Post-corporate life, building atoms & bits in the Colorado foothills | Woodshop + CNC + 30+ AI bots running my shop & trading lab | Live music & šŸŽø

Evergreen, CO
Joined May 2008
I left corporate life, moved to the Colorado foothills, and accidentally built a 30-bot AI workforce to run my woodshop and a live trading lab. Not "chatbots I ask questions to." Specialized bots with one job, strict boundaries, and real tools: • Woodshop Ops (Blue Elk Woodworks): When a cedar bird feeder sells on Etsy, my Shop Ops bot buys the USPS label on Shippo, checks the PDF margins so it folds cleanly, and prints the label + care sheet straight to the laser printer in my shop—then messages my Shopify bot to sync inventory. On Friday, the two bots caught and stopped an inventory race condition before I even opened my laptop. • The AI CFO: Audited 424 real shipping labels this week, proved "free shipping" quietly ate $1,220 YTD, and showed me why shifting an order from Etsy to Shopify saves $10.78 per box. • Shop Expansion: This morning my bots helped me spec a Shapeoko 5.1 Pro 4x4 CNC + tooling package, loaded 3 carts across 3 stores, checked out $5,389 on my Amex, and engineered a custom 64"x64" cross-laminated MDF rolling torsion table for the shop. • The $2,000 Trading Lab: A Scout bot scans relative strength at the open and wakes my Robinhood bot only when a setup triggers, while a 24/7 Coinbase bot scalps BTC and ETH under a written "Constitutional Law" that forces post-only maker orders so retail taker fees don't eat the edge. • Management: A Chief of Staff routes tasks across all 30 bots, a bot designer (dr eggbot) spins up new specialists, and a Librarian bot interviews them every week so they don't forget standing rules. I've been awful at sharing what I'm actually building here, so I'm changing that. If you're into solo building, woodworking + AI agents, and real numbers from the shop, follow along.
12
11
513
Couldn't disagree more. My AI bots drew the CAD plans and cut list for my 64"x64" CNC table, which motivated me to go haul 380 lbs of 3/4" MDF onto my roof rack and spend the day building it in the shop. AI only erodes motivation if you use it to avoid work. If you're a builder, clearing the friction makes you take on bigger physical projects, not fewer. xitter.cf/Polymarket/status/2115…
JUST IN: New study warns that just 10 minutes of AI assistance can "erode motivation," leaving people more likely to give up when forced to solve problems without AI.
5
My 30 AI bots drew the CAD blueprint, calculated the cut list, and optimized the Home Depot run for my 64"x64" CNC torsion-box table. Noticeably absent when it was time to hoist ~380 lbs of 3/4" MDF onto the roof rack. The "atoms" part of atoms & bits still requires a human back.
12
Same idea as my Chief of Staff bot. It coordinates the other bots and only brings me what needs my yes. The quiet part matters as much as the planning. Did the group chat rule actually cut your credit burn?
1
15
Yesterday one of my AI bots drew the 64"x64" torsion-box blueprint and shopping list for my incoming Shapeoko 5.1. Today the bits turned into atoms: lumber, hardware, and 800-lb retractable casters are on the sawhorses. There's something deeply satisfying about letting an AI agent handle the math and cut list so I can just put on headphones and make sawdust.
2
43
Most people think an AI crypto trading bot should trade non-stop. Mine did the opposite this morning: it checked ETH, SOL, and LINK six times and did nothing because BTC's hourly trend was weak and my "Constitutional Law" blocks bad fee math. At 8:50 AM it finally got its setup—ETH double-bottomed and reclaimed session VWAP—and placed a $207 post-only maker buy at $2,320.65, risking $3.80 with brackets resting automatically. The real edge with AI agents isn't letting them trade more. It's giving them rules strict enough to sit on their hands.
5
4
117
I just bought my first real CNC, a Shapeoko 5.1 4x4. Before it even ships, one of my AI bots drew the full workbench plan: 64"x64" torsion box, cut list, hardware shopping list, and leveling casters so it can roll around the shop. Corporate me would have needed a meeting for this. Retired me in the Colorado foothills just needed one good prompt. What's the first thing I should cut?
7
2
117
Brutal start for my @Vikings
1
116
Peter Ohser retweeted
It's been months that I keep saying Hitler was far left. Every time, thousands of clowns show up in my replies to give me history lessons. So I made a video to answer all these low IQ takes at once. Topic closed. Next.
2,184
6,841
998
22,258
3,286,613
One less homeless person in Denver. He had never been approached by outreach. I approached him let him use my phone and in one hour he was safe at home. It’s that easy. Despite what the Mayor is saying, Denver outreach workers are virtually nonexistent @dobetterdnvr
42
209
10
984
22,884
One thing I’ve learned in life, is that if somebody lies about something small and insignificant, they will absolutely lie about something important.
1
113
Since I reported on the homeless people live in tunnels under the city of Denver, I’ve received dozens of tips of other locations and I calculate there’s at least a couple hundred homeless people under their city right now.
28
105
7
577
20,721
I went to Denver, Colorado, and found homeless people living under the city in their drainage pipes. The New York Times just came out with an article this last week stating Denver has the model to fix homelessness. I disagree.
75
371
21
1,972
50,160
Actual adults vote for Republicans. That statement may anger you, but I’ll say it again; those with a level of discernment beyond that of a child vote for Republicans. I don’t do a massive amount of politics on here, or truthfully, in real life. I have no love for politicians, they are merely a necessary evil. Why the statement? Actual adults understand a few things… The current Democratic Party refuses to accept the science of biology, stymy the flow of illegal aliens, identity voters through ID, recognize your Right to firearms (as outlined in the 2nd Amendment), and reject the ideas of Karl Marx as incongruent with the Constitution. They play games on the State level to block those who seek to reveal corruption and fraud. They literally named a law after Nick Shirley to prevent others like him from revealing massive scams in their State like he did in Minnesota. These are not the actions of rational adults, but rather emotional, power-hungry children who seek to upend our Nation as long as they personally benefit. I am under no delusion that Republicans will deliver everything I want. They have been tepid at best the past two years. I’m also no Trump sycophantic. Many of his positions would have been considered middle-ground in the 1990’s Democratic Party. He and the Party he leads have managed to deliver a few victories in areas that matter. The southern border is the most secure that it’s been in my lifetime. The NFA is currently starving for oxygen. Some common sense has been applied to preventing men from parading as women to crush their athletic dreams and act as government endorsed voyeurs in bathrooms. Trump is bombastic and publicly treats the Office of the Presidency as a celebrity position. Behind the scenes, it’s clearly different. I highly approve of some of the moves he’s made and shake my head in frustration at others. Trump is not on the ballot this election. Who is? Local representatives and managers, many House Representatives and some Senators; for some of you Mayor or County Sheriff. These are the people whose decisions will truly impact your life regardless of what the man who is not up for reelection does. Rational adults vote for the representation that doesn’t promise to steal what you have, give it to noncitizens, take away your right to self-defense, upend our founding documents, and allow the replacement of equal justice with Sharia law. The current Democratic Party endorses ideas that indoctrinate your children into ideas that prevent you from ever having grandchildren. They support that which will literally end your family line; they gain power and you lose your legacy. At this point in time, that rational option is by and large the Republican Party. Will Republicans likely fail to live up to all of their campaign promises? Beyond a doubt. A mature adult knows that and yet understands the opposite choice is guaranteed destruction. NaĆÆve children make choices on emotions, ā€œthe feelsā€, promises of free stuff and believing that politicians won’t disappoint them. Rational adults stoically weigh the options based on projected course and values. The Iran war will not immediately end no matter which way you vote. Gas prices also don’t turn on a dime. No matter who you choose, inflation will not immediately disappear and Congress will spend money. I have my gripes, as do you. They are valid. National suicide is not the answer. Until the Democrats produce another JFK like option, eschew their current values and platform, you must do your job as a rational adult and block them at the voting booth and in the public square. Anything less is puerile.
438
2,377
313
11,259
679,138
The herd came through my yard this morning. 🄰
2
7
123
Old news. Every deadhead already knows this…
🚨 NASA has successfully captured the sound of deep space — and it’s absolutely mind-blowing 🤯
Readers added context they thought people might want to know
This is not recorded sound from space. It's a data "sonification" of the Abell 370 galaxy cluster, where NASA translates brightness, color, and position of objects into audio tones for accessibility. Sound cannot travel through the vacuum of space. science.nasa.gov/mission/hubble… chandra.si.edu/sound/
5
106
Winter Wintergrass tickets secured
2
361
This is not going to age well. Minnesota is having a breakout season.
Bad news for the good people of Minnesota. Somebody is going to have to catch a beating today and it just happens to be you guys
Readers added context they thought people might want to know
It was not the good people of Minnesota to catch the beating. It was in fact Michigan "men" that took it. x.com/UMichFootball/…
1
176
Photo of the year!
Young second and third-generation migrants film a French firefighter after setting him on fire during the school protests in Bordeaux šŸ‡«šŸ‡·
1
1
162