# 👋 Hi there — I’m @thesabear

![Profile Banner](https://img.shields.io/badge/Homelab-Explorer-blue?style=for-the-badge&logo=linux)
![Docker](https://img.shields.io/badge/Docker-Containers-blue?style=for-the-badge&logo=docker)
![Python](https://img.shields.io/badge/Python-Learning-yellow?style=for-the-badge&logo=python)
![Bash](https://img.shields.io/badge/Bash-Scripting-lightgrey?style=for-the-badge&logo=gnu-bash)

I’m a curious, self-taught technologist with a passion for breaking things, fixing them, and understanding *why* systems behave the way they do. What started as a hobby homelab project has grown into a full-on journey into DevOps, automation, infrastructure, and security.

My long-term goal is to build a career in IT—specifically in environments where learning never stops and innovation is part of the culture.

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## 👀 What I’m Exploring
I spend a lot of time experimenting in my homelab, using it as a real-world playground to deepen my understanding of core IT concepts.  
Some of the areas I’m actively exploring include:

- Infrastructure automation and Infrastructure-as-Code
- Network design, security, and service reliability
- Containers, registries, and image hardening
- Monitoring, observability, and resilient design patterns

Each project teaches me something new, and everything I learn pushes me further toward becoming a well-rounded IT/DevOps engineer.

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## 🌱 What I’m Learning Right Now
I’m currently focused on:

- Building and maintaining secure Docker images
- Running my own private registry
- Using GitLab pipelines to automate image updates, security scanning, and deployments
- Improving scripting skills—Python and Bash are next on my list

I enjoy understanding not just how something works, but how to automate it, secure it, and integrate it cleanly into a larger system.

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## ⚡ Fun Fact
I’m entirely self-taught. Every tool, trick, concept, and workflow in my repos is something I learned by doing—from reading docs to breaking my lab at 2 a.m. and fixing it again.

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## 📁 What You’ll Find in This Repository
This repo serves as a showcase of the things I build and experiment with. Inside, you’ll find:

- A growing collection of Docker Compose files for various services I run
- Infrastructure-as-Code projects designed to spin up my entire homelab from minimal, hardened ISO images
- Configurations, scripts, and templates built around reproducibility, security, and operational simplicity

My goal is to create solutions that are not only functional, but thoughtfully designed—and to share what I learn along the way.

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### 🚀 Let’s Connect

[![LinkedIn](https://img.shields.io/badge/LinkedIn-Connect-blue?style=for-the-badge&logo=linkedin)](www.linkedin.com/in/michael-surgey)
[![X](https://img.shields.io/badge/X-Follow-black?style=for-the-badge&logo=x)](https://x.com/nomadianation)
[![Website](https://img.shields.io/badge/Website-Visit-blueviolet?style=for-the-badge&logo=google-chrome)](https://nomadianation.thesabear.net/)
[![Wiki](https://img.shields.io/badge/Bookstack-Wiki-green?style=for-the-badge&logo=bookstack)](https://mywiki.thesabear.net/)


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