they are not open-source.

  • iTerm2

    I heard I should use this over the macOS Terminal, so I do.

  • TablePlus

    Great software for working with databases.

BBQ

  • Offset Smoker - Old Country Brazos

    This smoker is great for a beginner, it gets the job done for a reasonable price. If you continue to love smoking you'll eventually want something bigger, but that means more money.

  • Inkbird Instant Read Meat Thermometer (IHT-1P)

    Not as nice as a Thermapen, but also not as expensive...it gets the job done.

  • Inkbird WiFi Grill Thermometer (IBBQ-4T)

    They say "if you're lookin, you ain't cookin". I use this thermometer to monitor the temperatures of the meat inside the smoker so I don't have to open the lid. It has a nice phone app to monitor temps from anywhere in your home and allows you to set alarms when your meats have reached certain temperatures.

  • Wood

    I like Hickory, but I've also used Pecan, Oak and Cherry. I find the differences to be very subtle, your average person isn't going to be able to tell the difference. Use what you have easy access to.

Crying

  • Kleenex Ultra Soft Facial Tissues

    As a Washington Commanders fan these come in handy.