About Brett
Intro
About This Experiment (And The Guy Behind It).
Hi, I'm Brett. I don't code, I procrastinate, and I have questionable judgment about project complexity.
What I do have is a stubborn fascination with no-code tools, an unhealthy relationship with AI, and apparently enough free time to document my digital misadventures for the internet's amusement.
This site exists because I realized that my weird learning experiments might actually be useful to someone else, or at the very least, entertaining enough to justify the hosting costs.
How I Ended Up Here (The Plot Twist Nobody Asked For)
Late 2024 brought one of those life curveballs that make you re-evaluate everything. After years with the Northern Territory Government, medical issues forced me to step away from a role I actually enjoyed.
Here's the thing about being in your early 50s with health problems, your superannuation is locked away like a retirement fund Fort Knox, and suddenly you're staring at financial reality like what am I going to do now?
The conventional wisdom said loudly to harden up and find another job, tough it out, stress about money.
My unconventional response was move to an Indonesian village for and try and stay there for eight or nine months of the year on the little I had saved.
The Indonesia Decision (AKA The Great Escape)
Living in Indonesia isn't some digital nomad fantasy (but I wish it was), it's practical mathematics. My Australian cost of living was unsustainable and Indonesian village life fits comfortably within my means, I realised quickly that I didn't actually need all the material things I had.
It's quiet here, it's simple and it's the kind of place where your biggest daily decision is whether to walk to the warung for food or cook yourself, to be honest it's cheaper for an individual to just buy it already cooked.
The trade-off? My partner is back in Australia, excelling at her career (I'm so proud of her) and probably wondering how she ended up with someone who goes off to live in another country because he is too proud to be financially provided for and too messed up to go back to a traditional work place.
She'd prefer me there, obviously. I'd prefer her to be here. But we're making it work, one over-engineered solution at a time.
What I Tried (And Why Everything Changed)
For months, I fell into the classic trap: researching "ways to make money online."
You know the drill—affiliate marketing courses, drop shipping schemes, "build a SaaS in 30 days" challenges. Most of it felt like digital scammery wrapped in productivity porn.
I built some small apps and automations using AI tools. They were fun, personally useful, and completely unmarketable. Turns out "Brett's Random Problem Solvers" isn't a compelling business category.
The Moment of Clarity (Or Giving Up, Depending on Your Perspective)
One morning, while staring at my laptop screen watching another "proven money-making strategy" YouTube, I had what psychologists might call an insight and my you may call stupidity.
The epiphany was to stop chasing money ideas, as it was getting me down and I couldn't put my heart into any of them, and start building things that will actually interest me.
Projects that teach me something new. Things that make someone smile (usually my partner, occasionally strangers on the internet). Solutions to real problems I actually have.
If work opportunities emerge later from my learnings like Upwork gigs, collaborations, someone paying me to automate their weird ideas then that would be fantastic. If not, I'm still building stuff I'm proud of instead of chasing metrics I don't care about.
What I'm Building Now (The Current Experiment)
This blog documents whatever project currently has my attention and the tech stack will change based on what I'm learning and what seems interesting. Today it could be AI agent use or some sort of automation. Tomorrow it might be self-hosted databases or even AI art experiments.
I'm documenting everything here including the successes, the failures, the 3 AM confusion sessions where I question my life choices. You can follow my progress in my blog posts, starting with my AI automation experiment. Follow along to learn from my mistakes, laugh at my struggles, or just watch someone do stuff the hard way for easy to solve everyday problems.
How I Actually Work (No-Code First, Code Never)
Let me be clear: I'm not "learning to code" in any traditional sense.
My memory isn't what it used to be (medical issues are delightfully comprehensive), but I still want to create things. So I've developed what I call the "No-Code First, AI-Assisted, Google-Everything" approach:
- Design systems using visual flow tools like n8n
- Ask AI for targeted code snippets when needed
- Glue pieces together with APIs and automation platforms
- Learn to read enough code to verify it won't destroy everything
- Annotate unclear parts using AI explanations
It's not elegant, it's probably not best practice and real developers will hate and despise me. But it works (sometimes), and it lets me build real things without spending two years learning code I'll forget anyway.
The Honest Financial Picture (Because Transparency Matters)
I accept tips if my experiments help you solve something or just brighten your day. Every contribution keeps the servers running and the coffee flowing, but there's absolutely zero pressure. I'm building this stuff whether anyone pays attention or not.
Affiliate disclosure: I choose tools based on research. Cost and actual usefulness are what matters, not commission rates. But yes, many links are affiliate links. If you buy something through them, I might earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. It helps cover hosting, domains, and the occasional celebratory coffee when something actually works.
I only recommend tools I genuinely use or believe will help. Life's too short for fake endorsements of software that sucks.
What You Can Expect Here
Honest updates about what I'm working on. What worked, what didn't work (for me anyway), why I nearly launched my laptop into the rice fields, and what I changed to fix it.
And maybe there will be Step-by-step guides for specific parts of whatever pipeline I'm currently building. Written for people who, like me, want to understand enough to be dangerous without becoming experts.
Honest Reflections
Living simply in Indonesia, navigating distance relationships, building things without a clue, and trying to find peace in the chaos of starting over in my 50's.
My Promise (The Non-Marketing Version)
No "5 AI Hacks That Will Change Your Life" clickbait.
No fake success stories about how I went from zero to hero in 30 days.
No tech bro nonsense about disrupting industries or scaling to millions.
Just consistent, transparent progress from someone building with what he has, where he is, one over-complicated solution at a time.
Some days I'll make breakthrough progress. Other days I'll spend six hours debugging something that should take six minutes. Both experiences will be documented with equal honesty.
Say Hello
Please don't hesitate to mail me with:
- Questions about a project? Ask away.
- Suggestions for better approaches? I'm listening.
- Think I'm doing this all wrong? You're probably right, but I'm having fun anyway.
Want to follow along? Subscribe, bookmark, or just check back when you need a reminder that someone else is also figuring it out as they go.
This is the story of building things that matter to me, even when (especially when) I have no idea what I'm doing. Welcome to the experiment.