Posts on OrganizedChaos

BinDex

Sun, 12 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Over the years, I’ve accumulated so many random parts, cables, tools, and other things that it’s been impossible to keep track of them all. So much so that when I’ve started a project, I’ve reordered things I already had on hand because I didn’t remember I had them in the first place.

I explored existing inventory software (UnderMyRoof, HomeBox, and many other random iPad apps), but they all seemed like overkill and too complicated for what I needed. My idea was a simple, single-page web app backed by a SQLite database that could run as a Docker container on my NAS. I had existing Node.js scaffolding from previous projects that would work here, but why do it myself when I could have Codex one-shot it?

Receipt Printing Adventures

Sat, 09 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

This was a quick and fun little project that I cobbled together based on some similar projects I’d seen on Twitter.

The idea is simple: push a button, and a “daily summary” report prints out. It has the date, weather, upcoming rocket launches, stock info, and a daily fact and quote.

I also decided to add a second button that prints out a random picture of my girlfriend and me. (It seemed like a fun little Easter egg!)

Labels Made Easy

Sat, 15 Jun 2024 13:19:57 -0400

I work as a systems engineer at a big tech company, but back home my family is in the bakery business. In my spare time, I like to build things to help make the bakery more efficient and organized. By far, my biggest bakery project has been an order tracking system I like to call OrderMonger, but that’s a story for a different day. Today, I want to talk about the inventory labeling system I built from scratch in less than two weeks.

Office Shuffle

Mon, 27 Nov 2023 00:00:00 +0000

After ~2.5 years with my current home office setup, I decided it was time for a change. More of my workloads were moving to DigitalOcean so I was relying less on my in home compute (power, cooling, and noise are issues as well). My hobbies were also evolving and I wanted to make room for a workbench setup along with a 3D printer. Let me walk you through it all.

ESXi Cluster - Part 1

Sat, 11 Dec 2021 18:39:50 -0500

A few months ago a friend of mine was offloading some old(er) 2U Supermicro Servers. I decided to grab a couple and turn them into a 2-node ESXi cluster!

Part 1 of this series will focus on specs, cabling, and IPMI configuration.

Raspberry Pi Pico Temperature Sensor

Sun, 21 Nov 2021 08:26:48 -0500

For only $4 I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to tinker with the new(ish) Raspberry Pi Pico!

Raspberry Pi Fan Controller

Sun, 25 Jul 2021 00:00:00 +0000

For the last year and a half, I have been iterating through different versions of a Raspberry Pi cluster. There is a ton of information I want to share about the cluster, but for now, let’s focus on how I keep it cool.

A little background first. The Pi cluster takes up 2U at the back of my rack and is sandwiched between my EdgeSwitch 48-Lite and EdgeSwitch 16 PoE. The Pis are all powered via PoE HATs. The PoE HATs significantly reduce cable clutter, and they also include a 25 × 25 mm fan to keep each Pi cool. The only downside is that the 25 mm fan is obnoxiously loud at full speed. Multiply that across seven Pis, and you can definitely tell when the fans have spun up.