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  • Weekend projects – Workshop lights and shelving – 05/100

    Weekend projects – Workshop lights and shelving – 05/100

    A few days ago I talked about how we designed much of our house. I left out talking about the basement and the garage. Both of those parts of the house were under my purview and direction. Some day I will talk about the basement but today let’s checkout some of the garage.

    There were a number of considerations for both having a garage and using a garage. Colorado gets pretty cold in the winter. Having a garage means your vehicle is not an ice block in winter mornings. I also like to work on my bikes and build the occasional woodworking project so a workshop was key.

    We built the garage big enough to park both vehicles, and have room for a workshop. At the time of drawing the house we had a 22′ long truck. In the middle of the house build we sold the truck and got a smaller vehicle. Basically my workshop doubled in space. Bonus!

    Let there be light!

    While the house was being built I started thinking about planning out the workshop, and purchased the Weekend Woodworkers Workshop course to help with that. One of the first things I learned from the course was upgrading my lighting to their suggested LED shoplights. Originally I was thinking these would be the only lights in the Garage, but Kate suggested otherwise after seeing how bright they are.

    Garage workshop basic lights
    Basic lighting

    To start with I only setup 5 of the 10 lights from the kit and I am really happy with them. My workspace has very few shadows allowing me to see what I am working on. Setup was really easy. Decide if you want to plug them into an outlet, or hardwire them to be used by a wall switch. I chose the outlet option since these are secondary lights in the garage. Then I decided I wanted to focus on the southwestern corner of the garage.

    Garage workshop super awesome lights
    Power levels are above 9000!

    Getting organized

    One of the first projects of the course is a shelving unit that is focused on preventing putting too many items on the shelf. It does this by not being very deep so you cannot hide a tool behind another tool. This keeps things visible and accessible, which helps encourage their use, and keeps the project moving instead of searching.

    We have some leftover wood from the trim that is really pretty Knotty Alder so I used some of that to build the self. The course gives excellent instruction and tips for ways to work safer, faster, and more efficient.

    Shallow wood shelving
    Boo yeah!

    I judge how a project went by Kate’s reaction. In this case she asked me to make her one, so I think it came out pretty well. 😎

  • Robot Apocalypse

    Robot Apocalypse

    We recently moved into our new home, and since it is 2021, we purchased a robot vacuum cleaner. We went with the Rooma i8+ from Costco as it was a good deal, the reviews are positive, and it has a self cleaning dock. There are much cheaper options on the market, but it sounds like the navigation/mapping technology is pretty important, and Roomba is the leader in that regard.

    Right now the Roomba, whom we named George, is on their 3rd run of the house. They are still mapping out the main floor of the house, and appear to be over halfway to completing that mission. I have read that it can take 5 or more runs to get a complete mapping done while also operating as a vacuum. This part can be done faster in Mapping Mode, but no cleaning is done, which seems like a waste to me.

    Any concern of a robot apocalypse can be well mitigated by spending some time watching a Roomba map out a room. While the technology involved in making George operate is incredibly impressive, there is still a long way to go. Watching them bump into everything in the house multiple times is both funny and sad. If there is one thing to give them credit for it is persistence.

    That is until it comes to recharging itself…

    When the battery runs low George makes their way back to the charging dock. On the first 2 runs George was unable to get themselves back onto the charging dock. Rather than stop and let us know that there was a problem they went back into cleaning mode, and kept going until the battery died. While I appreciate the dedication to cleaning, I don’t understand why it has to run off into the house and die. Does George realize that their existence is ending and choose to be as productive as possible before the end?

    While George is not a person they are not just a vacuum either. The question of how to address a robot is neither new nor is it settled. However calling them ‘it’ seems wrong. They are acting in a semi-autonomous way to make our lives easier. Shouldn’t that afford them more respect than our ‘dumb’ appliances? Our attitudes on this matter mimic what is happening with human rights, and animal rights, and will continue to evolve. Hopefully we avoid going full Matrix or Butlerian Jihad.

    I reoriented the charging dock so there is 6ft+ of clear runway and this time George was able to make their way back onto the charger. So far it seems to be doing a good job of cleaning up dirt and pet hair, which we have no shortage of.

    The dogs have adjusted to George in their own ways. Enzo was not happy about the roaming vacuum to start with. He did not attack, but would bark as them as they made their way around the house. I gave him some treats and now he lies in bed while George works. Occasionally Enzo will get up when George gets too close to the dog bed. Dazey just goes upstairs while George is running around.

    An uneasy truce

    If you have a robot vacuum do you have any tips of suggestions? If you are considering one I would recommend buying one, especially if you have pets. Having a George has already let me relax about sweeping the floors everyday. We still need some more time for a full evaluation, but so far they are doing a great job.

  • Building a forever home – 3/100

    Building a forever home – 3/100

    Kate and I moved into our new home almost 3 weeks ago. Awesome is the word that sums up the entire situation. We designed the home to be exactly what we wanted based on a few criteria: It will be our forever home, we wanted to highlight the views of the La Plata mountain range to the east, it should be highly efficient and follow Passive House design concepts, and we need to be able to work full time here.

    Forever Home

    How can we say that this is our forever home? We cannot but we went into the project with that mindset. We are not trying to build something that we flip in a few years and then move onto the next project. Instead we want to have a home that we can see ourselves aging into in various ways. The first design that this influenced is the guest bedroom.

    2020 made a lot of realities hit really hard. The idea that we will always be in good health and fully capable is much more fragile now. When we thought of our parents the reality felt even more immediate. This caused us to think of the guest bedroom as a place that needed to accommodate someone in almost any condition. So it follows the American’s with Disabilities Act (ADA) guidelines for making a bedroom and bathroom accessible. There is at least 30 inches of clearance throughout the room. The doors are 36 inch pocket doors which are easier to handle from a wheelchair. We have also added extra blocking in the walls around the shower and toilet for pull bars.

    We also built the guest bedroom with the same dimensions as our master bed upstairs. If at somepoint we get tired of climbing the stairs, we can move into the guest room on the main floor. It still has a great view of the mountains too.

    The kitchen was designed so that multiple people can operate in there at the same time without causing conflict. We put plenty of walking space between the counters and built a large pantry so someone can even work in there. We did not follow ADA guidelines with the countertop heights. Kate is 5’8″ and I am 6’2″ and most countertops are too low for us to work at comfortably. We had them built at 39.5 inches, about 3 inches taller than normal.

    Finally we wanted a home where we could host guests and have other people enjoy themselves. For this we have multiple guest rooms and plenty of restrooms. The dining room and living room allow us to bring a lot of people together and connect.

    Views of the La Platas

    One of the first things we recognized about this land when we bought it was the views of the La Plata mountain range to the east. We knew we wanted to see them from the new house but Kate took it to another level. We have 11 windows on the east side of the house, each giving us a different way of viewing the mountains.

    There is a lot of exposure to the morning sun which helps wake the house up really quickly. We built the eave of the eastern roof long enough to provide shade to these windows as the sun rises higher during the day. This should help prevent too much solar gain, and overheat the home. We will probably need to add some type of window coverings in summer, but right now in winter the solar gain is very nice.

    Passive House Design

    When we started designing and researching how to build our home we learned about the Passive Home(PH) design concept. In a nutshell PH design focuses on using as little energy to heat, cool, and power a building, and sealing the home tightly so that it does not lose the conditioned air.

    As we learned more about PH design we quickly realized that we were going to want to work with someone familiar with the concept. We weren’t necessarily interested in spending the money to be PH certified, but we still wanted to follow the concepts and practices involved. This was also the main reason we reached out to the builder who would eventually become our builder, they had build a number of PH homes and were well versed in the concepts.

    Since the home would be sealed very tight it needed a ventilation system, so that we get fresh air in the home. The solution to this issue is installing a Heating Recovery Ventilator(HRV) or Energy Recovery Ventilator(ERV) system. These systems pull air from places like bathrooms, the kitchen, and mudroom and sends fresh air into the bedrooms and living spaces. In the mid point of the system lies an exchanger that pulls heat from the exhaust air and adds it to the incoming fresh air. The difference between and HRV and ERV is that the ERV also pulls moisture to help keep humidity at a constant level.

    In addition to saving energy by keeping the heated air in the home these systems are designed to run on very little power. This helps keep the overall PH design principles in mind.

    We went with an ERV system since we live in a dry climate and want to keep as much moisture as possible. If you ask 9 people who work with HRV and ERV systems which one you should use, based on your climate, you will probably get 11 different answers.

    We will also have solar photovoltaic panels added to our southern facing roof. This will be grid tied and offset all of our power usage and then some. Eventually we will end up with an electric vehicle and have wiring setup for a Level 3 charger in the garage.

    Full Time Workspaces

    Kate and I both work remotely for our jobs. We needed spaces that allow us to focus and be on calls without interrupting each other. We knew early on that Kate would be using the Loft as her Loftice. It has all the views she wanted but is still a separate space from the main living area. Personally I do not like having natural light when I am working on my computer. So part of the purpose in building a basement was for my office.

    For internet we use Starlink since we are in a remote rural area. There are other options, but Starlink is far and away the fastest and most reliable connection. Dishy is mounted on the NorthWest corner of the Garage roof. This gives it plenty of sky with zero obstructions, and makes it easier to access versus putting it two floors up on the main roof.

    Dishy’s PoE Cat 6 cable runs through the garage attic to a centrally located closet by the Kitchen. From there we have Wifi to the above ground parts of the house, and a switch that carries Cat 6 to both offices and the theater room. A second Wifi Access Point is in the basement to give better signal down there. So far everything is great with all areas of the house getting full Starlink speeds wirelessly.

    How’d we do?

    Overall the builders hit all of the marks that we wanted, and we are enjoying our home immensely. We are incredibly fortunate to have been able to do this at any time in our lives. When we hit the road full time 7 years ago this was not on the roadmap, but things change and here we are. I cannot say if we will live here forever but right now I feel like we could.

  • Booster Blues – 2/100

    Booster Blues – 2/100

    Yesterday I mentioned getting the COVID booster shot and while I am not feeling awful today I am definitely not at the top of my game. So I am using it as an excuse to whine, complain, and be a bit lazy. According to CNBC I don’t get to complain too much though. Still I would rather spend a day or two feeling sluggish compared to the alternative.

    Mexico Multiday Rafting on the Usumacinta river

    Yesterday I mentioned that I will be spending 8 days in the Mexican jungle rafting the Usumacinta River. I am going to post about this trip leading up to it but have a slight delima: When I am on the river I will have no access to the Internet (oh the horror), so I am going to need to come up with scheduled posts for those days. My thinking is that I will have a post that mimics the itinerary of the guide website (warning 1990’s website) but we will see what I come up with.

    Here is a video of the trip:

    Video from the river guide of the Usumacinta multi-day rafting trip.

    We are going with a group of friends who are serious rafters. They did a 30 day trip down the entire Grand Canyon a few years ago and think that this river is a great one for us to get our feet wet. From watching this video they consider the biggest rapids on the Usumacinta to be fun but tame. Since I will be manning the oars of Kate and I’s boat I am slightly less nervous now, maybe.

    The trip takes us to a couple of Mayan ruins that are only accessible via the river. We will be guided through them by local Mayan descendants. I am really looking forward to that part of the trip too.

    We are just over a month out and have pretty much everything ready to go. I may be binge watching various rafting videos on Youtube to refresh my whitewater knowledge. Also trying to figure out if I want to get a new GoPro for filming the trip. I have one now but I think its a GP 3 and they have come a long way since then. If you have any suggestions feel free to leave a comment.

    Challenge update

    We are up to 12 participants now with the addition of:

    Welcome aboard!

  • 100 days of blogging challenge 2021 1/100

    100 days of blogging challenge 2021 1/100

    Here we go again!

    Its the 2021 edition of the 100 days of blogging challenge and I am pretty excited. First of all I got up and am writing this morning which is a great start. Second I have a lot to share over the next 100 days: my birthday is in 13 days, we are going on an 8 day rafting trip in Mexico, we are still settling into our new home, I am getting my workshop setup and will be making a lot of woodworking projects, and everything else!

    Today I have to make this quick as I am scheduled to get my COVID booster shot and a bunch of other shots for the aforementioned Mexico trip. To all of my fellow blogging challengers I say hello and lets have fun with this.

    Here is a list of everyone signed up, so far:

    I think we are about double the amount of people who participated last year! Remember this is a challenge to write everyday for 100 days, not a command. Do your best and if you miss a day its ok try to make the next day.

    Todays coffee is:

    From our local roaster: Fahrenheit Coffee (Someone should get them a proper website)

  • 100 days of Blogging Challenge 2021

    Tomorrow begins a 100 days of Blogging Challenge and I am very excited about it. First of all its something I am organizing at my company, Kinsta, and second it means I am going to need to focus each day on writing to meet the challenge. This is kinda like having a workout buddy who helps motivate you to get to the gym. Instead there are a bunch of co-workers who will be writing about their lives and interests which will push me to do the same.

    Last year we did a similar challenge which you can read my posts here. It was a lot of fun and I got to know my co-workers much better. One of the motivators behind the challenges is that we are a remote company and there is a global pandemic going on. This means that we don’t get to hang out in person and learn silly non-work related things about each other.

    While it is not essential that we know these things to do our jobs; it can make doing our jobs easier if we have multiple points of reference for how someone else lives their life. Rather than only looking at each other transactionally in terms of work; we will see the other person as a person with similar and different issues as are own. This may help us be more clear in communicating with each other, and possibly have more patience with each other in stressful work situations.

    Here is what I learned about some of my colleagues from last years challenge:

    Jon is an avid runner and thinks a lot about getting organized. I used to run and can relate to what he is going through a little bit, though I never ran more than a Marathon distance. My organization skills can use as much help as possible so reading his posts have been very helpful.

    I know that Shelby loves technology and WordPress which does relate to our work and can be helpful in a practical manner. However it also expands our relationship beyond just work related discussions and again helps me to see what is important to him.

    Casba has a really strong interest in music and writes really well about what he hears. I love music too so its cool to see someone else with a lot of passion and intelligence.

    I learned that Grant is really into website technology and home automation. Most of what he is talking about is over my head but thats fine as it lets me know what he is passionate about.

    At the end of the day the goal of the challenge is a personal one to get me to write consistently and hopefully better. The group aspect of the challenge gives me motivation to show up everyday and also try to step up my writing skills. Finally being able to connect further with my co-workers makes working with them even more of a pleasure.

  • Making Trails

    Making Trails

    In the last 2 years I have been working with the Mancos Trails Group (MTG) to maintain and build public use trails in our area. At first it was a selfish endeavor: I wanted to learn how to build and maintain trails on my land. There is little information online that I was able to find about trail building and maintenance. Especially the building part.

    By volunteering with the MTG I have learned a lot and increased my confidence in building and maintaining trails. While I have been working on the trails, I have also gotten to know the people in the group much better. They are from all walks of life but share one goal in common: building and maintaining trails that anyone can hike, bike, or horseback.

    There are a lot of benefits to having good trails near your home. Besides connecting with nature and appreciating the area you live in, they can also help attract people to your area for recreation. Those people end up staying at lodges and eating at restaurants. This creates economic diversity and benefits the entire community.

    Mancos and the surrounding county are relatively poor compared to the rest of the state of Colorado. We are at the far end of the state from Denver which means we don’t get a lot of people just stopping by to spend their money. Durango is about 30 minutes away and grabs the majority of tourist activity in the area.

    We have Mesa Verde National Park which is a big attraction, but you cannot mountain bike in the park, and one to two days is enough time to see all the sights. There are some other lesser known state parks in the area but those are mainly for hiking. Of the trails that are leftover we do have a good amount of biking friendly trails, but they are not in the town of Mancos. At the end of the day we need more trails here.

    This summer we made some amazing strides towards creating more trails in the Chicken Creek Nordic Center and at the Aqueduct. While these areas are located just a few miles from each other, they could not be more different. Since Chicken Creek it at a higher elevation, it has Ponderosa Pines that reach high into the sky, and create a lot of shade. There are also a number of creek crossings. The Aqueduct is lower in elevation and is considered high desert. The trees are Pinon and Juniper, and there is a little bit of cactus to keep you on your toes. There is no water and the terrain is a bit more challenging.

    In both areas we created new trails using a mixture of volunteers, paid trail workers, and a professional trail builder. The volunteer work was a lot of fun but the trail workers and builder made the most progress by a considerable amount. The money for these activities was generated by a combination of grants and cash donations.

    Next summer the goal is to finish the Aqueduct trails, which could be done if we can raise enough money. Currently we could probably increase our grant writing activity, but also look at expanding where we are getting donations from. It would be awesome to have another 8 miles of awesome trails in our area. This would help us appreciate what we have, and bring more people to visit and live in the area.

  • Recovering from Thanksgiving

    Recovering from Thanksgiving

    The start of a new week after a big holiday is always a tenuous situation. On one hand four days off of work is very helpful for relaxing and remembering what is important. On the other hand it makes it more difficult to come back to work the following Monday, because even when work is great it is still work. My thoughts are of food and conversation with friends. Making the shift back to work thinking takes time and effort.

    The Thanksgiving holiday in the USA is a complicated thing to celebrate. Traditionally most Americans think of Thanksgiving as celebrating when the Native Americans helped the first settlers get through their first winter, and of American Football.

    Reflecting on this tradition is conflicting because it celebrates cooperation, but the consequential treatment of the Native Americans by the European settlers makes one question how much cooperation there was. My life is directly descended from these activities so I am a byproduct of them. I am thankful for living in the country and try to understand both the privileges it grants me and the tragedies it created.

    When I was younger I rebelled against all of it and thought that by rejecting everything I would absolve myself somehow. As I have aged I recognize that life is utterly and completely complicated. I am far from settled on the matter of how we treated and continue to treat the Native Americans. I cannot change what has happened but I can change how I think, act, and handle situations moving forward.

    Thanksgiving is also conflicting because of my own memories of Thanksgivings gone by. As a child it meant either hosting family or travelling to visit family. Some of those memories are good and some are less than good. In almost all cases there was a great food and overconsumption. This year we had friends come over and help us celebrate our first Thanksgiving in our new home. The food was great and I ate way too much.

    My solution for bouncing back from vacation is routine. Getting up early and getting some type of workout in is key. First of all this is important for staying healthy and happy but also because it helps to clear the cobwebs of vacation from the mind. Once the blood is flowing its time to focus on the dogs and getting them some breakfast and their exercise.

    This morning I got up and did 30 minutes of yoga. At one point in my life yoga was pretty much everything and helped me get through some interesting times. Now it is a tool I have that helps me remember how my body is changing but still the same. Each pose has a benchmark that lets me measure how much I am improving or declining.

    The more I practice the more I can check the benchmark and see where things stand. If I am not able to do a pose that I once could I do not feel bad, instead I see it as reason to keep doing more yoga. If I am able to still do a post I am happy but try to remain humble and know that there are other places I can still improve. Yoga also creates a flow by linking poses together in a way that mimics natural movement. This helps me feel confident in my own body, which then extends into everything else.

    Having a morning routine is somewhat new to me. For most of my life I have treated the morning with dread. Instead of seeing it as the start to the day, I saw it as the end of sleep. Changing this attitude took over 40 years but when it happened it was more like a light switch: I simply make the decision each morning to get up and out of bed.

    Having a routine to follow once I am out of bed also helps me get out of bed. Rather than laying there thinking about what I could do if I got up, I already have a plan and just need to get up and follow it. There is no thinking more than what t-shirt I am going to put on.

    While the routine is very important, being flexible with the routine is also important. Sometimes things come up and I cannot get a full workout in. In those cases walking the dogs replaces my workout. I am at least getting up and moving around. Plus walking my dogs is always an adventure.

    They smell so many things that I do not and it is fascinating to watch them explore. We have a good amount of wildlife around our home, so there are lots of tracks and scat that I imagine creates a cornucopia of smells.

    By the time work comes around I have been up for a few hours, have some type of workout in, have reviewed the days plans with the dogs, and made a nice cup of coffee. My mind may still be in vacation mode a little bit but I have removed a lot of cobwebs and am ready to go.

  • Technology Business Podcasts I am into currently

    A few weeks ago Ezra Klein did a podcast episode with Kara Swisher of “Sway.” and I remembered how much I enjoy Kara’s sharp tongue, quick wit, and deep knowledge of tech and business. Since then I have subscribed to the aforementioned podcast Sway:

    Power, unpacked. “Sway” is an interview show hosted by Kara Swisher, “Silicon Valley’s most feared and well liked journalist.” Now taking on Washington, Hollywood and the world, Kara investigates power: who has it, who’s been denied it, and who dares to defy it. Every Monday and Thursday, from New York Times Opinion Audio.

    Sway Podcast from the New York Times

    Her interviews on Sway are really well done. She is well researched and has expanded beyond Silicon Valley here. Great listen guaranteed.

    From there I learned about her team podcast with Scott Galloway called Pivot from Vox Media:

    Every Tuesday and Friday, Recode’s Kara Swisher and NYU Professor Scott Galloway offer sharp, unfiltered insights into the biggest stories in tech, business, and politics. They make bold predictions, pick winners and losers, and bicker and banter like no one else. After all, with great power comes great scrutiny. From New York Magazine and the Vox Media Podcast Network.

    Pivot from Vox Media

    These two are hilarious and interesting to listen to.

    Then found out that Scott has his own podcast called The Pod:

    A bi-weekly podcast offering Scott’s fresh and irreverent perspective on the news, plus a 45 minute interview with a ‘blue-flame thinker’ on Thursdays, and listener questions about the business world, big tech, and entrepreneurship answered on Mondays.

    The Pod from Prof G Media

    They cut through the BS, keep it fun, but also give some good insights into technology and business today. I cannot recommend them enough.

  • Anticipation, Expectations, and Waiting

    Anticipation, Expectations, and Waiting

    A colleague of mine wrote about waiting for a big running race he has this weekend:

    I’m always a bit uneasy and fidgety in the week leading up to a race.

    Four More Days of Waiting – Jon Penland

    Replace ‘a race’ with ‘moving into a new home’ and I would say uneasy and fidgety are great adjectives to use. The unease is seeing how much is left to be completed by the builders and all the little details I want to point out. At this point they have built an amazing structure that is solid, well insulated, and magnificent. Now its just the million little details of finish work that need to be done.

    The fidgeting is due to anticipation and expectation. Kate and I last lived in a real house over 7 years ago. Since then we have been in a 280 square foot trailer and currently a 300 square foot cabin. Having full size bathrooms and a full size kitchen is going to be revelatory compared to the cramped quarters we are used to. Being able to have more than one person in the kitchen at the same time seems otherworldly, but we can see it coming.

    So close!

    We had coffee and cherry tarts in the new kitchen this morning. Sure there is a mess of dirt on the windows and paint buckets in the corners but the countertop is glorious, and gigantic compared to what we have lived with for so many years. It is already amazing and will be even better when we don’t have to walk over from the cabin to experience it.

    Our expectations have had to be recalibrated a number of times. At the start of the project the builder said we would be moving in by mid September. Kate and I had a feeling that that timeline was a bit unrealistic and never really expected to be moved in by then. So when the move in date slipped to October we were not surprised. Then it slipped to early November. Which, if you are keeping score, was last weekend.

    A few weeks ago I was not managing my expectations very well. Mentally I was already building the theater room and my office. I started getting lazy with my workouts in the small cabin thinking that soon I would be working out in the theater room. I was already living in the house even though we were not yet living in the house. This is also known as delusion and generally is not a good mindset to have.

    As I mentioned a few days ago we started riding our bikes in the morning again and that helped a lot. I also made the leap from thinking about moving into the house to living in the house. What I mean by that is that we are planning on being in this house for the rest of our lives. Thats a long time, so what is a few weeks of waiting to move? Once I started thinking on a longer timeline my anticipation calmed a lot.

    Already this week the builders have made amazing progress. The handrails for the upstairs loft are done. The showers are done and the electricians are here today to finish up and pass inspection. We are so close its awesome. In the meantime I have to remember to keep living and know that we will move in soon.