I’m Sam Firke. I live in Ann Arbor, Michigan and I make and improve things in my free time; sometimes I write about it. Here was my my original plan for my blog.
Work
By day I’m the City of Ann Arbor’s Senior Data Engineer. I work in Python and SQL, moving data around and analyzing it.
I serve on the Project Management Committee (PMC) of Apache Superset, the world’s leading open-source business intelligence platform. Think Tableau or PowerBI, but free and open-source.
Sharing
In 2026 I launched Meutch, a peer-to-peer nonprofit sharing site where neighbors and friends can lend each other tools, camping gear, board games, etc. Please use it and tell your friends!
In 2024 I gave my left kidney to a stranger.
Community
Since 2015 I have worked remotely out of the Workantile co-working community, where I serve on the board as co-treasurer. I’m also loosely involved with All Hands Active makerspace.
Interests
Here are some of the things I like doing that might show up on this blog:
- Go around town on an electric-assist cargo bike. It’s a delight.
- Mend and create things.
- Cook and eat plant-based food, sometimes sharing recipes here.
- Write. I wrote a novel between 2021-2024, now I mostly write here.
- Learn about trees and animals.
- Learn new sports like skateboarding and ice hockey
As a result, my blogging is all over the place, topic-wise. My hope is that a few people who care about me as a person enjoy the wide range of topics and others find individual posts via search engines.
In 2021 I began working for the City of Ann Arbor. In the posts on this blog, and anywhere on the internet, I speak only for myself, not for the city. I’m leaving up past posts I wrote about Ann Arbor-related topics and policy, for instance, The North Maple Cycle Track. But going forward, I expect to be getting my fill of municipal thinking & service at work and focusing my personal energy and writing elsewhere.
Elsewhere on the web
I’m on Mastodon at @samfirke@a2mi.social and you can follow me from an account on anywhere on the Fediverse.