It has been a year full of decisions—some very difficult, others quite simple.

I continue to learn what it means to be a father, and it’s proving to be as complicated as I had imagined.

I’m not active on social media, and after the collapse of Twitter, I’ve been trying to revive my activity here on the blog.

On the professional front, I made the decision to leave Netcentric, where I worked for the past five years. I had a great time there, and it was a tough decision, but an exciting new opportunity came my way. I left the AEM consultancy world to join Alén Space, a company focused on building satellites. I now work on their Mission Control System software. So, while I’m still pursuing my career as a Java developer, I’m also taking on a more managerial role, leading a developer team.

In another change, after seven years of working with a Mac, I’m back on Linux—and I’m very happy about it. I also replaced my old home lab Dell T3500 workhorse with a sleeker Minisforum UM890 Pro, and it’s been amazing. For my home office setup, I’ve also switched back to OpenWRT with a Xiaomi AX3000T (with WiFi 6). I had forgotten how easy it is to configure OpenWRT.

This has also been a great year for my home automation journey. I started the year by moving Home Assistant to a small and efficient Orange Pi 3B. I’m extremely happy with the combination of Home Assistant and ESPHome. Home Assistant has become an essential part of our daily routine, mainly for climate control and air quality monitoring.

On a personal note, we moved from an apartment in the city back to our country house. This means more commuting, but it also means more comfort and a better school for our little one. I was disappointed by Santiago de Compostela—it’s turning into a theme park focused solely on tourism.

Finally, I replaced my 20-year-old diesel car with an electric one. I would have switched sooner if I had known just how great and affordable electric cars are. I chose a Tesla primarily for its price-to-technology ratio. I’m not a fan of the brand or their CEO, but the car has made living in the country much cheaper.

Happy 2025!