At approximately 11:13 a.m. on Saturday, June 27, 2026, I entered the Value Village located at 924 Queen St. E. in Toronto, Canada. I frequent this Value Village location and happened to know that the security guard's shift didn't begin until 12:00 p.m.
I made my way towards the back of the store, where shoppers can find housewares, furniture, books, and other miscellaneous items. I noticed a power cable sticking out amidst some rubbish on a shelf in the aisle containing office supplies and candles. I bent down, shuffled the rubbish around, and discovered a printer. More specifically, the Epson TM-T88V Thermal Receipt Printer
I secured the printer with both hands and made my way to the electronics testing station at the back of the store. After methodically testing every component and function of the machine, I concluded that it was in working condition.
As I walked home with my new thermal receipt printer, my mind raced with potential use cases. I was getting ahead of myself. I had to first get this printer set up.
The next few weeks were a blur. I printed daily briefs every morning that fetched news from my favourite sources. I integrated my real-time health data to print a calming affirmation whenever my heart rate exceeded 120 bpm. I printed Sudoku puzzles, crosswords, and dithered images on command.
Eventually, I realized how selfish I'd been with all of my personal use cases. I began to envision something completely different, a selfless platform, built for the people. My vision was clear.
I started a secret Pinterest board and an are.na channel. I converted official Epson printer documentation into Markdown files for my agents to read. I studied thermal receipt preservation techniques. I invested in hundreds of rolls of receipt paper. I iterated on hundreds of receipt designs but eventually decided on a pretty basic template. I took a 4 and a half minute pomodoro break, then I got back to work.
I fired up Codex. I create a Vercel account on a Hobby plan. Then I fetched my old MacBook Pro from under my bed, dusted it off, and plugged it into my Wi-Fi router directly. I configured the old laptop to stay on at all times, even with the lid closed. I enabled a few plugins, wrote in some slash commands, and then I watched as my vision came to life...
The site you are on now was born.