Modern Anachronist

Smart home platforms & protocols

When you finally start looking at home automation, it’s easy to get lost in a sea of technology, platforms, protocols, and marketing hype. The goal is to make sure that you spend money on equipment that will work together and continue to be supported in the future.

As of January 2021, there are three major platforms – Amazon Alexa, Google Home, and Apple HomeKit. There are probably hundreds of manufacturers who support some combination of these platforms. Personally, I use HomeKit with equipment from probably a dozen manufacturers.

Adding smarts to an old house

This summer, as I invoked Siri to light up the dinner table on the patio, my father-in-law’s girlfriend said, “You have a smart house?”

I’ve never really thought about it, but I suppose I do. I’ve got lights that are tied to sunset & sunrise. I’ve got lights that turn on if the wife or I come home after dark. I can control the HVAC system from anywhere in the world.

It’s not something that I consciously set out to do, it just slowly happened over a course of several years. In this post I’ll describe some of the lessons about “smart homes” that I’ve learned the hard way over the years.

Automate your bills – The two bucket method to reduce monthly bill paying stress

I read an article years ago (can’t find it now) about using two checking accounts to simplify and automate your finances. After trying to explain it to a friend recently, I decided to write it down.

This financial hack will make it easier to pay all your bills on time without any ongoing effort, thought or stress on your part.

Getting stone(d)

Shortly after we moved to the new house, I spotted this stone in the woods behind my house. Originally, I planned to haul it out of the woods when we replaced the fence, but since the fence was down for the mulberry tree, I moved up the time table.

It took me a few hours with the come-along to get this stone out of the woods, now I need to get it to the front yard

Chainsaw Caddy (Use notes)

Used the chainsaw caddy today for the first time. Not only was it phenomenal to be able to grab all the bits & bobs at once, there were two unexpected bonus features.

Gutter cleaning tool

This didn’t work out as well as I hoped. I’ll probably end up modifying the design to improve the performance. It may also be that the gutters were too clogged and that this tool will work fine if it’s used on 4-6 months worth of debris as opposed to several years.

Weekend dinner chicken

At two hours, this takes too long to cook during the week, but it is quick enough that you can do things on a Saturday and still have time to enjoy a bird roasted over charcoal.

Golden crispy skin and perfectly moist meat

The toys that make noise*

*hat tip to Dennis Leary for the title.

With an eight-year -old and a six-year-old, I can’t believe how long it took me to figure this out. Anyone with children knows the pain of loud toys, especially early in the morning.

Birthday Chair for the Wife

Decided to make a nice chair for my wife to enjoy her garden. I did a google search for Adirondack chairs and asked her to pick the one she liked best. Thankfully she chose one that was within my abilities.

The fine folks at Lowe’s have the plans on their site.

Open Wide

I frequently see new Excursion owners asking how to get the barn doors open all the way. It’s incredibly easy.

Left side, open normal.
Right side, extra wide.

You need to open the doors extra wide if you want to load anything wider than about 44”