Abbottland.io
A blog sharing technical insights on software engineering
Welcome to Abbottland.io
Engineering field notes - homelab stories, software lessons, and the occasional wrong turn worth sharing
> What this site is
I've been building software professionally since 2010. Abbottland.io is where I write about the problems that stuck with me: building a Kubernetes cluster from bare metal, walking a friend through connecting React to an API, or untangling why my home network went sideways mid-project. Posts trace the arc from confusion to clarity, including the strategies that changed mid-way and the tools that both did and did not work out.
> What you'll find here
Homelab deep dives (Proxmox, Kubernetes, Ansible, Terraform), web development walkthroughs, and the occasional AI experiment, often as a series where each post picks up where the last one left off. The goal is less "follow these steps" and more "here's how I thought through it, what broke, and what I learned." Come for the hot Kubernetes content. Stay for the architecture diagrams.
> How it all fits together
A Bird's-eye view of the homelab: one cluster, one user. The full map goes three levels deep if you want to dig in.
Curious how this site is built?
> Inspect System ArchitectureThe Abbottland Promise
Before AI, reading on the internet carried an unspoken contract: your attention for something real. That went without saying.
It no longer does.
AI may help me sketch an outline, spark an idea, or workshop a bad joke, but it does not write the articles you read here.
Every post and every diagram on this site is written by a human - me - with ten fingers.
That contract still holds here.
All AI-generated text on this site is explicitly labeled.
Try it out - use the panel on the left side of the screen to highlight this AI-generated text.
Diagrams & Interfaces
This site leans on a couple of dedicated tools, purpose-built for its diagrams and interface - I designed and built both myself.
Diagram Maker
Every architecture diagram on this site was drawn with Diagram Maker, a diagramming tool I designed and built myself. Sketching out systems visually is one of my favorite parts of software engineering, so I built the editor I wished existed.
diagram-maker.abbottland.ioFUI Components
The glowing panels, animations, and small interactive touches across this site come from FUI Components, a 'Futuristic UI' component library I built and maintain. Outside the constraints of a corporate design system, it has been a fun outlet for animations and non-essential features I rarely get to build at work.
fui-components.abbottland.io
About Me
I am a software engineer based in Saint Paul, MN, with a passion for writing efficient code and fostering team success. With over a decade of professional experience since 2010, I specialize in designing robust architectures, implementing DevOps best practices, and continuously improving my skills. I have a strong commitment to writing high-quality code and collaborating with others to achieve optimal results.
Outside of work, I maintain a small homelab to practice and explore new technologies. I've been using Ansible to manage my infrastructure via the repository home-playbooks and Flux to manage my GitOps configuration via the repository home-kubernetes. Within this infrastructure and among these hosted services, I have deployed custom web applications which are managed by the monorepo: home-web-apps. These experiences have not only improved my technical skills but also taught me valuable lessons in project management and system scalability.
When I'm not at the keyboard, I enjoy connecting with family, playing video games, and cooking. I moved back home to Seattle with my wife Marie in 2016 to be closer to my family and then to Saint Paul, MN, in 2023 to live closer to Marie's family after having two children. In my free time, I love playing factory-simulation games like Satisfactory, Factorio, & Dyson Sphere Program, which fuel my creativity and problem-solving skills. I also enjoy shooters like Call of Duty, Halo, & Battlefield, to stay connected with my hometown friends. Cooking Mexican and Korean cuisine is another passion of mine, as I find joy in sharing great food and connecting with others. At my groom's party just before my wedding, I cooked a Mexican feast for nearly 35 guests - a memorable experience that highlights my love for both cooking and bringing people together.
As you read through this blog, you'll see that I value my craft as a software engineer as it allows me to bring out my creative side. It is my hope that you might find inspiration in doing the same with your own practice or profession as you explore the content of this website.