Things with screws, wires, packets, pistons, pipes, or code.
A deliberately mixed shelf of the systems I like working on.
Repair & experimentation
Consumer electronics, components, test gear, embedded devices, control circuits, and whatever currently deserves a probe on it.
Retro to modern
Apple II, x86, modern PCs, servers, small-board computers, Raspberry Pi, and the layers between hardware and software.
Programming & integration
Business applications, automation, protocols, APIs, home automation, systems integration, and low-level experimentation.
Packets & infrastructure
Routing, switching, wireless, firewalls, DNS, mail systems, secure remote access, and the occasional truly stubborn intermittent problem.
Renovation, electrical & plumbing
Hands-on home renovation and construction, with a particular comfort around electrical, plumbing, layout, and practical engineering.
Cars & restoration
Repair, rebuilding, fabrication, and several frame-up automotive restorations where every subsystem eventually lands on the bench.
Usually less mysterious than advertised
Appliances make the list too, although I won’t pretend most of them are high wizardry. Diagnose the subsystem, find the failed part, fix the problem.
Signal chain obsession
Audio, video, home theater, receivers, displays, playback systems, network media, control, and the pursuit of making it all behave.
Physical systems meet software
Home automation, device control, sensors, media systems, embedded platforms, and custom integrations that bridge the physical and digital worlds.