🛠️ Who is Ok-TechBrokeDad?

I'm a regular dad who lives in Western Oklahoma and loves tech but often breaks it, gets broken by it, or it breaks my bank account. This blog posts about my survival in the digital age when budgets are tight and complexity is bit too high for my copy-paste level knowledge.

My Story: Broken Tech, Broken Budget

I started this blog as a public log of my attempts to keep my digital life running while being fiercely financially limited. For too long, I felt the pressure to buy the latest gadgets or pay for endless subscriptions. Now, I focus on the hard reality: if I can't fix it with a wrench, code, or a dollar-store part, it stays broken. This space is dedicated to practical troubleshooting, reviewing low-cost gear, and fighting back against planned obsolescence.

🧑‍💻 The Community & Open Source Mission

This blog isn't just about my problems; it's about sharing solutions. A core part of my musings here will involve the open-source community. I believe tech shouldn't be a locked-off, expensive club.

I'm writing about:

• Open Source Self-Sufficiency: Exploring no-cost alternatives to paid software and finding open-source solutions for common household tech needs (e.g., home servers, automation).
• Starting Local Projects: Documenting my interest in building community-minded tech projects—from small coding efforts to helping local organizations with low-cost digital tools. I want to move from passively consuming tech to actively contributing to my local community with it.
• The Power of Shared Knowledge: Encouraging repair culture and knowledge sharing so we all rely less on expensive corporate fixes and more on each other.

💡 What You Can Expect

Enjoy some writing of a dude burnt out from the digital grind, frustrated by complexity, or simply trying to get the most out of the least amount of money, with limited experience than Google-fu.

Some things

• Budget Reviews: Honest critiques of cheap or second-hand gadgets.
• Repair Logs: Step-by-step guides on fixing what I hope not to throw away.
• Open Source Musings: Thoughts and tutorials on running free software ecosystems.
• Project Updates: Progress reports on community-focused coding and "self-sufficiency" aka other "I'm broke" projects.