I don't have much loyalty to a stack. My setup changes often, but a few tools keep earning their place by making it easier to turn an idea into something useful.
Building products
TypeScript is my home base for product work.
For web apps, that usually means Ember, React, or Next.js. I reach for GraphQL when the frontend and backend benefit from a shared contract. For a smaller API, REST is usually enough.
My backend work moves between Java, Node.js, and Python depending on the job or project. Python is still what I reach for most often when I want to process data, automate something, or test an idea quickly.
I also still enjoy writing CSS directly. Grid, Flexbox, custom properties, and the cascade handle most of the work. On larger projects, I prefer Sass because it gives component styles and shared utilities a predictable place to live.
Agents
I use ChatGPT when I'm shaping an idea or trying to find the weak point in a decision. It also handles the less consequential stuff, like new recipes or whatever random fact I need answered at the moment. I use Codex or Claude once the work moves into a repository and context starts to matter: files, patterns, tests, and the surrounding system.
The biggest change is that small ideas are now cheap enough to try. Things that would have stayed in a backlog can become a quick prototype or a useful automation in an afternoon.
Around the house
My favorite tools tend to disappear into everyday life.
A while ago, I fell down the smart home rabbit hole. A few months later, I had replaced every light switch in the house, added automated landscape lighting, and built routines around my day.
The lights come on around sunset. The house responds when I get home. The temperature adjusts during office hours, the curtains open in the morning, and a robot cleans the floors.
None of it is particularly flashy. That's the point. The system removes small decisions I would otherwise repeat every day. At this rate, a JARVIS-style agent is probably next, mostly so I can pretend I'm Iron Man.