Roger Bikes

Tag: housekeeping

  • 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.

  • Looking Closely is Everything — by Craig Mod

    The question is: When the gears of society start moving again, will we carry the wisdom of this stillness forward? I hope so. Out the other side, back onto those transatlantic and transpacific flights, pressed against one another on our daily subway commutes, schedules full of dinner parties, brunch dates, weddings, funerals, brit milahs, concerts, pizza cook-offs, retreats, homecomings — back into libraries and classrooms and the homes of our grandparents and elders. Inspecting it all once again with our newly honed, ever-close-looking eyes.
    — Read on craigmod.com/essays/looking_closely/

  • Home building update: Pause and Hot Tub

    Home building update: Pause and Hot Tub

    It has been a while since I posted about our home building project. While we have been able to settle on a design we are having a challenge finding builders who can meet our budget. Apparently the pandemic has driven up the cost of materials and also everyone wants a home or add on built, right now.

    Based on that we have decided to pause the build phase till spring. This will allow us more time to talk with various builders and find someone we like who can deliver at a price we want to pay. It also gives us more time to think through the details of the finished house.

    Finished House Plan:

    View 1 of the Garage Door and driveway is the west side, and back of the house. When you drive up our main driveway entrance you will see the house from View’s 3 and 4. We set it up that way because we want the main view of the home to be of this:

    There are a on of details about the house that I will get into eventually. We are excited about the project still but we want to avoid spending all of the money building it. We have talked with more builders in the last couple of weeks and Spring is looking very promising.

    Did you say Hot Tub?

    In the meantime we need to prepare for winter in Colorado. That means cold and, hopefully, snow. Besides buying warm clothing the best way to deal with cold and snow is with a tub of hot water with jets, also known as a Hot Tub.

    We have discussed having a Hot Tub for a few years now. Spending regular time soaking in a tub of hot water is great for soreness and heart health. Its also nice to spend time in a hot bath for relaxing. The problem is that Hot Tubs can be really expensive, especially when they are new.

    So Kate fired up Craigslist and started searching for used Hot Tubs. There were a few that seemed ok but something just wasn’t right. So she kept looking and looking.

    At the same time I started researching how to properly setup a Hot Tub. After watching a few YouTube videos and reading some websites it came down to building a concrete, gravel, or wood pad to place the tub on. Since this setup is temporary until we build the house we opted for gravel. Its the cheapest option and won’t stand out as much when there is nothing on it.

    For location we decided on the south west corner of the cabin’s gravel patio. It would be close to a water spigot, close to the french doors of the cabin, and in direct sunlight.

    Then at 10pm on a Wednesday night Kate found The Tub. They were asking almost nothing so we were suspicious. Then Kate talked with her and got the story: They had purchased the house a few years ago and the tub came with the house. They were not Hot Tub people and never used it. She wanted the corner of her porch back and the tub had to go.

    The problem was that this tub was just over 4 hours away, and we would need to rent or borrow a trailer to bring it back. We also needed an electrician to setup the 240V connection cause I am not quite ready to play with 240 just yet.

    Again Kate came to the rescue and found a hot tub delivery guy who is also an electrician. He agreed to pick the tub up, give it a quick inspection, deliver it to us, and connect the electrical. The catch was that I was going to need to get the hottub pad setup in just a few days.

    So we had a pile of roadbase gravel delivered and I got to work:

    This is the site of the pad before I added the roadbase gravel. I dug out 6 inches on the high side, left side here, and then placed landscaping fabric down to prevent weeds from coming up. Then I started wheelbarrowing the gravel under the blue tarp on to the fabric.

    The process of laying down the gravel and then tamping it down took some time. However this part of the process results in the foundation that the hottub would sit on. So I took my time and got it tamped down really well so that we wouldn’t have a tub slide incident. The timing was perfect because right as I finished the hotub arrived and I helped get it into position:

    Once the tub was in place I raked he clean gravel back over the pad to make things look nice.

    Then we filled the tub up and turned it on. With 240V electricity the water heats up about 10℉ and hour. If we had gone with 120V it heats up 1℉ and hour. So we waited a few hours and then started what I am pretty sure will be a lifetime addiction to hottubs:

    Here is another shot of the setup:

    So far I have used the tub everyday before and after work. Its part of my new routine and is a great way to prepare for a day of work and then unwind when done. As an added bonus we have been watching the stars at night a lot more. We just sit back, turn the lights off, and ponder our purpose in the Universe. Oh and we can see Starlink satellites traversing the night sky.

    Maintaining the hotub water is my new past time. It is a lot easier than a pool cause there is a lot less water. The hottub delivery guy gave us some good tips too: focus on chlorine, shock, and pH. So far so good as the water is clear and not overly chlorinated.

    I had a house with a pool years ago in Phoenix. It was a lot of work and I wasn’t that into using it as I had thought. A hotub is great for a 15 to 30 minute soak and serves a much more therapeutic purpose: mentally and physically. I am sold, if you cannot tell.

  • Hello world!

    Hello world!

    Welcome to Roger Bikes where you can learn all about Roger biking. This site is very serious about being serious so if you aren’t taking this serious then you might want to reconsider your seriousness.

    In all seriousness though I created this site as part of a 100 days of blogging challenge that I set for myself in April of 2020. The idea is to post everyday from May 1st to August 9th of 2020 as part of a way to distract myself from the COVID-19 pandemic.

    I hope you enjoy reading my posts here and feel free to leave a comment.