Agreed. I'm sure for some less able bodied people there are many benefits, but how hard is it to turn on a light for the rest of us? I think I can still manage!
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Anyway hotel booked for tomorrow night. Paid for with my reward points. Camera batteries are on charge so all is good. Just need to pack and I can have a nice day out with the camera and not need to get up so early Tuesday morning for work.
Speaking of which I should go and do some now.
Speaking of which I should go and do some now.
Enjoy your travels, your trip, and your free day.
Hmmm. I work unpredictable hours, so I set my heating to start up when I get ready to come home from work, so that when I get home my house is warm without wasting heat on a timed schedule that might not coincide with mine. Also, if I get up early in the morning it is nice to be able to initiate a 1-hour boost of the heating before I get out of bed. Having lights etc. on a timer is also a useful security feature. I no longer unplug and replug digital devices that crash (here's looking at you, SkyQ) and need rebooting - I simply turn a remote-controlled wall plug off and on. The remote plugs work well for controlling Christmas lights in addition. There are some good uses for home automation.
Our heating kicks on below a certain temperature (14.5 degrees) One of us is always home.
Lights on a timer? Have you seen Home Alone? 😀
Christmas lights? No such thing here!
Each to their own.
We have a rental home where Wi-Fi light switches are critical to automatically work the exterior lights and turn them off when guests have left them on and gone to bed (neighbors complain) ..
It’s also awesome to have the landscape lights automatically turn on at varying times throughout the summer to always be about 30 minutes after that days sunset.
It’s also awesome to have the landscape lights automatically turn on at varying times throughout the summer to always be about 30 minutes after that days sunset.
There is an exception. Our bedroom fan is controlled by a remote. Consequently, when, at 3am, my beloved says "Turn the fan On | Off | Up | Down...", I can just roll over, press the right button on the remote, and go back to sleep.
The apricot tree is new. It was its first year bearing fruit. We haven't had a chance to eat any.
Previously we had a nectarine tree. Same flying fox. Same result, until it got some nasty disease and we had to remove it.
Cat won't have a bar of the flying fox, with good reason. Its claws are bigger and nastier than hers.
Is there any way of protecting fruit trees (apricot trees, nectarine trees) from the menace of flying foxes?
I'd love to have an apricot tree.....fresh, seasonal apricots are amazing.
In the here and now of a dismal December night, I am sipping a mug of tea, and my electric blanket has been switched on.
Enjoy a warm bed.
Mine should be nice and cosy presently.
Meanwhile, that foot warmer (seriously, where has that been all of my life?) that @Clix Pix recommended is also on my mind.
Oh, I'm sure there are..... Just that home automation just is not for me and it definitely is not necessary for me, since I am retired and spend more time at home than in the past. I live in a small condominium apartment so don't have a lot of the concerns residents of single-family dwellings have. The best part is that I'm not on any sort of fixed schedule, which is just a lovely experience, and so no need to have things working on timers or ready for me to activate with my iPhone.
Well, that's an embuggerance.
I don't often get scammed on eBay, but it happened this time.
I ordered a couple of high-performance microSD cards for my RPi 5 (yes, I have one, lucky me!!).
Found some on eBay, did all the due diligence, paid my money, and waited.
They duly (surprisingly promptly) turned up.
I put them in my RPi to test them, and both of them were slower than a snail stuck in molasses.
Both fake.
So I bought a couple more, from Amazon this time.
They are good. I'm happy.
What gets me, though, is the effort gone into in faking the packaging and artwork. I now have the genuine and the fake packaging side-by-side. Almost identical.
For the same amount of effort, they could have supplied something that worked.
I don't often get scammed on eBay, but it happened this time.
I ordered a couple of high-performance microSD cards for my RPi 5 (yes, I have one, lucky me!!).
Found some on eBay, did all the due diligence, paid my money, and waited.
They duly (surprisingly promptly) turned up.
I put them in my RPi to test them, and both of them were slower than a snail stuck in molasses.
Both fake.
So I bought a couple more, from Amazon this time.
They are good. I'm happy.
What gets me, though, is the effort gone into in faking the packaging and artwork. I now have the genuine and the fake packaging side-by-side. Almost identical.
For the same amount of effort, they could have supplied something that worked.
My sympathies.
Very frustrating.
It has been grim here - and still is, and that - unfortunately - had been forecast.
Not surprising.
In winter, I allow double time for everything, as - in my experience - things simply won't break in your favour, and, if something can go wrong, that is when it will happen.
Commiserations.
A profoundly unpleasant experience.
Good.
That is not the point; the point is to try to persuade you that the fake product (which clearly costs a lot less to manufacture) is real.
The DC area has now had our first snow!! Not much, just a dusting, really, but definitely Winter has ARRIVED!
I agree that having to use for phone for certain tasks is a PITA.
But I have a whole-home lighting control system (Lutron) and I rarely have to even touch switches.
All outdoor lights are timed. They come on at Dusk and off at 1AM.
Indoors I used a variety of timers with conditionals and occupancy sensors to turn on/off 90% of the lights.
For example, beside the garage there is a Keypad and the bottom button Is labeled AWAY. The last person to leave the house presses this button which tells the lighting control system to NOT turn on the Indoor timed lights. But as soon as the garage door is opened, that cancels the command and if it is past Dusk, the Living Room lights come on so we can walk into a lit house.
Another example is my wife stays up later than me so she has a GOODNIGHT button on a keypad in the Living Room. When she presses is a few things happen: all lights in public areas go OFF except the Living room lamps. They stay on for 2 more minutes. The light in the bathroom comes on at 15% so she can find her way in without it being pitch black. She then turns those off with a nightstand keypad.
One other example is we have a hot water circulation pump. Turn on any of the bathroom lights or kitchen lights and the pump circulates for 5 minutes to make sure there is hot water as soon as you turn on the tap.
I wouldn't want to live without it.
As for Thermostats, I use a Nest, but rarely touch it. It is programmed to do what we want and does well 98% of the time.
My sympathies!
Arrived at my photography destination very late. It was already getting dark and I had a 35 minute hike to the waterfall.
Anyway I took some shots. Not going to be what I had in mind that’s for sure.
Anyway at the hotel now. Car is on charge in their car park (yay!). Just ordered a steak. Sipping a Stella. Mode improving!
I feel ya on the traffic thing. Just bought a house 4 months ago south of DC (east of Fredericksburg). One of the key reasons I chose to move here (aside from the job, obviously) was the fact that it is *NOT* DC. LOL
I've got job offers for quite a bit more $ (like 160% of my current salary), but they all *require* at least 3 days onsite either in D.C. or Sterling. I'm not subjecting myself to NoVA traffic 3x a week; and I'm sure as heck not moving to D.C. or Sterling. LOL
Quality of life is just as important as salary in my opinion. Good for you.
I work from home 3 days a week. I love it. I see a lot more of Mrs AFB and she isn’t alone all day.
Oh yeah, definitely. My position isn't a 'telework' position, but that's simply because of the nature of my job and what I do. With that said, if I need to WFH, I basically say "Boss, I have to WFH tomorrow or this week because reasons" and....that's it.
Glad you managed to get there safely.
Good luck.
Excellent.
Sounds wonderful.
I'm impressed and envious.
Enjoy.
I can well imagine.