I build practical machines for messy work.

I started this machine because everything was done in separate spreadsheets that didn't connect to each other, weren't intuitive to update, and were hard to visually understand. Institutional knowledge was all scattered. So, I set out to create a repository that is functional, user-friendly, and customizable to what the non-profit needs it to do. What I love is that the workflows actually connect—a purchase request can become a reconciled bank transaction; a gift can become an editable letter, print pack, and mailing record; rescue history can enrich the same constituent record without losing its own meaning.

This non-profit didn't have a formal process in place for certain aspects of training or sharing information to active volunteers. The result was a lot of preventable confusion, different or unclear expectations, and lost information. A lot of training knowledge needed to be codified, so experience is preserved even if someone retires. This machine was built to help keep everyone informed, trained, and confident on the clock.

I did not want relationships, campaigns, money, projects, and follow-up living in separate universes. This machine is organized around the work people are actually doing together, so a contact can be connected to a campaign, a task, a project, a donation, and the person responsible for the relationship without rebuilding that context every time.

I built ThreadKeepr because my brain does not divide life into neat app-store categories. The part I love is the modularity: serious tracking, books, games, recurring chores, companions, reflection, and weird experiments can all live in one system without pretending they are the same kind of thing. Planet Work even gets its own visual environment so work does not colonize the rest of the app.

The problem here was not just tracking chores. Different people needed different private tools, while some things genuinely belonged to the household. I like that the system can keep a person's private routines and check-ins in My Space while family messages, reminders, and animal-care history remain appropriately shared.

The challenge of this project was helping physically distant people collaborate in a way that brought their ideas together and encouraged teamwork, while still maintaining ownership and individual responsibility.

This machine is a good example of how specific a custom system can get. It needed to be much more than a generic to-do list: the language, rewards, recurring logic, grouped rituals, little hidden interactions, and overall experience all had to fit one very particular person. I researched the source material thoroughly so I could build in small easter eggs and details that felt intentional while still meeting a set of very specific, niche needs.

I like this machine because the answer was not to throw away the spreadsheet. Google Sheets was already a perfectly reasonable data layer for a small operation; the problem was making that data pleasant to use. Apps Script let me put a purpose-built command center over the workbook, connect records across tabs, create searchable animal profiles and histories, keep photo folders in Drive, and give caretakers an interface that behaves like an app without forcing them into a much heavier platform.