Hello and welcome, my name is Josh Reichardt and this is my blog. I love designing and building simple and scalable systems. Some of my more recent interests include building Docker, Rancher, Kubernetes, among other distributed systems, as well as automating infrastructure with code.
My journey in tech started in 2007 with a programming course in my first semester of college, and I’ve been hooked ever since. The concept of using logic and code to solve problems really resonated me and up until that point in my life, computers had been mostly a mystery. After discovering programming, I took a course the following semester to earn my A+ certification, where I learned about the various components of computer hardware, software and how all of the pieces worked together. Another aha moment for me.
Shortly after my introduction to computers and programming, I began tinkering at home, building my own computers and running Linux systems and haven’t looked back. I was able to channel my fascination with tech by turning it into a job as a computer technician, installing networks, setting up printers and in general learning how to troubleshoot and fix problems and work with people. Once I understood the basics, I was able to get a job as a Windows Systems Administrator where I continued growing by learning how to solve business challenges and increase my skills in areas like email administration and network design and administration.
At this point I really started to recognize how my skills could affect those around me. I came to the realization that the systems I worked on had and built have a direct impact on how quickly and effectively people could do their jobs. This thought added an extra layer of meaning to my work as I began to consider that I wasn’t just solving technical problems, but the decisions I made could directly help make peoples lives better.
Recently, I have come full circle in my journey, after rediscovered my interest in programming. After learning the ins and outs of system design and administration I have found myself curious about solving problems with code. I enjoy automating things and find problem solving with code interesting in general. I have found that automation and carefully crafted code can help improve others lives and save the business time and money.
My passion for tech makes it easy to learn and grow as an engineer. I find the process of learning, as well as teaching others is a great way to develop and improve, whether it be in tech or other areas of life. Therefore, I choose not to limit myself to specific technologies. Instead, I love to learn about and implement solutions that are best tailored to match problems that I am trying to solve and use this knowledge to help others solve their problems.
I usually like to stay busy with projects and various tinkering to better learn and understand how things work. This site is primarily a place for me to take notes on projects that I am working on or just to post interesting tech things. I try to publish only the unique and interesting tidbits that I discover along my journey. The posts that I write here are mostly for myself but as I mentioned, I also like to help people. I have found that the best way to help is just to write for myself first and not worry about the outcome.
Feel free if you want to connect you can find me on Twitter, or Github, or Facebook or email.