Okay, so I've been thinking about this blog lately. I've spent the last several posts talking about Ireland, immigration, Irish history, planning this ridiculous transatlantic life change, school, work, and basically whatever else has been taking up way too much space in my brain lately. And I actually really enjoy doing that. I like researching things, falling down rabbit holes, figuring out how things work, and then coming back and going, "Okay, so apparently THIS is how th

Have you ever had one of those ideas that starts as a completely harmless “someday” thought, and then somehow turns into an actual plan? Not a daydream, not a vague bucket-list item, but something you suddenly realize you're genuinely going to have to figure out how to make happen? Yeah. That's basically how I ended up planning a move to Ireland. And honestly, if you'd asked me a few years ago whether I thought I'd ever seriously consider moving to another country, I probabl

I have an IT degree, but it's about ten years old. I also have more than twenty years of professional work experience, just not twenty years of IT experience. Now I'm trying to finally get that first real opportunity in the field while refreshing my technical skills, finishing my bachelor's degree, building my portfolio, and figuring out where I actually fit in today's IT job market.

Going back to school at almost 38 wasn't exactly part of the original plan. I've been trying to finish this bachelor's degree for nearly a decade, with work, family, financial survival, and a whole lot of life getting in the way. Now I'm back at Western Oregon University, working full-time, taking 16 credits, and finally getting into the IT coursework I've been working toward for years.

I built myself a new website, but this isn't just a replacement for my old one. Solo But Social is my little corner of the internet where I can document what I'm doing, what I'm learning, what I'm building, where I'm going, and the random shit I find interesting along the way. It's part personal blog, part portfolio, part ongoing record of a life that's still very much a work in progress.