Callsign: Old Dog

Retired Army aviator. Forty-plus years around the Army, in uniform and as a civilian.

Last of the Boomers - by birth, but not by behavior.

No CS degree, not a career programmer, no formalized training. But I build real software with AI, run my own Bitcoin & Lightning node, and daily-drive Linux — because I hate being owned.

First to the new tech my whole life; now I'm showing the work. Own your money, own your tools, own your machine...own your life.

Old Dog, out.

Last Notes

2026-07-08 12:08:47 GMT

No computer science degree. No bootcamp. I earned every cert I hold - A+, Security+, CCNA - alone, at the kitchen table, on my own time.
Nobody gave me permission, nobody required me to learn this. I just did.
You don't need a program. You need a reason and a Saturday. Start.

2026-07-06 02:45:53 GMT

Posted about building my own newsletter at 62. First two replies landed within the hour. Felt good — for about ten seconds.
Both were bots. Same formula: a little praise, then a confident Bitcoin stat with a "source" bolted on. One even fed me "62% of addresses are under a year old" — matching my age. Cute. Not a human.
And that stat? I didn't check it, and neither did the bot. A number with a "source" next to it isn't the same as true.
Bitcoin taught me the habit: don't trust, verify. Turns out it works on more than money.
Old Dog, out.

2026-07-05 21:24:06 GMT

Most newsletters are a rental. You're renting a spot on someone else's platform — they own your list, set the rules, can shut you off anytime.
I didn't want to rent.
So this weekend I built my own. 62 years old, no CS degree, an AI assistant riding shotgun. It runs on a computer in my house. Nobody can take the list.
It did not go smooth — five errors over a single email setting, a stray space I couldn't see, a colon in my own name that broke the whole works. Chipped at it till it flew.
The point: the frontier didn't leave without you. The tools got good enough that an old dog can build the actual pipes in a weekend.
New dispatch — the Old Dog Flight Log. What I actually built, bought, or broke. Bitcoin, AI, apps that run real work. First-hand or nothing.
Subscribe → callsignolddog.com
Own your money. Own your tools. Own your machine.
Old Dog, out.
#bitcoin #selfhosting #nostr #grownostr #AI

2026-07-04 22:26:00 GMT

A few years back, one of my sons was in a rough patch. The kind where a young man loses his footing and needs a reason to get up in the morning more than he needs advice.
So I didn't give him advice. I started a business — real work, early mornings — and put him to work. Purpose. A paycheck. Something to be good at.
It cost me. Mentally, physically, financially — more than I'll put in a post. I'd do it again tomorrow.
Today that business runs on software I built myself. My other son works it with me now too. My two boys, alongside their old man, in something we own.
That's the whole reason I build. Not for a demo — for the people at my table.
Old Dog, out.