### Man vs Machine — Or Maybe Man With Machine When I started learning Unix 30 years ago, it felt like a cross between a memory card game and a typing class. You had to remember obscure commands, chain them together like magic spells, and hope your mental model matched reality. Back then, the computer didn’t help — it judged you. Silently. Harshly. Syntax error after syntax error. Now? I pair program with Claude Code. And I’m telling you — it’s revolutionary. This isn't a productivity boost; it's a paradigm shift. I’ve admitted defeat. If you can’t beat them, join them. If the steam engine can cut a tunnel through a mountain faster than a hammer, then I'm no John Henry. Let the machine do what the machine does best. I’ve got other things to tend to. --- ### I’m Not a Software Engineer — I’m a Software Mechanic Man vs machine has been a trope for as long as machines have existed. But the truth is, I was never really in competition. I’m not a software architect. I’m not some elite coder who dreams in syntax trees. I’m a hacker. A builder. A tinkerer. I poke at systems. I duct tape APIs together. I have enough DIY instinct to build my own house (and have), but maybe you don’t want me building *yours*. That’s fine. Because I probably don’t want to either. --- ### The Machine Writes the Code. I Make the System. Here’s what AI has done for me: * I don’t need to memorize every command or syntax rule anymore * I can offload 80% of the scaffolding to the model * I get to **focus on process, architecture, insight** The computers write better code than I ever could. And that’s not threatening — it’s liberating. What used to take me months takes Claude days. Sure, it still needs intensive supervision, planning, and shaping. But that’s where my value is. That’s where the years of experience matter. So I stretch out more. Take more walks. Drink more coffee. Swim. Bike. Breathe. --- ### Tenacity Is My Power Animal I’ve spent decades working around software, not always inside it. Trying to get things to work. Breaking them. Fixing them. Banging my head against the keyboard, and then coming back tomorrow to do it again. I know enough to know when something smells wrong. I know how to design a process. I know how to make a system — not just some code. That’s what this moment is about. The computers are here. They’re fast. They’re good. They’re not perfect, and they’re not magic. But they are force multipliers. If you bring patience, humility, and experience to the table, the machine doesn’t replace you. It **amplifies** you. That’s what I’m after. Let it write. I’ll think.