Publishing pipeline automation | Ramblin' & Amblin' | Oct 23, 2026
Ramblin' & Amblin' Field Notes with Mike Hall (Staff Software Engineer)
Recorded on the move: engineering observations, systems architecture, and software craftsmanship reflections.
• Series Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLNtb969T2-l0
• The Sound Above Curriculum: https://www.just3ws.com/series/the-sound-above/
• Canonical Profile: https://www.just3ws.com
Spoken Overview:
"So, uh..."
Recorded: October 23, 2026
The Interviewer
Mike Hall
Host, Ramblin' & Amblin'
Mike Hall
Host, Ramblin' & Amblin'
▶ Speaking
So, uh, I appreciate everybody that is tolerating these
videos. I've been, uh, it's all part of the process, um,
and I feel like it's going pretty well, is, uh, right now I
'm at a place where I can come out and I don't feel as
stressed out about talking. Those first few days of recording were high pressure. I had
to, like, force myself out and, um, not just, uh, get, uh,
get used to talking, but hearing my voice as I play back
the audio and getting a sense for my publication pipeline,
um, taking a little bit of pressure, using that even to
take some of the pressure off, off of me for, um,
the anxiety of, of recording and knowing that, um, when I
start to do the Utastic Rewatch, um, that, uh, I'm gonna
have to listen to my voice for a long time and from an, uh,
era where my voice was, I wasn't yet, um, uh, sorry, um, I
wasn't yet diagnosed with, uh,
uh, ADHD.
Mike Hall
Host, Ramblin' & Amblin'
▶ Speaking
I didn't have any, I barely knew what autism was,
much less, um, thought anything about myself. I didn't know I talked different. I couldn't stand
listening to my voice. Um, I always was like, yeah, I
understand why people get annoyed talking to me because I
get annoyed talking to hearing myself too.
Mike Hall
Host, Ramblin' & Amblin'
▶ Speaking
Um, so, um, so all of this is part of that process to get
back to your calmer voice, less stressed, less anxious, and
more accepting of, um,
just how I talk. And, um, and, and, and also like spending
time thinking about what my mindset was when I was doing
those recordings. Um, and that's, uh, I accepted that certain things were
just, these are the tools I have at hand. And, um, I was
okay with being, um, DIY lo-fi.
Mike Hall
Host, Ramblin' & Amblin'
▶ Speaking
Um, now here, here's where the fun thing is, is for me, is
the, uh, pipeline. Um, I'm building out this publication
pipeline also to take the pressure off
of these videos. And what I have doing is a, or, um, um,
what I'm working on is, um, let's just say it is working,
but it's only retired one video so far. But the point is, is that I have a, I'm building out a
rolling window.
Mike Hall
Host, Ramblin' & Amblin'
▶ Speaking
So that way, uh, I publish a video and then
it, it will get delisted. I'll go private after a certain amount of time and, uh, be
removed from the playlist. So I have a kind of a living playlist of these Ramblin' and
Amblin' videos, uh, taking the pressure off me while I'm
talking out here. If I don't necessarily like the topic maybe I was on that
day or I was stressed out and I was flooding, um, those
videos, if I don't watch them or, or whatever, they'll,
they'll just appear.
Mike Hall
Host, Ramblin' & Amblin'
▶ Speaking
And then disappear, uh, from my playlist. But if I decide I
don't want to bring them back, they're, they're not deleted
. Uh, I can repin them back to the playlist. Um, so automating that, building out the pipeline, seeing
the AI hallucinate on user group names and all kinds of
stuff in the publishing pipeline.
Mike Hall
Host, Ramblin' & Amblin'
▶ Speaking
Um, you know, knowing that's part of something I'm
accepting at this phase of the, uh, of the project, um, it
's iterative. Um, so, yeah, it's, it's been, this, this whole going and
recording things has been, uh, putting like 15, 20,000
steps on a day. Getting out in a way and just walking around. I don't
always have the camera out.
Mike Hall
Host, Ramblin' & Amblin'
▶ Speaking
Sometimes I just walk around
the park while I'm trying to clear my head. Because like market has not been great. I've been so
stressed out. I have been so stressed out on interviews.
Mike Hall
Host, Ramblin' & Amblin'
▶ Speaking
But I'm seeing things that are, um, again, where that time
and experience and awareness is like, oh my gosh, I see us. This is the same, same nonsense that we were doing 10 years
ago, but the world is not 10 years ago. And why, why do I still see certain, uh, behaviors? Why?
Mike Hall
Host, Ramblin' & Amblin'
▶ Speaking
Because not everybody's felt it. They've heard about AI, but they've been working in a
company where they've been working for 5, 10, 8 years. And, um, you know, that's like maybe their second or third
job out of college. They had a boot camp or something, and now they're a
director.
Mike Hall
Host, Ramblin' & Amblin'
▶ Speaking
I'm sorry. I know you're successful and, like, you're
probably super smart, but, like, the, the, the gap is, um,
well, it's until you've had another decade or so, like, you
're not going to understand where I'm really coming from and
why what I'm doing is maybe not what you expect. Um, and the thing is, is the problem is, um, I come in kind
of preloaded with that in my mind. Uh, it's, it's, and I'm not the first one to think of this.
Mike Hall
Host, Ramblin' & Amblin'
▶ Speaking
Socrates then, uh, talked about, I think it was Republic. I don't remember. I'm not that well-educated. Um, talks
about meeting one of his old friends and, uh,
he's an old friend.
Mike Hall
Host, Ramblin' & Amblin'
▶ Speaking
The guy's old and he's a friend, uh, so
he wants, uh, Socrates to come see him at his, his pad. Socrates goes out there and, uh, the old man thanks him for
, um, visiting and, and Socrates is like,
I got you. I got you, fam. I'm going to be, uh, I'm going
to be Gen X trying to
do, uh, Gen Z, A slang.
Mike Hall
Host, Ramblin' & Amblin'
▶ Speaking
Um, the, uh, he says, no, I, I, I
value learning about
that life is like a trail and that I value though the
insights of those who are been further down the
trail than I have because they can tell me whether or not
the way is difficult or, or treacherous
or easy and, and, and peaceful, or is it, um, um, are there
turns or the things I should be aware of? Um, and, and, and, you know, that's something, you know, I
grew up with, um,
um, like the older generation being able to kind of tell
you what's, what's coming. Whereas, um,
those of us who just arrived, you know, okay, when I was in
Groupon and helping with the, uh,
uh, rebuilding of the onboarding, uh, back from what, 2011,
12, 13, somewhere in that ballpark,
I don't remember. Um, yeah, um, the, uh, the, the statement
I, I would make, and I want to say this
was me, but, um, I probably adapted it from somebody, uh,
but, so I don't know.
Mike Hall
Host, Ramblin' & Amblin'
▶ Speaking
But the point is, is that
the person who has been at a company for a day knows
infinitely more about the company than the
person who just arrived. Number one, they know where the
bathrooms are. Like, like, it's, it doesn't
have to be a tremendous amount to, to be able to help
inform the next one coming in behind you. Um,
but if it's a rotating door and it's always new people and
they don't have anybody that's pulling
them in or telling them that there's value in the people
that came before you, um,
well, they won't think to go look for it and they'll, uh,
they'll eschew it to their own, um,
detriment.
Mike Hall
Host, Ramblin' & Amblin'
▶ Speaking
But, um, I mean, this is what the movie Logan
Run was about. This isn't something that I
invented. It's make sure that there's always fresh new
people that don't know history. Um,
and that can happen intentionally or unintentionally.
Mike Hall
Host, Ramblin' & Amblin'
▶ Speaking
I
mean, I think a lot of
places it was just a, uh, fixation on youth and, you know,
a little bit of, um, uh, social media psychosis
with the, uh, that big social media money, that fang money,
uh, for a number of years. So, yep. Anyway, all right. Thanks.
Mike Hall
Host, Ramblin' & Amblin'
▶ Speaking
Bye.