This Sunday afternoon, I spent an hour or two so water sealing my deck.

I first went to home depot and went down the paint/sealer row. I found a sprayer thing so that I can spray the water seal on my deck. Then I picked up two cans of Thompson's WaterSeal® Clear Wood Protector. Why that kind? Well, it was the only one that was obviously clear to me. I didn't want to darken the wood too much, and this packaging conveyed to me that it was a clear waterseal and would not change the color of the wood. So I picked this one over the hundred other options.

I then got home, swept the deck as best I could and built the sprayer. The assembly instructions for the sprayer would just so bad. So I put them aside and assembled it by eye. Thankfully, it worked. I then filled up the tank and sprayed the deck.

I have a small amount of sealer left. So I bought the right amount - which was good. I did measure the deck in square feet before leaving, but I wasn't in the mood to spend time figuring out exactly how much solution I needed. So I guessed two would be enough. I got lucky and I used 1 and 3/4ths. I actually need the rest to finish off some of the railings next sunday, so it worked out well.

Posted at 9:21 AM | Permalink | Category: Homey | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Outside of a screw driver and standard wrench, one of the tools I use incredibly often are hex wrenches. I needed a single hex wrench about a year or two ago, but I wasn't sure what size I needed. So I went to Home Depot and bought a 13 piece set and I am so happy I did. I use it for a ton of things, but mostly for tightening the screws on furniture, chairs and other misc items throughout the house and office.

Here is a picture of it:

The thing on the right is an arm that can be attached so you have more of a grip on tightening screws, if necessary. Here is a taller image, so you can see what I mean. You basically pick the hex wrench, pull out that arm thing and plug the hex wrench into it. Works well...

Posted at 9:32 AM | Permalink | Category: Homey | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Spring came and now the grass is growing... Since I moved, and owned a lawn, I had to cut my grass maybe twice. But now that the warm weather is approaching quickly, I will hopefully have a full season of grass cutting ahead of me.

Thing is, my lawn is still trying to grow grass. The house we moved into was fairly new construction and the lawn was mostly mud. We do have grass, it is just not plush green grass - not yet. I hired a landscaper, not sure what his plan is, but I don't plan on having green grass for a while. I just want the grass and lawn kept clean, so I don't get on my neighbors bad side. :)

Posted at 9:34 AM | Permalink | Category: Homey | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

TechCrunch had a piece on new mashup by HotPads.com. It basically shows you the foreclosure rates per capita in any area they have data on.

Of course, being a nosey neighbor, I want to see how bad it is in my area. Yes, it makes a huge difference on the value of your own homes. Plus, I don't want to see a lot of red, cause it may be people I know.

The legend, I posted at the top right of this post shows you the heat maps grades of low to high rates of foreclosure. I can tell you, my home is in the yellow area, with no immediate homes foreclosing, at least, based on this chart. I do see blocks that I know people live on, with homes up for foreclosure - which upsets me. Here is a screen cap of that map:

As you can see, it looks like a scary picture...

Let's zoom out to the Tri-State New York area:

Doesn't look all the great. How about a wide view of America?

Posted at 10:07 AM | Permalink | Category: Homey | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Yesterday, I installed a ceiling fan in my bedroom. I am preparing for the summer months. I am told a ceiling fan can save big bucks. I.e. I won't have to leave the A/C on all the time, cause the fan should be enough to cool us most of the time.

In any event, with the immense help of my brother, I installed a ceiling fan yesterday. I assembled the fans to the motor. Then came the hard part, the wiring. I removed the current fixture from the ceiling and straitened out the wires.

I then installed the mounting unit in place of the hold fixture. Next step was to place the fan in the fixture. My bedroom ceilings are pretty high, and my ladder wasn't incredibly tall, so it wasn't easy. But I managed to secure the fan on the fixture without falling off the ladder.

After that, we realized we missed a piece, so we had to do the process again.

Once I got it up, I had my brother do the electrical connections. He is really good at that. Then we closed up the loose ends, put the power back on and gave it a test.

First try it worked!

Need help installing your ceiling fan? Check out do it yourself for a walk through.

Posted at 8:30 AM | Permalink | Category: Homey | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Yesterday, my brother helped me install a new external light fixture over my garage. Besides for freezing our hands off (man it was cold in the morning), we successfully put it up in place of the old light fixture.

I purchased a RAB fixture that is designed to only turn on when it gets dark outside. The fixture is supposedly very power efficient, as well as very illuminate. It is made for the out doors and good in wet areas.

In the past, I used this cheap fixture that held two normal bulbs. The bulbs frequently blew out, I think cause of being exposed to moisture and the bad, cold weather.

I left them on for a good 25 hours or so every Friday night through Saturday night. Why? Cause I am not allowed to turn on or off lights during the Sabbath. Also, having a motion detector is an issue as well, because when I walk up to the house, my walking will trigger the light to go on (this is a common issue in Jewish law for the Sabbath, it gets more complicated and I won't go into it). The best solution, I could come up with, is a light that goes on at night, by itself. That was this light.

So as a test, I checked it out last night. If you are looking for a light like this, let me warn you that it gives off a very yellow light. Much like street lamps. So if you want a more 'white' light, then this isn't for you. But if you don't care, this seems like a great solution. It lights up a huge area, here is a diagram:

I have the 70 watt version and I think I mounted it either 10 feet or maybe 12 feet high, not sure right now. So it does a good job lighting up the drive way. During the rest of the week, I will keep the light off (I have an override switch), but Friday night through Saturday night, it will stay on - but it will turn off automatically during day light hours (unlike my previous light).

For the front door lights, I purchased attachments for standard bulbs, that detect the night and turn off the lights X hours after it gets dark. I found them for really cheap on ThingFling.com a week or two ago. I get them today, I wonder if they turn back on when it gets dark again...

Posted at 10:36 AM | Permalink | Category: Homey | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I decided to groom myself this weekend and get a hair cut and shave. Look how different I look now:

Yes, I know 52% of you wanted me to grow a beard. I can always do it later, it was just time for me to shave and while I was at it, I got a hair cut.

To see what I looked like on Friday, check out my video.

Posted at 11:43 AM | Permalink | Category: Homey | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (0)

Honestly, I likely won't but should I? I am fairly lazy about my appearance on a daily basis. I am not lazy overall, I work hard, but when it comes to appearance, I am lazy.

The picture of me here is from when I didn't shave in a few weeks. Yea, no haircut for a while also. I bet my wife will kill me later for posting it...

So, what you think? Go for a beard?

Take the poll.

Posted at 11:40 AM | Permalink | Category: Homey | Comments (6) | TrackBacks (0)

This hits real close to home. The elementary school I went to named ASHAR, which has been educating the community since 1954, was partially destroyed this morning.

Fire guts auditorium at Schreiber Hebrew Academy in Monsey; Torahs saved from The Journal News has pictures and details. The fire destroyed the huge auditorium and lunchroom. It appears that part of the synagogue was destroyed but they were able to save the Torahs. I also hear from friends that the gym is okay but slightly damaged. Looking at the pictures, it seems the fire started behind the stage area, and then grew.

I play basketball at the school about twice a week I have four nephews who go there. In addition, my brother is probably sending his daughter there next year. All my sibling went to ASHAR, most my friends, and even some of my parents friends went there. There is a lot of history.

The classrooms were not touched by the fire, which is a huge relief. But the school was closed today because of the situation.

Reportedly, a car passing by reported the fire to the police at 3:11 a.m. There is no word yet if it was an arson or just an accidental fire. I know ASHAR has plans to move the school to a new location in the next five years.

The good news - no one was hurt, the torahs were saved and the class rooms were not damaged.

Update: The Journal News now has a video that shows more of the damage. It seems like a lot of the synagogue was also damaged. Notice the interview with the current school principle. I should drive by and see it for myself.

Update 2: It has now been confirmed that it was not arson, as I thought above.

Posted at 12:13 PM | Permalink | Category: Homey | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Ah, the front door. I rarely ever use my front door, rarely. But yet it is there. There for people to knock on, leave packages at, show people out, and to peak through the peephole.

Why am I writing about a front door? Besides for being extremely tired, I am 100% not bored. I had to work up a blog post that brought in some event from my weekend. We had my sister-in-laws, brother-in-law and two nieces over for Shabbos. My brother-in-law said I need to blog about one particular event from the Shabbos. Thing is, I can't get too personal with these posts, so I decided to talk about a front door.

Front door? What does a front door have to do with family? Good question!

Walking back from evening prayers Friday night, I began to walk through the garage door, which has a "shabbos lock." My brother-in-law asked, why don't I use the front door. I said, this way I don't have to bother anyone to answer the door. I just walk in through the garage. So, to make him happy, we went through the front door that time. But I rarely ever use that door.

I know a lot of people that don't use their front doors. I also know a lot of people that do. What type of person are you? Are you a front door type or not?

Posted at 9:31 AM | Permalink | Category: Homey | Comments (6) | TrackBacks (0)

There are virtually no heaters in the main kitchen area, except for the kitchen table. So I called the builder of my house and he had his plumber stop by. He recommended we install a kick heater to get more heat into the main kitchen.

After waiting and waiting - they finally delivered the kick heater - which will be installed by the builder eventually.

The reason I am writing this, was because it was hard for me to find or research what I needed to have installed by just searching in the search engines. So I thought I would write something that may help other's in my situation.

The builder purchased a Twin Flow III K120 Kick Space Heater from Beacon Morris.

It is used to go under kitchen cabinets, when you have no wall space to put a baseboard heater. That was the case in our kitchen, since it is walled with kitchen cabinets. They will be cutting out a space under one of our cabinets, to install this to our hot water heater boiler. When the heat is on, via the thermostats, a fan gently blows heated air into the room.

On really really cold days, like below freezing, the kitchen doesn't heat up to the temperature set on the thermostat. This kick heater should help it reach the desired heat, and make me feel like I am not burning threw money with the heat on non-stop.

Hope it gets installed asap!

Posted at 9:35 AM | Permalink | Category: Homey | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

About two months ago I reported that my phone lines were fried. What that meant was that my internal phone line wiring stopped working. So all I did was connect the Vonage line to my wireless phone receiver terminal and let it broadcast to three other phone receptors throughout the house.

It meant I was limited to three phones. For now, that was fine but in the future, I am sure I would want more.

So I called the guy who would fix it to come by today. Before he came, I decided to give the phone lines an other try. Guess what, all of a sudden, it worked! No idea why or how. It was dead for weeks and now it works.

My theory is that a wire sticking outside my house got wet. Then it dried and now it works. The wire, I guess is the wire that Verizon would use to hook up my phone service. Since I use Vonage, the wire remained unconnected and loose outside.

So last night, I put a wire cap on it and wrapped the whole thing in electrical tape. This way it hopefully doesn't get wet again and possibly fry my telephone lines again.

So now I got a fourth phone and I can add dozens more!

Posted at 9:50 AM | Permalink | Category: Homey | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (0)

I broke down and hired a landscaper. I tried to figure if I would buy a mower and a leaf blower - would it be more cost effective. But It would still eat up way too many of my hours each month if I did it myself. Would it be more cost effective for me to hire someone else, a professional to deal with the lawn? For now, that is what I picked. If things change, I can always revert back.

Right now, I got tons and tons of leaves everywhere and it looks bad. I was planning on raking them myself before the big snow storm but after the snow fell, there was no way I was able to do anything about it. It has been warm recently and the snow is almost all gone and the leaves look like a mess.

So Sunday, I called a landscaper and he is signed up to mow my lawn in the warm months and do my leaves, if the weather holds up for him to do it.

Posted at 9:24 AM | Permalink | Category: Homey , Weather | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

It has been almost three months since we moved into our new house and the winter months are now upon us. That means, huge gas bills for heating the house. I have been worried about keeping my heating costs down since moving into the house. Looking at the results, the numbers are all over the place in terms of what temperature people leave their heat on. 21% said 72º F or more, 19% said 65º F or less, 18% said 68º F, 10% said 67º F, 10% said 69º F, 10% said 70º F, 7% said 66º F, 4% said 71º F. I have been aiming at 69º F.

To be more efficient and cost efficient, I just bought programmable thermostats. They let me set schedules for each day of the week. So I can set them to turn at 69 or down to 63 each day, four times a day. I make sure to turn the heat up an hour or so before my wife and I get home and then I make sure to lower it when we are not there. This way, if we forget to lower them manually, it is done automatically. Shabbos, a day I can't adjust the heat, I set on different schedules to automatically lower the heat and increase the heat during the times were are in the various heat zones.

I hope this investment of a hundred or so dollars on thermostats returns a positive ROI in just this winter. I opted for the Ritetemp brand simply because I had to buy five and Honeywell is way more expensive. My A/C units and alarm system are on Honeywell, but I went cheaper with the heat. The Ritetemps are guaranteed and come with a 5 year warranty. I actually feel like I am saving money right now...

Installation was fairly easy. Just two wires and four screws and two AAA batteries and it was working. Then I just programmed it and we are now set.

Posted at 11:31 AM | Permalink | Category: Homey | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (0)

We had a snow storm (wasn't bad) this past Sunday. But the snow was very wet and then froze over at night. It wasn't one of those light snows, it was a rainy snow, which is heavy.

So I got the plow guy to do the drive way but he didn't do the walk way. I was going to do the walk way that day, but I ran out of time. Then over night, the walk way turned into ice. I need an ice pick or blow torch to loosen the ice off. One day, I guess. Good thing we don't use the front door, the garage is our main mode of entry and exit from the house.

Sunday night, I took out the garbage, to be picked up Monday morning. Ever since then, I cannot find the top of that garbage can. Typically, they take the top off and throw it on the grass. When I come home I put it back together. What must have happened was they threw it on my grass, which is all ice. It must have blown away and slid to one of my neighbors properties. From there, who knows where it is? Upsetting, I need the top!

That is how I lost my garbage top in this ice capade.

Posted at 1:33 PM | Permalink | Category: Homey , Weather | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (0)

>Last night, I came home, hoping to eat something, shower and go into bed with my laptop - since I am a bit under the weather. But when I got home, the Internet wasn't working. My first Verizon FiOS internet outage!!!

So I did the normal things. Reset the router, since the Verizon router didn't show an Internet green light, I assumed it was at least at that point. Restarting didn't work. So I looked at the FiOS box, it looks something like the image at the top right of this post, but mine is a bit different. I had green lights for power and backup, but the next light was red and read "FAIL."

So I called Verizon support and to make a long story (which was fairly short), short. They said they would send someone out to me. That person came at about 11:45am today. I met him at the house, showed him the box and he did a few things. He then determined it was with the wiring. He went outside (my FiOS box is mounted inside) and followed the FiOS cables to the junction box on the telephone poll. He messed around with that box and then I saw the lights all turn green on the FiOS box.

I tested the Internet on my iPhone and we were a go.

That was my first outage.

Posted at 1:09 PM | Permalink | Category: Homey | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

Yesterday, I was home sick. Sunday night, I was up from about 11:30 until 4:30, in the bathroom - returning what I ate for dinner that night.

Honestly, I don't remember every throwing up that much in on day. As you can image, not sleeping, not having any food in my body and not being able to eat - really tired me out. I did some blogging between 7am and 9am, took a nap and then got back to working from my bed after noon time.

This morning, I am stable. I feel like I lost 50lbs yesterday. I am very weak, but I am able to sit and type. I have an in-person meeting in a couple hours, a meeting I had to cancel yesterday.

Glad I was able to get to work today.

Posted at 10:13 AM | Permalink | Category: Homey | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (0)

I don't know how I hung up large pictures before I got myself a Accu Mark Gecko Grip Level made by Black & Decker from Home Depot. This weekend, I saw it at home depot and picked it up. I then went home and hung up a large mirror in my entry way.

First I measured the hanging holes on the back of the mirror as illustrated in this picture:

Then I put the leveler at the preferred height and made sure it was level. I then measured to make sure it was centered in the wall. After that, I drew lines in the holes provided in the leveler, as shown here:

Then I screwed in the screws and anchors into the wall and hung it up.

I don't know how I managed to do this before I got this leveler. This could have saved me a lot of time. No more separate rulers, no more making mistakes, etc.

Posted at 10:57 AM | Permalink | Category: Homey | Comments (5) | TrackBacks (0)

This Sunday morning marked the first time it snowed this season, plus the first snow fall in our new house. I actually shoveled the drive way and did not hire a plow to do it for me. I wonder how long that will last.

Here is a picture of the snow in my back yard:

It may have turned out to be a few inches by the end of the day. Nothing major but with all first snow of the season, the weather channels play it up.

But how about timing....

I got my new car a week ago today and within a week, we get our first snow. So how did it drive? It drove great. I did not slip, skid or get stuck. It drove. So no complaints are what I was looking for. I have no story to tell - which is good but bad for the blog.

Overall, good timing...

Posted at 10:49 AM | Permalink | Category: Homey , Motor Vehicle , Weather | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

I bought my PS3 about 10 months ago. I used it maybe a couple dozen times. It was a bad bad investment, stupid purchase and in hindsight - I would not have purchased it.

But now that I have it and reselling it on eBay doesn't look good with them lowering the price for this holiday season, I had to make a decision.

I decided to recycle the gift for Chanukah. I will give it to my four nephews for them to use. They already have XBox, which I bought for them years ago. But I guess a PS3 isn't bad to have with the XBox.

So now, they will have both.

If I ever get the urge to use the PS3 or even XBox, I am just around the corner from them. So I will stop by and play. :)

Happy Chanukah!

Posted at 10:56 AM | Permalink | Category: Computers , Homey | Comments (4) | TrackBacks (0)

Yesterday, I had a bunch of house chores to do. So when I got home from work in the late morning, I got to it.

First I cleaned out my car so I can easily turn it in today. Then I swept out the garage, the first time since buying the house. Then I tried to rake the leaves...

I decided to start with the driveway area. About a half an hour later, and half the driveway later, I noticed I wasn't getting too far. Looking at what remained, about 6/10ths of an acre, I decided to call it quits. It would take me days to finish the whole yard. So I finished most of the drive way and put the rake down.

I then turned off the water to the outside hoses, so it doesn't freeze.

That was about it for my chores. I may hire someone to do the leaves or I might just leave it as is. Still need to decide on that.

Posted at 10:10 AM | Permalink | Category: Homey , Weather | Comments (5) | TrackBacks (0)

Yesterday I was sick. I actually tried to come into the office yesterday morning. I drove in at about 6:30am, did a file upload and then drove back home.

I spent the morning in bed on the computer going through forum threads to have Tamar write about at the Search Engine Roundtable and my RSS feeds for Greg and Danny to write about at Search Engine Land.

I took a nap in the middle of the day, a much needed one. But throughout the day I spent time watching the GamePlay HD channel and the Kong Fu HD channel.

GamePlay is pretty cool. You watch professional gamers go at it on your TV. It is like watching sports but only watching virtual people play against each other. So I guess it is virtually being at a virtual game, kind of nuts. It was interesting to watch, to say the least. The Kong Fu HD channel, well - it is Kong Fu, which guy doesn't like Kong Fu?

Today, I am feeling a lot better. I am being careful with what I eat...

Also, the comments may not work. We have 67.19.244.2 trying to spam the hell out of it.

Posted at 10:39 AM | Permalink | Category: Homey | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

My wife called me when I was at the IM NY thing last night on her cell phone to tell me the phone lines are out.

I tried to walk her through rebooting the thing but I failed. So when I got home at about 11, I rebooted it myself. I did the standard run down...

(1) Make sure phone line is plugged in securely on both ends
(2) Make sure RJ-45 is plugged in securely on both ends
(3) Reboot router
(4) Reboot Vonage box

I still got dead air, no dial tone.

So I plugged a phone directly into the Vonage box and it worked. There I learned my phone lines were fried.

How? I have no idea... It has been like that for a month. I did not change anything for a month. Then all of a sudden, last night, they stopped working.

So in the meantime, I hooked up the vonage box to a phone station which has three wireless hand sets. It will work fine for now.

I am just really bummed about wasting time on it last night and the lines being fried.

Posted at 10:46 AM | Permalink | Category: Homey | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Orthodox Jews do not turn on or off lights on Sabbath (Friday night through Saturday night). That is why you never see me blog or online Friday night through Saturday nights.

Due to that law, many prefer to set timers for certain things like lights. I just installed Intermatic Wall Timers in the family room and kitchen eating area. My brother stopped by to drop something off, so I did one of the timers with him, to confirm I was doing it right. This wall timer is actually awesome.

Besides for it being flush against the wall and not sticking out, it has tons of features. The most useful part is the push button to turn on and off the light during normal usage. It has seven on and off settings, which are programmable by day and time. It has a "random feature," which can be set to give your house a lived in feel. It also has a sunrise and sunset feature.

I set it to turn on and off for Shabbos usage times. This way I do not have to leave all the lights on in those rooms for 25 hours or so.

Yes, gas and electric are not cheap.

Posted at 8:55 AM | Permalink | Category: Homey , Religion | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

The other day I asked Do Light Bulb Changers Work?

Well, they do. I went to Home Depot Sunday and picked up the Bayco Light Bulb Changer Kit, which was on sale for $19.

I attached the piece you see on the left of the image to the pole. I inserted an energy efficient light bulb in the gripper and lifted it to the base. I then pushed it in, screwed the bulb and noticed it turned on. I did not want to get electrocuted, so I tried to reach the switch to turn it off while holding the pole.

It did not work, so I tried letting the pole hang from the bulb while I run to the switch and turn it off. I tried that and the pole fell, but I caught the pole before it hit the floor. I then switched off the light, which I thought was off originally, and tighten the bulb.

It worked well.

What was the difference? It came with a smaller gripper that held the bulb in place. I did not have to use the suction piece, which simply did not work.

We now have light!

Posted at 9:56 AM | Permalink | Category: Homey | Comments (4) | TrackBacks (0)

The worst bulb in the house went out the other day. It is the bulb in the entry way, which requires a really long ladder or a really long pole to change the bulb (maybe about 20 feet high, maybe much more (I really don't know).

In any event, I saw this Microfiber Hi-Reach Cleaning Kit from Bed Bath was on sale, it included a light bulb changer. So I picked it up last night and gave it a try.

I put the thing together and tried out a few of the pieces it came with. I then went with the suction cup end to change the bulb. I extended the pole as far as it goes and then had to walk up most of the stairs to reach. As I began trying to unscrew the bulb, I had this fear that it would not stick.

I had my wife grab a box, one of the hundred we used to move, and place it under the bulb. Soon after, I was able to get the bulb out, but as I lowered the poll, the light bulb came loose of the suction cup and fell to the floor.

CRASH!!!

It landed in the box, the light bulb actually did not shatter. It would have, if the box was not there.

Next, I tried putting up the new bulb. I got the new bulb to suction to the pole, but ever few seconds it would fall off. So I tried using some of the other pices, those did not work out too well. So I came back to the suction, got it to stick for a while. As I started lifting the bulb to the fixture, I got nervous again. So my wife put the box back.

I got the bulb to reach the hole to screw it in. As I turned, I lost the suction on the bulb. I waited, tried to reposition, but I knew I had no chance. The bulb would fall. I tried to push the bulb in and continue turning, but I failed.

The bulb came crashing down to the floor. Bingo! It hit the box again, and the bulb survived.

I then decided to give up and put it away. Who knew changing a light bulb can take up so much time!

My question, is this worth trying again? Do I need a different tool?

Update: See my new post, Light Bulb Changers Do Work: We Have Light!

Posted at 9:39 AM | Permalink | Category: Homey | Comments (7) | TrackBacks (0)

So the winter has finally arrived, with it being 39 degrees here in Suffern, NY.

I have been asking people in the community what they set their heat at. Most were proud to give answers such as, no higher than 68, 69, etc. But one person shocked me by saying a crisp 65 degrees. Why? Heat and electric can cost several hundred per month.

Every house has its own temperature. It depends on how well insulated the house is, how big it is, the type of windows, siding, etc. So each house needs to find their own comfort level. My question to you, and I have provided a poll below to find out your answer, what do you set your heat at in the winter months?

Posted at 9:51 AM | Permalink | Category: Homey , Weather | Comments (4) | TrackBacks (0)

Last night I reorganized the devices I want to have on a battery backup, just in case the power goes out.

I placed low cost battery backups in a couple strategic locations throughout the house. I then made sure the following items still have power, even if the power goes out.

1. FiOs wireless router
2. Vonage box
3. Upstairs WiFi router
4. My alarm clock

So this way, if the power goes out I still have Internet access for a little while. Plus, I still have phone access for a little while (until the Internet goes out or the Vonage box goes out). Oh, and if the power goes out in the middle of the night, I hope my alarm clock still goes off.

Site note: Buy.com has a great deal on a battery back up... It goes as low as $28 if you buy it under a brand new Google account with Google Checkout, after rebates... Here is my aff link:

Posted at 8:46 AM | Permalink | Category: Computers , Homey | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Last night my wife picked up a light fixture to go over the new mirrors that were installed in the house.

By the time I got home it was dark. But I don't like to wait on things, as you can tell by my blogging habits.

So I convinced my wife to stand with a flash light so I can install the fixture. Here are the steps I took:

(1) Shut off power the fixture at the fuse box
(2) Read instructions
(3) Took off existing light bulb fixture
(4) Tied new wires to the light source
(5) Attached plate to wall
(6) Took off plate from wall after realizing I forgot to attach "mounting screws"
(7) Attached mounting screws and reattached plate to wall
(8) Grounded electrical to grounding source, attached wiring to light fixture
(9) Removed grounding, removed wiring, detached plate from wall after noticing the screws I used were too long

RANT: Why didn't they say use the shorter screws? Why in the picture are the mounting screws longer than the non-mounting screws? Why are the mounting screws given three different names in the directions.

RANT OFF

(10) Put on new mounting screws
(11) Attached plate to wall bracket
(12) Grounded electrical to grounding source, attached wiring to light fixture
(13) Attache fixed to mounting screws
(14) Capped off mounting screws
(15) Put in test light bulb and turned on lights
(16) Turned on power in fuse and it worked
(17) Installed light covers
(18) Screwed in light bulbs (energy efficient ones)
(19) Leveled the fixture

Then ran off to play basketball. It made me 15 minutes late.

Posted at 10:30 AM | Permalink | Category: Homey | Comments (4) | TrackBacks (0)

I was kind of hoping that I wouldn't have to cut my grass until next season. But it looks like the prolonged summer is making the grass grow even at the end of October.

Thing is, the length of my grass doesn't only impact me, it also impacts my neighbors. Being new to the neighborhood, I don't want people to think I am a slob. And I have a feeling, people who see homes with long, unkempt grass, might get that impression.

So for the good of the neighborhood and to not have to walk with my head down in front of my neighbors, I know what I must do.

I must cut the grass.

Oh, then comes getting rid of the leaves.

Posted at 10:24 AM | Permalink | Category: Homey | Comments (6) | TrackBacks (0)

Yesterday afternoon, the shower door and mirror guys came to install shower doors and mirrors in the bathrooms. I have to say, I was disappointed with the service. Besides for them not listening to my wife's requests and chipping a mirror, see the picture below --- it gets worse.

One of the installers come down and ask to speak to me. I say, "how is it going". He taps on his note pad and says, "its time you pay". I ask him, "are you done?" He said "no." So I said, "why should I pay?" I add, "I already gave a 50% deposit three weeks ago." He said, "Well, most of it is done." I replied, "I am not paying until it is all done."

Those things really make me upset. I wasn't mad, I was just really disappointed and embarrassed for him. It is just not right to ask for payment, when:

(1) I gave 50% already
(2) The work is not done
(3) The mirror is chipped
(4) And the manner he asked for the money

We called the owner today to show him the problem with the mirror. He said he will replace it. Who knows how long it will take.

Now, let me take you back a bit. Remember the The Invisible Shower Door where I told you this company said they already installed my shower doors? See why I am even more upset and not trusting?

This is one problem I had so far with the work that needed to be done on the house. I have been very fortunate.

Posted at 9:42 AM | Permalink | Category: Homey | Comments (4) | TrackBacks (0)

So yesterday, I spent some time putting up shades in the house.

Since I spent a heck of a lot of money on the house, I thought we go cheap in certain areas, such as drapery and shades. I actually have a client with the domain Drape.com, not bad... Anyway...

I went with Redi Shades. They are paper shades and can easily be put up.

You can buy them at the Home Depot for about $4 or $5. I got two kinds, the original ones for the downstairs level and the room darkening version for the upstairs bedrooms.

You basically cut them to size with a razor blade and then peel of a stick and stick it to the top of your window. They hang from top down and you can clip them at the bottom to adjust the height.

The main issue is that I have tons of 6 inch, 12 inch, etc. pieces of blinds. Not sure if they can be used or what to even do with them.

Oh, they also make "arch" versions like this one:

Supposedly, you do not need the special arch version. All you need to do is cut the original version down the middle and it works the same way.

Posted at 12:39 PM | Permalink | Category: Homey | Comments (8) | TrackBacks (0)

I completed a few items in my Things Remaining To Be Done in House list. By far, the most important item, is now complete.

The networking guy came to the house Sunday to fix the networking wiring that goes up to the master bedroom. The cat 5 cable was simply not working from the basement patch panel, up into the master bedroom wall jack. So he came over with his fancy tools and told me that it appears from his device that the cable is cut somewhere from the basement up about 6 feet. The total cable length he said was about 45 feet and if it was cut in the middle, it would have been a pain.

So he extended the cable from the basement from 6 feet up to the patch panel and within 30 minutes, I was up and running.

Now my FiOS internet connection is also wireless upstairs and running at lighting speeds.

My whole house is covered in strong WiFi, which is great. Not only because of my laptop, but also because of my iPhone.

Posted at 9:37 AM | Permalink | Category: Homey | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

As I noted on my Things Remaining To Be Done in the House list, I still have to get the shower doors installed.

Currently, we are using the bathroom with a bathtub/shower and a shower poll. But we have some bathrooms that require shower doors. So I gave a deposit to have those done about two weeks ago. I hear nothing and decide to call today.

What was the status? The shower doors were done, the lady told me. I said, "done?" I said there is no way they were done, I woke up this morning and there was no door on any of the showers. She then asked me to hold.

During this time, maybe, I thought, just maybe, the frameless versions of those shower doors are really becoming so transparent that they are invisible. Maybe, maybe, they installed invisible shower doors. Wouldn't that be cool. An invisible wall that keeps the wetness inside the shower but allows a human to walk directly through.

Guess what? I was right. I called the lady back and no, there were not any invisible doors installed. They said they will install them soon but they have not been installed yet.

There goes my invisible shower door dream.

Posted at 2:39 PM | Permalink | Category: Homey | Comments (8) | TrackBacks (0)

I still have a list of things to get done in the house, but sometimes I forget what is on that list. So why not