iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Andy Swick @techenby.com · 18/08/2026

Got a little can fridge for my new office and I love it!

A Black Frigidaire 6-can fridge on a shelf, on the front center there's a red can sticker with the text "Ship" and "Laravel".

In the background there's a 3D printed Lego flower planter.

Andy Swick @techenby.com · 06/08/2026

Last night I started to work on sunnyhome.app Routine feature in the Kiosk. Flux's Kanban components is going to make this super simple🎉

A view of a family kiosk with "Calendar", "Routines", "Chores", "Lists", and "Meals" on the left sidebar and in the main panel, there is a heading of "Routines" with a Kanban board with "Morning", "Maintenance" headings and tasks underneath them.

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Andy Swick @techenby.com · 04/08/2026

@tillythecoder.com and I are starting a podcast, Make Ship Happen. Our first episode will stream on YouTube tomorrow at 4 PM UK / 11 AM Chicago. But first, we need your help deciding on a logo! Comment with 1️⃣2️⃣3️⃣4️⃣ to vote for your favorite:

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Andy Swick @techenby.com · 04/08/2026

I’ve always been Diet Coke or bust kind of person, but recently this stinking monster has been making more of an appearance… tbd if it’s a good or bad thing.

A can of Blue Hawaiian next to a can of Diet Coke with my desk in the background

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Andy Swick @techenby.com · 06/06/2026

Yesterday I had the privilege of playing at the Chicago’s Symphony Center (where CSO plays). I’ve been in band almost continuously since 5th grade, but never thought I would be able to play at such a prestigious venue!

Andy taking a selfie on a wood stage with a concert hall in the background.

Andy standing in front of glass doors. To the left of them is a poster of the concert and above is a sign that says “welcome to symphony center”

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Andy Swick @techenby.com · 15/01/2026

Over the weekend, I printed this snap-together case. It holds my HRT, daily meds, and rescue migraine meds.

A 3D printed case on a wood coffee table. The print has a large compartment across the top that stores my syringes, and the bottom section is divided into three. The left section has three cylindrical holes for testosterone. The middle section takes up 75% of the bottom section. It's for storing alcohol wipes, but also conveniently holds my daily med case. The last section is small and holds some of my rescue meds.

A 3D print on a wood coffee table. It is the lid and snaps for the case in the previous image.

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Andy Swick @techenby.com · 30/10/2025

Super greatful that @calebporzio.bsky.social invited me to the first Wire:Live to share tips and tricks I've learned from building Livewire! It was an awesome chill conference. Thank you to everyone who said they enjoyed my talk! Recordings will be available soon.

Andy speaking on stage at Wire:Live. The slide has the text “once upon a time” and two developers are heading out on an adventure

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Andy Swick @techenby.com · 23/09/2025

I’m thrilled to announce that I will be speaking at Wire⚡Live next month! As someone who has used Livewire since its initial release, I'm excited to share the tips and tricks I use to write production-ready Livewire apps. Come to Buffalo to help make the first Wire⚡Live great!

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Andy Swick @techenby.com · 02/08/2025

Tighten onsite + Laracon was such a fun whirlwind! I had a blast chatting with old and new friends, and once again didn’t get enough photos with people (though I have more than last year)

Myself and Mary Perry both smiling for the camera, I’m wearing a blue button down shirt with lemons, my hair is currently silver, blue, and pink and is spiked up in front. Mary is wearing a black tshirt with a gray zip up hoodie, has her hair up in a ponytail under a black PHPxNYC baseball hat.

The Tighten team at a Game Show Battle Room, half of the team have sailor hats and the other half have rainbow cowboy hats.

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Andy Swick @techenby.com · 01/03/2025

Just typed "flux" instead of "flex" for the first time. I have a feeling that this typo will be more common for me the more I play with Flux 🤦🏻😅

A code snippet from a Livewire component using the Flux component library. Highlighted is a CSS class "flux" which should be "flex".

The code snippet:

```
<flux:main class="space-y-6">
<div class="flux">
<flux:card>
```

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Andy Swick @techenby.com · 27/02/2025

I love adding nerdy little references to my tests. I'm using Jim and Dwight from the office to show customer ownership. I love adding little nuggets like these to code bases.

A Laravel code snippet where I'm setting up a customer with two users attached. One is Jim, the primary user, and the other is Dwight, the secondary user.

```php
$customer = Customer::factory()
->hasAttached(
User::factory()->state(['name' => 'Jim']),
['is_primary' => true],
)
->hasAttached(
User::factory()->state(['name' => 'Dwight']),
['is_primary' => false],
)
->create();
```

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Andy Swick @techenby.com · 18/02/2025

Over the weekend, I decided to switch to PhpStorm, and the first thing I absolutely could not live without was my non-white light theme. Making a theme in PhpStorm is a different beast than VS Code, but I eventually figured it out (kinda). Now, I need to handle the actual editor's colors.

A side-by-side comparison of my custom light theme. On the left is IntelliJ IDEA, and on the right is VSCode. The IDE on the left has the same background colors as the right, but the editor section is different.

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Andy Swick @techenby.com · 16/02/2025

Isn't that all coffee?

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Andy Swick @techenby.com · 27/01/2025

It does help that I'm left handed, so it can go right in line with my trackpad and mouse.

A top down view of my desk. From the left to right there is a whiteboard, keyboard with wrist rest, and trackpad with wrist rest. In the background are a couple of LEGO minifigures, a timer, streamdeck, tiny dash board, assorted LEGO pieces, airpod case and phine charger.

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Andy Swick @techenby.com · 27/01/2025

A week or two ago I got this little (6”x8”, 15cm x 20cm) white board for jotting down quick thoughts. It has been so helpful for me! I can jot down quick notes and then move them (if needed) to a more “permanent” place. www.amazon.com/dp/B09MZ5ZD4N

A small white board with a blue dry-erase marker. It is on a bamboo desk, and a couple of LEGO minifigures are in the background.

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Andy Swick @techenby.com · 25/01/2025

It’s always nice to have a lazy morning! I’m playing Stardew Valley and cuddling with the dogs.

A white and black dog laying on a blue blanket.

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Andy Swick @techenby.com · 30/12/2024

I can send a link in a little bit, but you could copy/paste the alt text. (I need to add an unauthenticated way to view my recipes)

Cheesy Potato Soup Recipe by Andy Newhouse
30 min prep, 30 min cook, 1hr total time

Ingredients:
1100g Russet Potatoes (~4 large ones)
958 g veggie broth
250 g low-fat half and half
20g salt
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp garlic powder (to taste; this might be a little too much)
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp thyme
65 g sharp cheddar
150 g mild cheddar

Directions:
Peel and cut potatoes into 1" or less seized pieces (the bigger they are, the longer they need to get soft)
Put the potatoes, veggie broth, and half and half into a pot and boil (try not to let it boil over like I always do)
Add in spices
Turn the heat low once the potatoes are soft enough to stab them with a fork.
Blend with an immersion blender.
Add cheese slowly while stirring.
Once cheese is melted and incorporated, it's ready to eat!

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Andy Swick @techenby.com · 30/12/2024

3 batches of soup done! Hopefully this is enough (plus the mashed potatoes I’m making now) to get my spoose though their wisdom teeth removal.

18 servings of potato cheese soup divided into deli containers.

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Andy Swick @techenby.com · 30/12/2024

None of my pots are big enough to hold a double batch of my potato soup, much less a triple batch… so I’m using all my big pots.

Three large pots boiling soup on a gas range. A wooden spoon can be seen in the background.

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Andy Swick @techenby.com · 25/12/2024

More LEGO streams coming! Happy Holidays everyone!

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Andy Swick @techenby.com · 22/12/2024

I got an early Christmas present. Should I build it in my next stream? 😁

Alpine Lodge LEGO set with a Christmas puzzle in the background.

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Andy Swick @techenby.com · 22/12/2024

This is the kind of mac and cheese I approve of having an abundance of 😅

A baked mac and cheese with a breaded top on a stove

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Andy Swick @techenby.com · 21/12/2024

Wow I always assume Colorado has snow this time of year! Chicago has snow right now, but I bet its gone by Christmas day 😅

A sunset through some trees. There's snow on the ground and a shoveled sidewalk.

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Andy Swick @techenby.com · 18/12/2024

Here is how I print more bins right from my phone! They'll be ready before I get up tomorrow.

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Andy Swick @techenby.com · 18/12/2024

Now that I’ve been energized to work on my LEGO city again, after work today, I spent some time continuing my seemingly never-ending “reorganize my collection” project. These container are 3D printed Gridfinity bins that I printed on my Bambu Labs P1S.

LEGO tiles organized into 3D printed Gridfinity bins

LEGO pieces organized into 3D printed Gridfinity bins

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Andy Swick @techenby.com · 16/12/2024

I mentioned having a LEGO City on @leaht.codes stream, but realized I don’t have pictures of it anywhere. I’m reorganizing it right now but here it is:

LEGO City with buildings and a theme park in the background.

LEGO buildings, there’s a Dinner, then a Jazz club, a Bank, and in the background a restaurant

LEGO buildings, there’s a corner garage, movie theater, hotel and a few in progress building in the background

A mess of buildings with a roller coaster and beach in the background.

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Andy Swick @techenby.com · 24/11/2024

Got the dogs matching winter sweaters! They don't seem to hate them as much as I expected 😅

Two small dogs (one white terrier, one black poodle) looking at the camera wearing matching grey and red sweaters.

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Andy Swick @techenby.com · 21/11/2024

Introduce yourself with four video games

Pokémon Red title screen, Ash is holding a Pokémon ball and looking at a Charmander

A screenshot of Mario Kart Double Dash. Luigi is riding behind Mario as they drift around a sharp corner

Link chopping down a tree in Breath of the Wild

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Andy Swick @techenby.com · 17/11/2024

Just wrapped up my stream, thanks to everyone who stopped by! We were able to pull from my calendar feeds and make them appear on my Dashboard and with that I think this part of Sunny is complete :)

Dashboard showing time, date, weather for Plainfield, times in coworkers timezones, status updates for Andy and Ashar, a calendar, and schedules with appointments.

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Andy Swick @techenby.com · 14/11/2024

The look of someone who’s sleep was disturbed by me moving to get out of bed

Two dogs resting on a bed with a blue blanket; one black dog looks at the camera with a sharp side-eye, while the other light-colored dog is curled up sleeping.

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Andy Swick @techenby.com · 26/10/2024

My hotel room this weekend has a fun mount, how would you write the CSS for this div?

Hotel room TV mounted on a piece of dark gray wood. The top left and bottom right have large border radiuses, and the top right and bottom left have small border radishes.

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Andy Swick @techenby.com · 16/08/2023

Here’s mine, chat and music off to the side so I can focus

My desk, there are two monitors. The main 27” monitor has the Arc browser open with the original post open. On the left side of the main monitor is a smaller monitor with slack and Spotify open.

Under the monitors is a Diet Coke can, keyboard, trackpad, and a stream deck.

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