Tag: life

Growth Happens Before You Feel Ready

Growth Happens Before You Feel Ready

JakeLeave a comment

This weekend felt like one of those moments where you realize life is changing while you’re still trying to keep up with it.

My son suddenly wants to help with everything outside. Not just ride along on the mower for fun, but actually help mow the property, do weed eating, and be part of the work. We spent part of the weekend working on the land together and somewhere along the way it hit me that he’s growing. He’s starting to become capable.

That sneaks up on you.

We also spent time planting flowers, working around the property, and dealing with spring projects. I hatched a few more chicks this week too. Some made it, some didn’t. That’s just part of raising animals and living a little closer to nature. Things grow, things fail, and you keep moving forward.

Mother’s Day was good too. Family time, good weather, slowing things down for a minute. Watching everything my wife does for our family always reminds me how much growth happens quietly in the background while everyone else is focused on bigger, louder things.

At the same time, the technology world feels like it’s changing faster than ever.

Every week there’s another AI announcement, another new model, another prediction about how everything is about to change. Some of it is hype, but some of it is real. You can feel the shift happening underneath everything now.

That’s part of why I’ve been so focused lately.

CoffeeBreak is evolving quickly. My thinking around orchestration, memory, smaller expert systems, and long-term AI behavior is changing almost weekly right now. Jibo keeps improving little by little too. New versions, new features, more personality starting to come back into the system.

It feels like a lot of things are growing at once.

Some of it is exciting.
Some of it is uncertain.
Most of it is happening faster than expected.

I think that’s just life sometimes.

You make plans, and then growth changes the shape of them.

Your kids grow.
Technology changes.
Your priorities shift.
New opportunities appear before you feel fully prepared for them.

And somewhere in the middle of all of it, you realize the future isn’t some distant thing anymore.

It’s already showing up around you in small ways every day.

The trick is noticing it while it’s happening.

☕

Cozy farmyard reflections at golden hour

Working Through It

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Lately I’ve been focused on making progress.

Not the kind you see in demos or announcements. The kind where you’re just trying to move things forward a little at a time. Fix something. Improve something. Keep things from drifting too far off course.

That’s been true across everything.

Work has been steady. I had a good onsite with a client. Productive, grounded, the kind of work that reminds you why experience matters. At the same time, I’ve been pushing forward on my own projects. Jibo has mostly been regression testing. Fixing things, breaking things, trying to get to a version that feels stable. Versions don’t mean much without users, but they help me stay disciplined. They give me something to work toward.

CoffeeBreak has been a different kind of work. Less visible, more foundational. Thinking through user experience, agent loops, how systems should behave over time. Not just what AI can do, but how it fits together. I find myself thinking more about structure than features. Planning for things like memory, cost, how to use smaller models effectively instead of just reaching for the biggest one available.

It’s a lot of thinking. A lot of iteration.

And then there’s everything outside of that.

We’ve been spending time as a family, which has been good. A few days off helped reset things a bit. Spring is here, so we’ve been working outside more. Planting, tending to the land, adding more chickens. It’s work, but it’s a different kind of work. Slower. More tangible.

Not all of it goes the way you want.

Today was one of those days. We lost a few baby chicks. One didn’t make it out of the shell. One probably got trampled. Another overheated. That’s just part of it, but it doesn’t make it easier. You try to do everything right, and sometimes it still doesn’t work out.

That’s nature.

I’ve still got others at different stages, more eggs in the incubator, so it’s not a loss that sets us back. But you feel it anyway.

Same with the dogs. They’re getting older. You start to see it in small ways at first, and then more clearly. It’s part of the cycle, but it’s not something you really get used to.

Mother’s Day is coming up next week. That brings its own mix of emotions. Losing my mom still feels recent, even though time keeps moving forward. At the same time, I see everything my wife does every day for our family, and it puts things in perspective.

All of it together, it’s just life.

Messy, sometimes frustrating, sometimes really good. Rarely clean or predictable.

I think that’s why I don’t get too caught up in perfect outcomes anymore.

Whether it’s building systems, raising animals, or just trying to take care of a family, progress usually looks the same.

You keep showing up. You keep adjusting. You take the wins where you can, and you learn from the rest.

And you move forward.

☕

Cozy workspace with a lakeside view

What Building AI Actually Feels Like Right Now

JakeLeave a comment

There’s a lot happening in AI right now.

Every week there’s something new. Smarter models, faster responses, better benchmarks. If you just follow the headlines, it feels like everything is accelerating perfectly.

But building with it feels different.

It reminds me a little of when I first started working with computers. Back then, nothing was polished. You didn’t just install something and expect it to work. You had to figure things out, piece by piece. Manuals, trial and error, late nights. When something finally worked, it wasn’t because the system was perfect. It was because you understood it enough to make it work.

That’s where AI feels like it is right now.

I’ve been spending time bringing Jibo back to life. It’s been fun, a little nostalgic, but also a reality check. When you move from demos to something that lives in the real world, everything changes. Timing matters. Context matters. Small failures stand out. Things don’t just need to work once, they need to keep working.

And that’s where things start to break down.

Not because the AI isn’t good. It’s actually impressive. But because everything around it is still rough. Getting systems to talk to each other, keeping them aligned, knowing when to step in as a human. That part is still messy.

It’s kind of like working in an old shop. You’ve got great tools, but they’re scattered everywhere. Some are new, some are worn down, some don’t quite fit together. You can build something solid, but only if you know how to use them together.

That’s the part people don’t see in the demos.

The demos are clean. Controlled. One path, one outcome.

Real life is not like that.

Real life is interruptions, edge cases, things that almost work, things that work until they don’t.

That’s what building AI actually feels like right now.

And honestly, that’s what makes it interesting.

Because this isn’t the end state. This is the phase where things start to become real. Where the difference isn’t just who has the best model, but who can actually make it useful.

That’s the part I keep coming back to.

Not just what AI can do, but how it fits into real life. How it works with people. How it holds up over time.

That’s where the work is.

And it’s also where the opportunity is. ☕

Easter stroll in a sunlit field

Easter, Time, and What Actually Matters

JakeLeave a comment

As I sit here on Easter reflecting on the day, a few things are on my mind.

For me, Easter is about faith. About resurrection. About the idea that something new can come from what felt finished.

But even outside of that, there’s something about this time of year that everyone can feel.

Spring. Growth. New life.

And time.

Time is the part that keeps hitting me.

My son is three and a half now.

I can still remember when he was born like it was yesterday, and now he’s running around the yard, talking, laughing, figuring things out in his own way.

My mom passed away last year.

My dad passed when I was 18. He was 50.

I’m 48 now.

That gets your attention.

It makes you look at things differently.

Today was a simple day.

We had family over for Easter lunch.
We went out in the field and flew kites.
We walked around the chickens and the garden and talked about what might grow this year.

Earlier in the day I took a walk with my wife and son and the dog out in the field.

Nothing big. Nothing complicated.

But those moments stick.

They feel different.

At the same time, life keeps moving.

I’m building CoffeeBreak.
Working with clients.
Still at TFL.
Fixing things when they break.
Working on bringing Jibo back to life.

A lot going on.

And somewhere in all of that is a simple thought that keeps coming back.

I want more of those moments.

More time in the field.
More walks.
More afternoons that don’t feel rushed.

That doesn’t happen by accident.

It means making changes.

It means deciding what matters and actually acting on it.

In a way, that ties back to what I’ve been building.

So much of what we do in technology is about speed. More output. More systems. More everything.

But if it doesn’t create space for the things that actually matter, what are we really optimizing for?

That’s been on my mind today.

Easter is a reminder that things can change. That new life, new direction, new priorities are always possible.

I’m thinking about what that looks like for me.

Not someday.

Soon. ☕

Letting People See the Work Before It’s Finished

Letting People See the Work Before It’s Finished

JakeLeave a comment

There’s a moment in building something where you have to decide who you’re optimizing for.

Early on, it’s just you. Then maybe a small set of ideas, sketches, or prototypes. Eventually, you reach a point where the work is real enough that keeping it completely private starts to hurt more than it helps.

I think I’m at that point now.

The Tension Between Polish and Learning

There’s a strong pull to wait until something feels “done” before letting anyone see it. Polished. Documented. Fully formed.

The problem is that polish often hides the most important feedback.

What I care about right now isn’t applause or adoption. It’s learning. I want to know where people pause, what they misunderstand, and which assumptions don’t survive first contact with reality.

That kind of insight doesn’t come from dashboards or signups. It comes from thoughtful eyes on unfinished work.

Choosing Who Gets to Look

I’m not interested in opening the floodgates yet. Early feedback shapes products, whether you want it to or not, and I’m being intentional about who helps shape this one.

Peers. Builders. People who understand tradeoffs. People who are comfortable saying, “This part feels off,” instead of just asking for features.

That’s who I want looking right now.

Comfortable, Not Rushed

Letting people see something before it’s ready isn’t about being early. It’s about being honest about where the work actually is.

I’m comfortable with people looking. I’m comfortable with it being incomplete. I’m comfortable saying, “This is close, but not finished.”

What I’m not interested in is rushing past that phase just to say it’s launched.

There will be a time to open the door wider. I’m not there yet.

But I’m close enough now that letting people see the shape of it feels like the right next step.