Portrait of Alex V. Wilson

I build practical systems and small tools that reduce friction.

I’ve spent a long time focused on automation and reliability. These days I’m publishing new work, sharing notes as I go, and gradually turning old ideas into real projects.

This site is a living log of what I’m building. LinkedIn is my resume.

Featured build: Site Engine (HeadstringWeb.com)

A reusable foundation I built to power my websites and experiments, so I can ship without rebuilding the basics each time.

Highlights

  • Supports multiple sites with consistent structure and rules

  • Clear draft vs published behavior

  • Theming designed to work in light and dark mode

About

Calm systems, clear rules, steady progress

I’ve spent most of my career working on the kinds of systems where reliability matters, the work sits behind the scenes, and small mistakes can become big problems. That shaped how I think, I prefer clear inputs, predictable outputs, and tooling that makes work feel calmer.

What I’m optimizing for now

At this point, I’m most interested in roles that feel focused and sustainable. Smaller teams, clearer priorities, and a pace that leaves room for deep work. I’m remote-first, but flexible when the role fits.

I’m not trying to “escape” any industry. I’m choosing the kind of environment and cadence that helps me do my best work. If the right opportunity shows up in finance or another high-compliance space, I’m open to it.

What I’m doing right now

I’m working on Site Engine, a foundation for running multiple sites from one engine. It lets me ship without rebuilding basics each time, and it gives me a place to explore practical AI-assisted workflows, in a way that stays grounded in real constraints.

How I like to work

  • Clear rules and clean data shapes

  • Small slices, shipped and verified

  • Observability and failure modes considered early

  • Simple UI, strong backend discipline

If you’re hiring

I’m a strong fit for backend engineering, data-heavy work (SQL, ETL, pipelines), automation, and internal tools. I can’t share past employer code, but I can talk clearly about architecture, tradeoffs, and how to make systems more reliable over time.

If you’re a builder

I keep notes on decisions, mistakes, and what actually worked while building Site Engine and other experiments. No hype, just the process.

Site Engine

Powers HeadstringWeb.com and this site.

The system behind my sites and experiments.

Visit

MonkeyNutz demo site

A live sandbox to test features, experiments and workflows.

Visit

In progress: Small tools

Coming soon

A growing set of utilities and experiments I’m creating one by one.

Projects

A small aluminum desktop computer on a shelf, single amber status light glowing, network cable fading into shadow

The Mac Mini Is the Cloud Now

This week I deleted a cloud job runner and moved my site builder's AI onto a Mac Mini in my house. The reasoning beat the wiring.

A stethoscope coiled on a staffing roster clipboard on a dark exam-room counter, lit by hard amber side light against navy-charcoal shadow.

The Only Part of the Colorado Springs Job Market Still Growing Is Health Care

One in five new Colorado Springs jobs over the last decade was in health care, and for the last two years it is the only part of the market still growing. A QCEW data brief on the sector carrying the county, and the paychecks that stood still.

An open card-catalog drawer of index cards lit by warm side light against deep shadow

What Counts as a Closed Business?

An economic brief I published rests on a single number. The query was six lines. The hard part was deciding what "closed" and "in the county" actually mean across 1.5 million messy public records.

A dimly lit industrial pressure dial with its needle dropped low, mountain ridge faint in the background

The One Number That Shows Colorado Springs' Business Engine Stalled in 2024

For a decade, Colorado Springs started about four businesses for every one that closed. In 2024 that ratio fell to 2.52 to 1, its lowest on record. Here is what the Secretary of State filings show, and why the closures landed where they did.

Mechanical keyboard and small server module on a dark wood desk in warm amber side lighting

The Audit That Couldn't Save Itself

The audit found a real problem on one of my sites. Then it failed to save its own report. The real story of the week was a migration, not a check.

Close-up of a single illuminated mechanical keyboard key against dark cables and a reflected terminal screen

One JSON Line on Stdout

When the caller cannot read the room, the script has to put the room on stdout. One JSON line, one status field, everything else on stderr.

Close-up of an open server rack bay with amber fiber-optic cables in dim light

The Year 0003 Problem

Sixteen rows in a federal dataset claimed they were filed in the year 3. The schema lied, and that gap is where the real engineering lives.

Terminal screen glowing amber in a dark room, scrolling log output visible, cursor frozen mid-line

The Watchdog That Couldn't Fix It

A bash watchdog and the failure it couldn't restart: when your AI agent's CLI logs itself out and the only fix is a human at a keyboard.

Spiral notebook open on a dark desk with red pen marks, laptop screen glowing out of focus in the background

I Built My Own Analytics. Three Invisible Bugs Said Otherwise.

Building my own pageview analytics taught me that passing every static check and actually working are two very different claims.

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