Hi, I'm Marc Lewis

A bit about me

At about 10 years old I became enamored with computers, starting with a Commodore Vic 20 and the corresponding tape drive. I spent all of my free time learning how to write computer programs and seeing just how much I could do with a tiny 8-bit processor and a few kilobytes of RAM. By age 14, I was doing freelance programming and running a dialup BBS. Things pretty much went down hill from there.

Fast-forward about 10 years to the early 90’s and I started up one of the first commercial ISP’s in Seattle, with a 56K connection to the Internet and a few modems. A year or so later, and we were providing hosting, had a T1 line and dozens of modems. I ran the ISP business for about 13 years before it was time to move on to something different.

Since then, I’ve run several businesses, consulted with even more, and most recently I have consolidated all of my side ventures under one company called Caffeinated Softworks. It is from there that I act as a consultant, fractional CTO, developer, fractional CEO, strategist, and entrepreneur.

I’m also a husband and father to two rapidly growing boys who also seem to also be leaning towards technology related interests. My wife Jessica and I have been married since the early 90’s, and in the early 2000’s, she was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis, she’s also got her own site Jessica Has MS.

I initially started this blog to make notes for myself and to share some interesting tips and tricks with a few associates. More recently, I have found that I truly enjoy writing it, and with a family that has a lot of gadgets and STEM type toys, we decided to start sharing our real-world experiences with these things with others. Mixed in with various product reviews you will also find posts on working with Linux, programming, and networking, and even parenting and school life.

My Skills & Experience

Over the past 30+ years, I’ve designed, built, maintained, and sometimes rescued systems across a wide range of industries—including telecom, real estate tech, compliance automation, and education platforms. I specialize in building infrastructure that lasts, platforms that scale, and internal tools that make complex workflows manageable.

I’m equally comfortable working as a solo developer, a fractional CTO, or a systems architect guiding a broader team. My focus is on practical, maintainable technology with clean architecture and strong separation of concerns.

A Note About The Tools I Use

I choose tools based on practicality and fit — not hype. I start with what I already know, but if that doesn’t solve the problem, I look elsewhere.

When I evaluate a tool, I consider:

• The stack it runs on: I prefer tools with minimal tech debt and a clean runtime — Go and Rust are ideal, while I generally avoid stacks that require heavy ecosystems like Erlang, Java, or overly complex Node backends.
• Whether it actually solves the problem I’m facing: Not just “close enough.”
• Compatibility with my existing environment: For business apps, integration with things like our central auth system (Zitadel) and preferred database (Postgres) is essential.
• Simplicity matters: I’ll almost always reach for something lean like PocketBase over something sprawling like Appwrite, unless there’s truly no alternative.
• Everything must be containerized: If I can’t run it cleanly in Docker, I won’t even consider it.
• Resource efficiency: Especially for self-hosting and homelab use, I run shared Postgres and MariaDB instances on my Synology NAS to minimize overhead — I follow the same model in production, usually with managed databases.

At the end of the day, I try to be deliberate and pragmatic. I use Caddy where it fits, and Nginx or Traefik where it makes more sense. I’m not loyal to tools — just to solving problems well.

Technical Highlights

• Backend & API Development
  Go is my current backend language of choice, though I spent many years in PHP (particularly Yii2). I’ve built REST APIs, message-driven systems, and backend services with custom authentication flows, webhook orchestration, and multi-tenant support.

• Frontend Architecture
  I build modern, reactive frontends using Vue.js, Quasar, and Nuxt. I prefer clarity over cleverness and have delivered everything from onboarding wizards to dashboard-heavy admin panels.

• Cloud-Native Infrastructure
  My services are containerized (Docker) and deployed using a repeatable, volume-backed structure across a shared Linode instance with Caddy as an ingress controller. I’ve run more complex setups on Kubernetes and orchestrated zero-downtime rollouts and multi-environment staging pipelines.

• Database Design & Optimization
  PostgreSQL is my go-to, with schema designs using sortable TSIDs, JSONB fields, full-text search, and efficient indexing. I’ve also worked extensively with Redis/Valkey, MySQL, and SQLite when appropriate to the job.

• Legacy Rescue & Modernization
  One of my specialties is stabilizing legacy PHP systems and migrating them—incrementally and safely—into maintainable Go or Vue-based platforms. I’ve rebuilt fragile infrastructure without downtime and helped clients move forward without rewriting from scratch.

• Security, Auth, and Identity
  I’ve implemented full OpenID Connect flows (Zitadel, Authorizer.dev, custom), token validation, and secure role/permission enforcement across multi-tenant systems. I’m comfortable managing JWTs, refresh tokens, and role-based access control inside distributed systems.

• DevOps & Tooling
  From custom FPM container builds to per-project build pipelines, I use automation to keep environments consistent. I manage my own monitoring, logging, DNS, backups, and staging environments.

Selected Projects & Platforms

• CallSphere / TrueRing – A hosted VoIP platform with custom SIP provisioning, routing, and billing
• Validox – A review and compliance platform for residential real estate appraisals
• Vueterix – A suite of AI-driven QC, bias detection, and appraisal workflow tools
• dittos.io – A community communication platform for schools and nonprofits
• Caffeinated Softworks – My consulting and development firm
• Numerous internal tools, client systems, billing platforms, and APIs built across a span of industries

I’ve spent a lifetime solving hard problems and building systems that quietly do their job. If it needs architecting, debugging, migrating, or modernizing — I can help. If it’s fragile and undocumented—I’ll figure it out. And if it needs to be scalable, clean, and reliable — I’ll build it that way.