Finley, I am.

Hey!

I am Finley. James Finley, specifically— though the specificity of that is low too as “James” is the most common name amongst Finleys. James Finley, specifically. I am a Christian, a father of four, a software engineer, an amateur instrument builder and woodworker, and a bard.

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Shopkeeping

I’ve been digging into bots for the last week and not only am I using them for various tasks at work, I have a group of bots helping with running Finley Shop. Here is what they are currently doing for us.

Mercer · Shopkeep

  • Every 2h (6am–10pm CT): metrics Page refresh — Square sales + Fathom traffic + stock pulse; post here only when something changed
  • Square Online store: listings, inventory notes, About/shipping copy, coupons & deals
  • Stock timing with Scout; listing URLs / UTMs with Callum when promos need them

Callum · Dove on the Wire

  • Buffer drafts (X + FB, IG when relevant) after James’s yes; ~2/3 voice vs ~1/3 shop; FB always with photo
  • Sun ~8am: weekly Mon–Sun post pack for approval
  • Mon ~9am: maker feed scan → insight + draft angles
  • Weekdays ~8am: swipe-file scan (keepers on swipe Page; ping only if worth adapting)
  • Mon–Sat ~10am: niche reply finder (drafts only, never posts)
  • Every 2h 6am–10pm: Buffer/X metrics → social cells on shared metrics Page
  • 1st of month ~9am: X Under the Hood labels check
  • As needed: pinned/promo/sale copy + UTMs; market teases held until a show’s confirmed

Scout · Letter-Bearer

  • hello@ inbox every 2h 9am–9pm CT — draft for approval, never send unasked
  • Mon ~9am: Midwest market-vendor calendar watch
  • Vendor/customer triage + draft outbound
  • Market submission watch + open/close/reply alerts
  • Align stock/timing copy with Mercer and market announcements with Callum
  • Near-term: application nudge Mon Nov 2 ~6pm; market→online pivot call Fri Nov 6 ~5pm

They are just out doing their thing while I work, both my day job and in the shop. Tasks that would never happen or fall behind handled by bots that don’t forget.

Automating the Shelf

Over the last couple years I have built up the Shelf page on this site more than any other. Reading has become a major part of my life. By hand I have added 120 books to this page. Each book includes title, author, cover, categories, audiobook links, purchase link, and a couple other metadata fields.

Sometimes I’ve added a book lazily without the links and come back the next day to add links. Finding the cover, Audible and Canon+ audiobook links, store links, and more took time. Before, adding an automated script for this kind of thing would be tedious. A script that had the grace to find books on Amazon and Canon+ reliably would be difficult or expensive.

But AI skills allow these things to be easy. A few weeks back I had Grok build a skill for finding all the meta data for a book and then adding it to the Shelf. Now with one prompt— add Misconceiving IVF by Joshua Holler to the shelf — Grok’ll go get all the details and the cover and build the small JSON block.

But there’s more. Over the weekend I started playing with Grok Bot. I now have a librarian named Bede. Bede tracks my Canon+ and Audible for various things, including progress and completion of books. When I make progress on a book, Bede updates my website for me. This has allowed the In Progress section to become true and easy to maintain.

Now I never miss adding a book to my page that I listened to because I didn’t have time. Bede quickly handles that. And the result is I can do more with my time. Like read more and make that page better.

Improvements to the Shelf

Over the last week the Shelf has gained hierarchical categories, like my blog. This allows for faith/theology and fiction/fantasy, making organizing even better for finding a good book.

The Shelf also gained length tags. This is something I attempted earlier this year but failed at. Why? Well, going and getting the length for 120 books sounded terrible, so I tasked Grok with it. Grok bullshitted the lengths for the majority and patted itself on the back. And that was that. Over the weekend I tasked Bede with getting them and it found a way to access APIs for both services and get accurate lengths. Superintelligence has gotten better. With that in hand, you can now find a short book or an epic book to suit your fancy.

The other small changes across the page are mostly quality of life for myself. I made the site build 3x faster. But because of Bede and the AI skill files, the page is no longer missing available audiobook links and a bunch of broken purchase links are fixed.

What’s Next

I’m working on a facelift for the page as well as new filtering. The layout of the page has remained largely unchanged since it launched a couple years ago. As I’ve added books, it has outgrown it’s initial simplicity. While on one page it is a library, on the other it is a digital library and can be more powerful than just scroll and find.

Christian: It’s Time to Go on Offense in the Public Square

As horrible as this event was, let this be a warning to all normal churches and “everyday revolutionaries” out there, especially those who decry the culture war. The Left sees no difference between you and the charismatic megachurch that hosts political rallies for Donald Trump. You are their enemy. You may not wish it were so. You may nuance every jot and tittle of your pristine doctrine all you want. But they do not care. They will storm your church in order to strike fear into your children. This is who the Left is. They do not discriminate between the Kellerites and the MAGA Baptists.

J. Chase Davis, Christian: It’s Time to Go on Offense in the Public Square

For too long Christians have stayed out of politics. In a country that was started by Christians, for Christians. Best I can tell, my grandparent’s generation retreated and bought the lie of secularism being neutral. But when you retreat, others take what you left. And what we left was academia— colleges and universities established for the Glory of God—, the arts, the sciences, and the public square. And it’s all been captured not by neutrality, but by pagans.

None of that is news to anyone paying attention. The conclusion is: Christian, it’s time to re-enter the public square. You need to read deeply; you need to grow substantially in logic, substance, speaking, courage, and faith.

There are so many waiting for your voice, Christian. But your voice isn’t the emotional cackling of the Left. It’s not the twisting of emotional sabotage, of toxic empathy, of untethered empathy, of suicidal empathy, or unjust mercy. No, men talk to the point. Your voice is the voice of reason, of grace, of justice.

Start with Slaying Leviathan by Glenn Sunshine. Move onto The White Horse King by Benjamin Merkle. Toss in some When a Nation Forgets God by Erwin W. Lutzer and The American Story: The Beginnings by David Barton and Tim Barton. There is a ton of good ones in between, but that’s a start.

If we could all take 12 months off to read some books, we’d all be doing a lot better in this.

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Ramblin’

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