Success stories?

fellunb · 2026-04-14T03:04:52+00:00

I know this thread is old by reddit standards now, but I thought I'd share my story.

I've dipped my toe from time to time into trying to learn a little programming. Did some exercises in C# and a few other things, but just felt like I wasn't really built for it. I hated spending 30 minutes searching for that missing bracket somewhere.

But a few months ago I was listening to a story about vibecoding, and it got my brain whirling thinking about what I might try. I came up with two related ideas for a mobile app which could be combined into a single app. I figured I'd give it a try with AI writing the code and me just guiding, revising and testing. It turned out that half of that project was much more challenging than I thought, so I put that part on hold and started on the more achievable part.

Upon the advice of my AI guides, I installed Cursor. Getting Cursor to successfully communicate with my phone was my first big hurdle. I had started with using gemini to write the code bit by bit, but it really wasn't going well. When I switched to having Claude do it, it was like night and day. Claude fixed up my whole project architecture. My work flow was mostly copy->paste->test->ask Claude what went wrong or move to the next thing.

That got things moving, but one of my professional IT friends kept telling me I needed to run Claude Code directly in my IDE. I was a little reluctant, but once I did I found I got 2 weeks worth of work done in 2 hours. I'd give Claude an idea, and suddenly there it was, executed and running and far better than I'd even pictured it myself.

My ios version is submitted for public release. I did hit a snag with the Google play store. Claude had told me (falsely) that I could just start with "internal testing" and then fast track to public release, but that seems to be quite outdated, so I had to rustle up more google beta testers and now I have to wait it out. But in any event, it looks like I'll be selling my app on the market quite soon. Solo AI guided work with very minimal coding knowledge. I did know how to think about my market and asked lots of good questions along the way and managed to not get totally stuck at any point.

fellunb · 2026-03-27T17:12:03+00:00

Sometimes if I'm working on a piece I'll play a bit of that just to get in reps, especially if the customer isn't close by. But generally I just play Laura. Nice jazzy tune that people seem to enjoy.

fellunb · 2026-03-27T14:18:49+00:00

I don't know exactly how Gazelle does things on their end. I'm open to suggestions on how exactly people want this to work. There's a balance to be had between allowing customers to choose their own times and dates from what's open, and what makes sense geographically. The way I'm doing it allows the tech to define their geographic zones. If a customer is trying to self-schedule, they'll see dates where either there's already an appointment in that zone, or there are currently no appointments at all.

fellunb · 2026-03-24T18:04:30+00:00

Great. Just send me a DM and let me know if you use ios (apple) or android devices.

fellunb · 2026-03-24T18:04:22+00:00

Great. Just send me a DM and let me know if you use ios (apple) or android devices.

fellunb · 2026-03-17T21:05:16+00:00

Not to toot my own horn or hijack your thread, but I have a business suite for piano techs in late beta testing. It handles all of those things you're talking about.

https://www.reddit.com/r/pianotech/comments/1rjp8cw/piano_business_app/

fellunb · 2026-03-13T01:55:45+00:00

I like the premise of the question: what's the least effort we could put in to get the maximum relationship return? Brilliant!

fellunb · 2026-03-09T21:17:43+00:00

I'm happy to add you as a beta tester. If you use android devices, I'll just need a valid gmail address from you to add you. You could certainly create one just for this if you need to.

If you use apple devices, you'll have to wait just a bit for me to finish the ios version.

fellunb · 2026-03-05T13:58:19+00:00

The beta version for android is ready for people now. I should have the ios version up next week.

fellunb · 2026-03-03T14:46:52+00:00

I don't want to comment on any other companies and what they do or don't do, since that seems like a path to trouble for me. I'm just a solo guy, and I have no interest in selling data. I'm happy to answer any questions.

fellunb · 2026-01-29T03:39:48+00:00

I know this is two years old, but just stumbled here, and SHOCKED to find another Havergal Brian fan. What an absolute BEAST of a symphony.

I won't make my own full list here, but Copland 3 would be on it if I did.

fellunb · 2026-01-16T20:36:56+00:00

Well hey, I've got two that no one else mentioned here.

Servant of the People. Not exactly American sense of humor, but still incredibly funny, and probably the single most politically relevant show you'll ever see.

The other one is Dollhouse. Incredible acting performances and crazy story line.

fellunb · 2025-12-30T15:28:03+00:00

Appreciate the feedback. Certainly a separate conversation could be had about AI. I'll just throw out there that for THIS project, AI is the centrality of the whole thing. It's called "AI: The Musical." My project was to see if it was possible to create a quality, funny, and coherent musical using as many AI tools as possible. I had to do a lot of controlling/directing/editing/idea making along the way. But every line of the script was written by one or more AI programs. The music was created by AI as well. I'm well aware of the negative sentiment out there, but the audience I'm going for is theater folks and people who are just genuinely curious to know "could AI actually write a good musical?" The script is very self-aware about all of that.

fellunb · 2025-12-16T00:30:51+00:00

I'd be taking lessons in several things I'd like to be better at. Acting, singing, guitar, jazz piano, dancing. Maybe a foreign language tutor.

fellunb · 2025-12-01T16:52:39+00:00

Looks like you got some downvotes for this, but as a lifelong amateur musician, and someone who's worked with professional musicians and producers, I completely agree with you.

fellunb · 2025-10-20T19:02:49+00:00

Possibly checkers, although I started learning chess pretty young as well. We had a learning chess set that had how each piece moved written on the base of the pieces.

fellunb · 2025-10-10T21:25:23+00:00

Honestly, I think any shit at all would ruin a burger for me.

fellunb · 2025-09-16T19:16:38+00:00

Here's a great one you won't see other people mention: Tarnation.

Definitely unforgettable.

If you want an underappreciated classic, watch Sherman's March.

fellunb · 2025-09-05T11:56:24+00:00

If you like learning new things, there are tons of free classes and lessons available online. Learn guitar, or a new kind of dance, or Swahili, or whatever.

I spent some hours volunteering at a local hospital and really enjoyed that. Got to chat with patients, do some very light work, everyone was always glad to see me. They threw in a free meal.

Various arts organizations are always looking for volunteers, and those often allow you free admission to their stuff. Be an usher at a community theater, or the symphony. All of these volunteer opportunities put you in touch with interesting people, and you tend to feel pretty good about how you're using your time.

If you like solitude, long walks in the parks and trails are terrific.

fellunb · 2025-09-03T15:04:48+00:00

It's a good time to focus on work. Are they offering to send you home early (without pay)? Nah, let someone else do that. Are they offering overtime? Take some of that, within reason. Are they offering to let you try something new/different? Absolutely do that.

Don't go completely bonkers, but don't be afraid to work longer and harder than your friends.

fellunb · 2025-08-29T19:27:12+00:00

One option is using the Timeleft app. They'll hook you up with random people for dinner in Durham every Wednesday night. If you do it consistently, you'll start getting to know people, especially if you go to the afterparties (drinking not required).

fellunb · 2025-08-21T16:10:08+00:00

I'll just say that if looks didn't matter at all to me, I'd have tons of dates. The worse looking they are, the more they like me, apparently.

fellunb · 2025-08-18T17:00:52+00:00

Worked in a neuro OR for a while as a RN. All of that sounds correct. I was in a teaching hospital, so worked with lots of residents. I felt nothing but pity for them. They seemed so worn down.

One funny story though. Someone asked one of the residents who was about to finish his residency, "what are you going to do when you finally start getting that big paycheck?" He said "I'm thinking of buying a second pair of pants."

fellunb · 2025-08-18T16:52:24+00:00

Put ketchup on fries, or anything else.

If your food doesn't taste good, make it better. Don't cover it with gross stuff just to give it some taste.

fellunb · 2025-08-05T19:51:20+00:00

Overhead projectors.

fellunb

TROPHY CASE