Axel Valdez
Design Engineer
I am a design engineer with over 20 years of experience creating and managing websites and user interfaces for a diverse range of software applications. I currently head the UI Engineering team at LoanPro, helping develop cutting-edge loan management, servicing, and collections software that emphasizes automation and data visibility.
More in my about section.
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This section is a mix of the stream (very short, tweet-like posts) and medium to long form blog posts from the blog.
Yesterday I launched the website for one of my podcasts, Ferulita para el Alma (in Spanish). During the long weekend here in Mexico I hacked a bunch of stuff together to build the site automatically from the podcast RSS feed, and it worked!
11ty is awesome, and the nerd community sharing their how-tos more so ♥️.
Today I started the bargaining stage of quitting nicotine. I've found myself considering how bad will it be to be back. If the health benefits, the independence and freedom of not being tied to nic devices are even worth it against a sweet nicotine buzz. If I can be back only occasionally.
I have a very toxic relationship with nicotine, both literally and figuratively.
Alright, webmentions seem to be working now, but I need actual mentions to fully test 🙃
I'm not subtle enough to enjoy smoking cigars in the same way that I'm not subtle enough to enjoy classical music. Give me punk rock and a throat hit.
I’ve come to the realization that I don’t like to be drunk anymore. I dont know what changed, but the slightest loss of control gets me really uncomfortable.
After a relapse of six-seven months, I'm quitting nicotine for the second time in my life. Shit's hard.
I don't feel any physical manifestations, other than the impulse to look for the vape every 2 minutes, but I'm on the verge of an emotional breakdown at every moment.
Hopefully, this will be just a couple of days.
A cashier at a Circle K noted my "memento mori" tattoo and we had a quick but wholesome chat about it. I'm liking this kind of random connections way more than the ones that happen online. They feel more... authentic? organic? I don't know, but I like them.
With each day that passes, I increasingly remember the pandemic with a positive twist. It was far from good. It wreaked havoc on my mental...
May 31, 2023 · Read post →
Cory Doctorow writes the most compelling essay about blogging I've read, and for me the effect of the message is amplified incredibly because it reaches me at an excellent moment.
There’s a version of the “why writers should blog” story that is tawdry and mercenary: “Blog,” the story goes, “and you will build a brand and a platformthat you can use to promote your work.”
Virtually every sentence that contains the word “brand” is bullshit, and that one is no exception.
It’s funny how the old ways of thinking have been flipped. If I want to get work done, I stay home. If I want to socialise, I go into the studio.
From Jeremy Keith.