BarkerJr

Introduction

BarkerJr is a quadruped purple western dragon. He loves technical things like programming, network security, and running servers. He also enjoys playing tabletop games and watching movies with friends. Gardening and testing out new recipes with friends is always fun, too. He likes to travel around the country to visit friends and family. When away from friends, he's also an avid strategy and simulation gamer.

He lives in Connecticut, USA with two wonderful roommates: a kitsune and a wolf. He enjoys the climate of New England and his friends in the area.

In stature, he's seven meters (23 feet) long from nose to tail, but most of that length is his tail. His skin is smooth like a serpent, and his horns twisted like an impala. In some lighting, he looks pink, but he's quick to assure you that it's really a light purple.

Technical

Professionally, BarkerJr is a software engineer. He loves to automate stuff, and specializes in business rules, with a developer certification in Operational Decision Manager (ODM) v8.9. His primary language is Java and he holds developer certifications in versions 11 and 17. He also actively develops applications in C#, Perl, and PowerShell. He embraces agile methodologies, and was certified as a Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe) v4 Agilist.

Network Security has always been a hobby for him. He enjoys creating simple but effective security policies in his personal devices, as well as applications he designs.

He loves running GNU/Linux servers like the Virtual Private Servers (VPS) this site is hosted on. Developing your own minimalistic site is fun! He also runs public Network Time Protocol (NTP) servers that helps keep clocks on internet devices accurate. He holds a Sage-level certification from Hurricane Electric (HE) for IPv6 knowledge.

He's currently working on strengthening his Amazon Web Services (AWS) skills and has been earned the Solutions Architect and Developer Associate, and AI Practitioner certifications.

Socialization

On weekends, BarkerJr is often seen at game stores playing tabletop games with friends. He enjoys a variety of games with all complexities. He especially enjoys Mysterium, Root, Ticket to Ride, and Fluxx.

He's a big fan of Netflix. He often has friends over for dinner and a movie, on weekends and weeknights. His favorite movies include works of Mel Brooks: Spaceballs, Blazing Saddles, and Robin Hood: Men in Tights. He also loves 80's movies like Rush Hour and The 'Burbs, and animated movies like Fantastic Mr Fox.

Culinary and Gardening

With socializing, BarkerJr enjoys trying new recipes on visiting friends. He enjoys making food somewhat from scratch. This can include mixing spices together to construct the optimal taco seasoning, to making his own pizza dough. He enjoys making homemade versions of popular traditionally-takeout dishes such as egg foo yong and fried rice, and pizza. He also cooks more traditional meals like burgers, casseroles, and roasts.

He takes great pride in the appearance of his lawn, testing the soil quality and applying the proper fertilizers.

Travel

The majority of BarkerJr's time off is spent visiting family and friends in Arizona. He enjoys flying and is comfortable driving a few hours to get to his destination.

The remainder of his time off is spent attending and volunteering at furry conventions. Furry conventions are a fun way to spend the weekend and make friends while raising money for charities around the country and world. He's a regular at Furpocalypse and Midwest FurFest.

Gaming

Much of BarkerJr's remaining free time is spent playing computer games on Steam. He generally prefers strategy or simulation games, such as Stellaris, Surviving Mars, Cities Skylines, and Two Point Hospital. When given the opportunity, he also plays shooters such as Borderlands, Valheim, and Payday.