#introduction post!

Hello everyone, I'm happy to join this instance with like minded people and I'm excited to swap tips and experiences on pathogen avoidance and community resilience!

I'm a software developer by day to pay the bills, and all of the time I'm a staunch advocate of measures to protect myself and others from COVID as well as all other pathogens.

In meat-space I spread COVID awareness by being /that guy/ who will bring it up and is frequently masked up, but I prefer to bring it up when I have suggestions on how to improve things, and not just whinge about bad stuff. People seem more receptive when I'm telling them about a solution and not just overwhelming them with how bad things are. As an example, I recently experimented with creating my own HOCL (hydrochlorous acid) as I've been reading studies about how it is an effective cleaner better than most alternatives with fewer downsides. Also synthesizing it is actually a breeze, it just takes water and salt, and possibly vinegar depending on the acidity of tap water in the area.

Online, I don't have much advocacy experience YET because I'm a chronic lurker. I have long held a strong distaste for the corporations that run the more popular social media platforms and never could convince myself it was worth posting anything. The Fediverse presents a new opportunity for me though, one where I am actually inclined to post something.

My home server on the Fediverse is on a GoToSocial instance that I cofounded and administrate with my friend, but we're still (slowly) working through figuring out how best to configure and use that. I'll post more info as we figure things out as the software is still in beta and we are intentionally growing slow and primarily with people we have connections to in the physical realm (and ideally people not yet on the Fediverse)