I looked everywhere, but I couldn’t find it. I searched twice: inside the duvet cover, under the bed sheet, in all the pillowcases, under the bed, and inside the washer and dryer. Then, Dwight, in a stroke of brilliance, climbed on a step stool and fished out the missing pillowcase from the “The Land of Unpaired Socks” behind the dryer.
Category: Home Living
Cheap Insurance
Downloaded files from our cloud service to an encrypted 256GB thumb drive which we will keep permanently. Doing this periodically is some protection from worst-case scenarios like being permanently locked out of the cloud service.
Sausage Saturday’s Back!
It’s the first Sausage Saturday at home in two months. Dwight says my braise is so much better than his, pure flattery, it means I cook. It does help to push up the umami by remembering to brown all the ingredients, including the cabbage, then adding tomato paste, shoyu and fish sauce. Meanwhile, Dwight completed our taxes today and I’d rather cook.
Future-Proof Parking
Today, I spotted a new electrical box on the wall behind our two parking spots for a future EV. Along with almost half of our building’s residents we opted to pay to have the wiring installed. This was expensive with long cable runs to connect each charger to control equipment in a distant room, so I’m impressed by the number of neighbors who participated.
Finding Hygge
Bitterly cold outside, Dwight baking banana bread and cornbread, me curled up with a murder mystery novel set in Osaka.
Cycle and Soapie
“Burn the House Down,” a Japanese revenge thriller series (with subtitles), fueled my pedal strokes on the exercise bike to nowhere as steam continued to rise off Saint Anthony Falls, a sure sign it’s best to stay indoors.
A Time for Magic
With windchills in negative territory, it’s a day for staying in. While Dwight planned rehanging pictures, I went downstairs for a workout. On the way back up, I shared the elevator with a family laden with groceries. Their little girl announced that the drinking straw she was waving was a magic wand. When I asked her about it, she declared it could turn a person into a fairy.
Rolling Green, Smart Scenes
Built a project box for wirelessly controlling lights on our mobile green wall via our Zigbee mesh network and Hubitat hub. Now, these lights seamlessly join lighting scenes controlled by voice, app, or household events.
Empty Boxes
Realized storing empty electronics boxes was no longer serving us. We’ve been storing the elaborate boxes in our “basement”—a storage cage two floors down. Since we hold onto electronics long past their prime resale value, keeping the boxes serves little practical purpose.
I’m Married to a Cactus Whisperer
Over the years, our stash of dental freebies from hygienist appointments has grown. Today, Dwight announced he’s found a new use for them: cleaning between the spines of cacti at the greenhouse where he volunteers. I couldn’t resist speculating if he’d be talking to the cacti during his prickly procedures.