Roger Bikes

Tag: 100 days 2021

  • Outsmarting the smart home

    Last year I bought our first HomePod Mini and our adventure into building a smart home began. The HomePod mini works as a hub for Apple’s HomeKit smart home system. Basically the HomePod mini works as an always on computer for the various smart devices to connect to.

    One of the first smart devices we purchased was this smart switch from Meross. It’s an inexpensive device that connects to the HomePod via Wi-Fi. The advantage of adding a smart switch is that you are able to control it via your phone or Siri in various ways. For the most part they work great and we have 5 in our house at the moment.

    One issue that has come up is that the switch will lose connection to the network. When this happens the small status light on the switch starts flashing to let you know it is not connected. Re-connecting this specific switch requires you to enter an 8 digit code.

    Unfortunately the manufacturer has placed this code on the switch underneath the switch cover. If the switch is by itself removing the cover only requires unscrewing 2 screws. If the switch is located with other switches the number of screws increases by 2 for each switch. Removing the cover in those cases can be considered to be a pain in the ass.

    After having to do this a couple of times I realized I could just take a photo of the switches without the cover and then have the codes always available. I then created a photo album titled ‘Smart Home’ so that we can reference if we need to reconnect any of them.

    The switch on the left is a dimmable smart switch. We have not update the switch on the right as it’s part of a 3 way switch. These are more expensive and also we have not yet found a need to upgrade that light so far.

    There are more expensive smart switches that have a separate hub and supposedly have less issue with disconnecting from the network. So far the disconnect issues have been very minor and adding a hub to the network is less than ideal for me. It is still early days for our smart home experiment so this may change.

  • Rest day

    Rest day

    Sums it up well.

  • New TV Series: Severance

    New TV Series: Severance

    I started watching Severance last week on Apple TV and I am hooked. The photography, set design, and lighting are great. But the story and acting are what make the show worth watching.

    The show opens to a woman laying on a conference table in a windowless room. It’s a jarring scene and eventually the episode loops back to it from another perspective. Disorientation is a strong theme in the series.

    We learn that these characters are employees of a company where they have agreed to have their work memories severed from their non-work memories. The reason why this is done is not clear as of episode 2. The third episode came out today and I’m looking forward to learning more.

    The employees are all grown adults but when they undergo the severance procedure their work memories start from almost nothing. They understand English and how to use a computer but they have no idea of who they are on the outside, aka their outies. They work underground and come and go to work at staggered times to avoid their other selves from meeting each other.

    The story is very original and so far very well done. Ben Stiller’s production company is making it and Ben directs multiple episodes. On this mornings Pivot podcast they interviewed him about the show. Episodes are released on Friday’s like all the streamers are doing now.

  • Heavy News Day

    Russia invaded the Ukraine today. Its been coming for weeks if not longer but now it has happened. Putin has ordered his people to take over the Ukraine or parts of it anyway. They have captured the infamous nuclear power plant Chernobyl and are apparently holding the staff hostage.

    Yet I went to work like every other day and did my job like every other day. The war was mentioned by a few people in Slack and all agreed that it was terrible and sad news. Maybe there were fewer meme’s posted in #random today. I posted a photo of an icicle that looks like Cthulhu.

    Sign of the apocalypse?

    My desire to doom scroll about the war is incredible. It’s the main story on every news site. The Guardian has at least 12 stories above the fold on the homepage. The coverage is going to be non stop over the top for days and weeks. I can only imagine how social media has exploded.

    It’s sad and terrible news. I feel horrible for the Ukrainian people and all of the soldiers involved. I hope that it ends as soon as possible.

  • Winter: part deux

    Winter: part deux

    When it snows and the snow stays on the ground for more than a week, it is winter. We had that happen in early December and then got hit with a couple more snow storms into early January. In total we got close to 2 feet of snow in that timeframe. We cross country skied on the property there was so much snow.

    Then it decided to be spring for about a month. There were no snowstorms and the snow on the ground almost completely melted. We had a frozen culvert and a temporary reflecting pond. We went on a couple of bike rides. It was nice, but we really need it to snow.

    Thankfully this week we are back to winter. It started snowing Monday night and I was shoveling and blowing snow Tuesday morning and evening. It kept snowing and I shoveled this morning. It slowed today and I soaked in the hot tub after work. I did have to shovel a little bit to clear the path to the hot-tub, but nothing serious.

    As the winter storms have come and gone our snow management strategy has evolved. Kate clears the upper and lower decks. I clear the driveway, and clear a path to and around the cabin and hot-tub. Its a good division of labor and we stay out of each others way.

    At the start of the season I only had a small shovel. I have upgraded to a more substantial push shovel and the beast Cub Cadet snow blower. Initially my plan around the garage was to clear the path for the cars to leave. This meant I was piling snow up on each side of the driveway.

    The problem with piling snow is that it gets compacted which means it takes longer to melt. Anytime you pile snow somewhere its going to be there for a while. It will melt and re-freeze and become solid where you cannot shovel it again. Eventually it will turn to ice which requires a pick axe or blow torch to remove.

    My new plan is to clear all snow around the garage door/driveway area to the ditch on the other side of the driveway. I push and blow all the snow completely off of the road. This makes it possible for us to drive our cars and also means that in a couple of weeks the entire driveway will be clear of snow. The pile in the ditch will take the longest to melt.

    The good news is that with all of the rowing I have been doing I am in pretty ok shape for shoveling snow. It is amazing how quickly you start sweating even when its below freezing outside.

  • Too fast to start 2k

    Too fast to start 2k

    On Saturday I had my first 2km rowing test as part of the twelve week training program I am following. The goal of the training program is to improve my time in a 2km row.

    This training program is divided up into three 4 week segments. I just finished the first 4 week segment which ended with a 2km test. In 4 more weeks there is another test and 4 weeks after that will be the final test.

    Why 2km?

    That’s a great question. Being a noob to rowing I’m still getting up to speed on why things are done a certain way. Apparently the 2km distance is akin to the 1 mile distance for running. It’s long enough to not be a sprint but short enough that you are going anaerobic the whole time.

    Testing 1, 2, ugh

    My goal was to finish in 8 minutes flat. I felt that pushing myself to hit 2 minutes for every 500 meters as a pace was reasonable based on my training. In training I was doing back to back sub 2 minute 500 meter sprints. If I slowed down a bit I could do four 500 meter sprints in 8 minutes.

    For most tests my plan was to start easy and finish strong. The guideline from my training program was to aim for a stroke rate of 36 strokes per minute. Which is a really fast stroke rate for me.

    Naturally I went out too hard trying to meet the 36 strokes per minute rate. I covered the first 500 meters in my fastest split ever: 1:48.8. I then tried to slow down a little to save something for the end.

    The problem with slowing down is that your brain starts playing tricks on you. It tells you things like: “Hey this going slower thing is really nice. Imagine if we stopped and went and had ice cream sandwiches?” I had to regain my strength physically and mentally to finish strong.

    Result

    In the end it hurt badly and I wanted to stop multiple times and I may have cried a little bit. That just means I was doing the test right, right? I am very happy it will be 4 weeks until the next test. Just like in school, tests suck.

    Started too fast but finished strong.

    At the 800 meter mark I was sucking air in as quickly as I could. I would then realize I needed to get control of my breathing and do my best to get a rhythm going.

    At 1200 meters I was crying a little bit. This was where my head was talking to me about ice cream sandwiches. I contemplated stopping to f only for a moment. This was the low point.

    From 1500 meters and to the finish I was feeling good. I knew I had saved something after the way too fast start. I was visualizing finishing the test and focused only on that. My breathing was mostly under control but I was on the edge of losing it.

    When I finished with my time of 7:43.6 I was very happy with myself. Even though I had made a mistake and went out too fast I was still able to beat my goal. Not gonna lie that felt nice and is encouraging me to continue the training program.

    Oh and we had ice cream with Girl Scout cookies to celebrate.

    Maybe going out too fast is how its done?
  • Sunday Funday

    Sunday Funday

    We drove up to Telluride for some skiing and snowboarding yesterday. It hasn’t snowed in any meaningful amount for over a month but the ski mountain looked pretty good. We got great weather and for a holiday weekend the crowds were small.

    On the gondola before noon!

    I tested out my splitboard but in the snowboard co figuration. I already knew that I was happy with them as skis but the whole point of going up is to snowboard down. I figured taking the board up on the ski mountain would give me a whole day to test things out.

    Stuck together with rubber bands and chewing gum.

    I immediately noticed the drag created by the scales in the middle of the underside. When they are skis these scales grip the snow giving you traction when going up a climb. While the scales are point one direction they still create noticeable drag. This affects speed and control of the board.

    Scales for up but slower down.

    I discovered that keeping this board on edge is the preferred way to go. Keep that in mind if you have any flat sections. Maintaining speed is even more important. Switching from edge to edge at speed was fine. At low speeds, like approaching a lift line, you should plan on it handling like a slab of iron.

    One concern I had about using a split board for snowboarding is the flex. Since the board is basically cut into two pieces the potential for flex is considerably higher. While I was ready to get back on my other board after a few runs that was not due to any flexing issues.

    When a snowboard has too much flex it won’t hold its edge and you either slide out of a turn or fall down. This board held its edges well and I felt in control at all times.

    Don’t forget to keep your eyes on the ski run!

    We had a great day on the mountain and are probably gonna go again next weeekend. Looks like we might get some snow this week. 🙏🤞

    1 star!
  • Frozen Culvert: Defrosted

    Frozen Culvert: Defrosted

    Yesterday I mentioned one of our culverts had frozen. This resulted in a temporary pond that has been driving me a little crazy the last few weeks. We have an impending snow storm coming tomorrow and I really wanted to get this drained before then.

    The main way I’ve seen for clearing frozen culverts involves steam and machinery I do not have access to. But I do have access to hot water and hoses. What if I run a hose down the culvert to where the ice blockage begins, and pour boiling hot water down? Would it melt the ice and let the water flow?

    I mentioned the idea to Kate and she said she had been thinking the same thing. So we got the gear together and started pouring boiling water down to the ice blockage. After a couple of pours it didn’t seem like anything was happening. Then we noticed water slowly puddling up on the downhill end of the culvert. Then I noticed the whirlpool in the pond.

    Eventually the ice cleared enough and the remaining ice flowed out:

    See ya!
    All clear.
    Drained and ready for snow. Moving forward I will be sure to keep the culverts clear of snow and ice.
  • Frozen culvert

    Frozen culvert

    Drainage is an important consideration when building anything. When it rains or snows the water eventually flows downhill. If the downhill is blocked by a road you need to place a culvert to drain the water under and past the road.

    This is from almost 4 years ago shortly after we had the driveway built. We had a culvert added just about where the water is widest.
    Culvert installed. This is the downhill end ready to let water drain away.

    This year we have a new issue. The culvert froze up and created a similar pond to the one above. I have been trying to figure out how to clear ice from inside of the culvert but short of having a high pressure water system that can also heat it up I think I’ve just gotta wait it out.

    You can see the uphill end of the culvert in the center of this shot. There is ice blocking the pipe a few feet inside.

    One nice advantage of having the uninvited pond is the killer night shot.

  • Asking for the Manager

    When someone asks to speak with the manager it is because the customer experience is not going well. Whomever they are currently speaking with no longer has their confidence and going to their boss feels like the only option. There are cases where people ask for the manager way to early or over something very minor.

    However there are definitely legitimate times where asking for the manager is the only option. Rather than blaming the individual whom the customer has lost confidence in it may be best to look at everything leading up to the loss of confidence.

    I posted about Dave Weiner’s public lashing of Apple over their inability to get him his iPhone. It turns out that in the end he did have to ask for the manager, though in this case it was Apple’s CEO Tim Cook, aka Tim Apple. In Dave’s post titled My email to Tim Cook he clearly states the issues and problems he has experienced.

    Within an hour of sending that email he got a call from someone at Apple who was taking care of the issue. Shortly afterwards he got an email from FedEx with details about his iPhone’s delivery.

    Clearly there are some problems with Apple’s internal system for handling issues and this case points out a number of them: the automated phone system, the changing of Dave’s credit card to someone else’s, but most damning is the passing of the baton from Apple to UPS. The ol’ “it’s out of our hands” excuse is one that never goes over well with a customer.