About Me

Hi there! I’m Joe. I’ve been a technical writer in the Washington metropolitan area since 2006 and an aviation geek since I learned to fly helicopters in 2010… or maybe since decades ago when I first played Star Fox. Also…

Welcome to The Nav Pane - a blog whose title hopefully evokes those two interests: technical writing (as in Microsoft Word’s amazing Navigation pane) and aviation (which requires a lot of, you know, map reading). Too on the nose?

This is my first blog on GitHub Pages, so my apologies for the mess. I plan to write here about the following topics:

  • The changing nature of technical writing… are we all supposed to treat docs like code now, or what?
  • Federal government contracting… it’s 2021, so why is my tech stack stuck in the 1990s?
  • Technology journalism… this headline stinks. Hold my coffee.
  • Aviation… they said I’d see the world differently, but I didn’t think they were talking about documentation.

A DISCLAIMER: Nothing I write on this blog necessarily reflects the standpoint of my past, present, or future employers. It’s just my own personal opinion. Cool?

Whether or not you live with me here in the “Silicon Valley of the East,” welcome to my blog. I truly hope your stay is worth it.