aMusings
Always strive to be useful, with a certain degree of humor. Some days the humor behaves. Some days it needs supervision.
Posts
Not a diary. Not a manifesto. More like notes that survived the filter.
August 17, 2026. Incident Arcade started as a simple security challenge. Seventy-seven scenarios later, it has evolved into something much closer to a lightweight SOC simulation.
Incident Arcade · Security Training · AWS Security · SOC · SIGNAL//NOISE
August 17, 2026. An authentication mistake nearly turned a public security training app into an account wall. The fix became a broader product principle.
Incident Arcade · Authentication · Product Design · SATIE · Security
August 17, 2026. Instead of forcing public Arcade users into operational SATIE, we are taking the SATIE workstation experience to the public scenarios.
SATIE · Incident Arcade · SOC Simulation · Security Training · AWS Security
August 17, 2026. After adding scenarios, game systems, SATIE integration, telemetry, and responsive layouts, we stopped building and made the whole thing boringly reliable.
Incident Arcade · Engineering · Reliability · SATIE · Security Training
August 4, 2026. A few days of shoulder-surgery recovery turned into the launch of the DJames Network: three connected sites, applications, a security lab, certification training, and a whole lot of building.
DJames Network · DJames617 · HDJames · NerdDual · Security Arcade
August 1, 2026.
Recovering from surgery.
They gave me plenty of pain medication, but at this point I think I’d rather deal with the pain than deal with the side effects from the medication.
So I probably won’t be sleeping much.
One arm. No sleep. Nothing but time.
Might as well build something.
I’ve been meaning to put some real work into this site for a while anyway, and apparently recovering from shoulder surgery is as good a time as any.
So here we go.
Let’s build this thing.
July 2026.
Well, the new plan turned out to be surgery.
So I had it.
Apparently all of those dislocations came with some impressive-sounding damage:
Left shoulder soft tissue Bankart lesion from one o’clock to seven o’clock.
And a large off-track Hill-Sachs defect.
Boy.
I knew the shoulder was messed up. I didn’t know it had a résumé.
So now I’m recovering from surgery, working with one arm, and thinking back to the brilliant decision that started all of this.
Leo was worth protecting.
But I can tell you one thing with absolute certainty:
I am never fighting a dog again.
Retirement is permanent this time.
June 2026.
So apparently my shoulder has decided physical therapy was merely a suggestion.
Three dislocations.
In one day.
And not the usual slip-out, slip-back-in nonsense. Those hurt enough. These were full dislocations.
The first time, I could not get it back in. I had to twist, contort, negotiate, pray, and somehow managed to put my own shoulder back where it belonged.
Thought I was done.
Went to sit down.
Pop.
Again.
Two full dislocations in one day? Get the hell out of here.
Got it back in.
Then it happened a third time.
At that point, the shoulder had made its position perfectly clear.
I’m on the phone with the doctor now. If they can get me in tonight, I’m going.
PT had its shot.
Time for a new plan.
February 2026.
Finally went to see the doctor about the shoulder.
Good news: it may be fixable with physical therapy.
I’m definitely hoping PT can get me through this, because the shoulder and I are currently not on speaking terms. I’ve had a few dislocations since the injury, and let me tell you:
That shit hurts.
So this is the plan.
No heroics. No fighting dogs. Just exercises, rehab, and trying to convince my shoulder to stay where God put it.
Let’s go, PT.
October 2025.
My mother always told me a hard head makes for a soft bottom.
She was right.
I was walking Leo when a dog came running out of its backyard to attack him. Naturally, I stepped in to protect Leo.
Leo was fine.
I came out of it with a badly torn shoulder and a dislocated knee.
I used to fight dogs when I was younger, and somehow, up until this point, I was undefeated.
Apparently age, wisdom, and common sense finally caught up with me.
So after an impressive career spanning several decades:
I am officially retiring from dog fighting.
Undefeated no more.
Leo protected.
Lesson learned the hard way.
Mom wins again.
November 10, 2023. Satie tested positive, then the rest of the house joined the party nobody invited. Plans fell apart, everyone felt awful, and at least we got the kind of immunity nobody asked for.
October 31, 2023. We had a Halloween party. First time in my life doing that on purpose. Apparently people take Halloween very seriously now. Childhood class parties did not prepare me for this level of commitment.
October 17, 2023. I did it. I had a degree. I was happy enough to cry. I did not, but the option was technically available.
August 20, 2023. I kept getting distracted by grief and memory, then remembered I still had reasons to keep moving. Two more reasons, specifically.
Just me, myself, and I. Even when there is no one else around, I am never alone. Sometimes the three of them argue. We manage.
More
Less jokes in some places. More receipts in others.