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Upgrading my Networking Gear (2022.3)
In the last installment, I tackled redundancy and made preparations for getting the final bits of networking laid down. In this update: the last of the cable has been laid down and all of the major pieces of equipment are in place, so I can take a bit of time to finally give some attention to improving the day-to-day usability of the network.
Shop Talk: Garage Door Tune-up
I’m not quite sure what motivated me to clean the garage door but here we are. I think this was originally motivated by wanting to do a wipedown of the brace bars and finding out that it wasn’t a simple ‘wipe and done’. Once I cleaned the support bars, the rest was a inevitable rabbit hole.
Build Log: Basement Mega-pantry
Unfinished basements tend to become dumping grounds: where seasonal supplies, boxes, foodstuffs and supplies go to live out their lives in darkness. I wanted to make this space brighter, easier to use and just nicer before it got out of hand and fulfilled its destiny of becoming a dumping ground.
A smartwatch as a notification relay
The snappiness of my new phone was a bit out of place with the sluggishness of my old smartwatch so I set out to ‘just take a look’ at what options are on the market. Just looking at the headline features of almost every smartwatch out there, you’d think the user-base consists entirely of olympians and/or sleep-apnea patients. Thankfully my needs are a bit simpler: just reliably relay notifications to my watch.
A New Phone Adventure
I’ve been planning on a phone upgrade in the next year or so but my wife had the misfortune of breaking her phone recently. This was a perfect excuse to push that schedule up a bit sooner. It was a bit of an adventure picking out a new phone and then dealing with the various challenges in getting the phone into what I would consider a ‘usable’ state.
Data Loss
Two is one and one is none, right? Or at least that’s the mantra of preparedness as I understand it. Recently, I had the fun opportunity to have multiple component hardware failures. Now that I’m back up and running, this makes for a good time to take a closer look at my backup strategy and how I can improve it.
Upgrading my Networking Gear (2022.2)
I made the transition from consumer-centric networking gear to a more purpose-built setup a few months ago and there's nothing quite like living with a setup to highlight all the little fixes, tweaks and upgrades that you'd like to implement. And there definitely been a whole bunch of changes, both visible and behind the scenes and I think we're at a stable enough 'milestone' that I think I can recap where the journey has taken me.
Build Log: Improved Miter Saw Station (Mk III)
Ever since building, using and ultimately, living with my previous miter saw station, there were some quirks about that I didn’t like. Now that I’m in a more permanent space, I can finally take the time to build out a more permanent miter saw station that improves upon all the shortcomings of the previous.
Build Log: Hanging up Power Cleaners
It’s great having a cordless power-cleaner that you can use anywhere, but man, keeping them out of the way so you’re not tripping all over it or having them sprawled all over is a huge pain. I finally got tired of this and set out to just hang them up and out of the way
Build Log: Battery Organization
My power-tool and outdoor-tool collection spans a few different battery systems and I’ve either been tripping-over chargers or tumbling batteries over the years. With this shop, I specifically set aside some space dedicated to getting this under control.
Build Log: Dust Collection Cart Mk II
There are two things that will almost certainly happen when you get a cyclone separator. First, you will be so happy when you see it working and do it’s thing and secondly, you’re going to knock the bucket over and curse. And shortly after, you’ll want to build a dust collection cart so that it never happens again.
Build Log: Small Parts Organization
I’ve had my original small parts storage setup since when I first started out building things and while it’s held up over the years, it could be better. Now that I have a bit more of a permanent setup, I’m revisiting this easy project to get everything organized.
Build Log: Mini Network Rack Mk II
With all of the incremental upgrades to my network, I felt it was time to finally revisit the network rack that I had outgrown. Doubling the capacity from a 6U to a 12U should give me a bit more breathing room for all the stuff I need to jam in there and rebuilding the enclosure/stand will give me an opportunity to address a few of the shortcomings and quirks of the original design that I’ve learned over the years.
Upgrading my Networking Gear (2022.1)
I had always intended to make the switch away from consumer-grade networking gear but like all things, there’s ‘never a convenient time’ to up-end your setup. For me, it was IoT devices that was the driving force to finally revisit my networking plans.
Berry Flognarde
A super easy dessert that really follows the ‘set it and forget it’ school of thinking, this berry flognarde is a hoot to introduce to guests purely on its name alone. Most will do a double-take on the name and some might even proclaim that you are pulling their leg.
A Somewhat Smart Home
Over the last few years, upgrading to a ‘smart home’ has been all the rage. The typical party-trick automation is pretty cool but in practice, tends to come up a bit short. Perhaps looking at something a bit less ‘smart’ can make for a more effective system.
Build Log: Dining Table
Now that we have our own place, I can finally get rid of the wobbly IKEA table we were using as our dining table and build something personalized that we can use for years to come
Build Log: Entertainment Hutch
A fairly quick project for getting all the living room TV ‘stuff’ off the ground and into a manageable place with a home for a robot-vacuum.
Integrating Work-Laptops into a High-Performance Flow
Working from home can be a wonderful thing if you have a totally dialed-in workspace but one of the biggest gotchas is that, (generally), at some point -- you're going to have to use a sorry excuse of a computer to get stuff done. Some work machines are better than others, but so, so, soooooo many are mobility focused paper weights.
I took a non-standard approach to integrating the work machine into my flow and because of this, I had to come with some creative workarounds for challenges around meetings and such that popped up.
Build Log: Floating King Bed Frame
We recently got a new king-size mattress to replace our old queen so this was a great opportunity to build a new floating frame, add cool new tech to it and address a few small grips with the original design!