We both now have colds, so it was an at-home day, except I dragged myself five blocks to Trader’s. Dwight had promised to make his world-famous biscotti, but we were running low on staples.
Category: Home Living
Unraveling wiring and taxes
Installed a 3-gang screwless switch plate for friends. Easier said than done: I had to unwire the three switches, thread the wires through a backplane, then reconnect the switches. (This photo is an example in our home.) It was lucrative work: I learned we are paying too much tax on our parking spaces: they’re homesteaded, but tax is less if they’re not homesteaded, which seems upside down.
Smart home upgrade for snowbirds
Spent the afternoon making the home of friends smarter. Like us, they’re snowbirds who head to warmer places during the depths of winter. After setting up a plant watering system for them previously, today’s project included configuring two cameras, and installing smart wall switches and water leak sensors.
First-world problem: a whining sound
A video showing a whining sound at this bathroom vent can reach 75 decibels helped to get our building’s management company to own the problem. The extraction fan is on the roof and should be silent in our home. The air is controlled by a motorized damper which makes no sound when open. Parts of the roof fan will be replaced. Over the years we’ve found this circa 1995 sound meter to be useful when addressing noise issues.
A soaking day
It’s a grey damp day, best for hunkering down. After rinsing, I’ll hot-soak these dried beans, then freeze half. I’m poking around the freezer for ideas for a bean dish for dinner tonight using the other half of the beans. So far, a ham shank and mirepoix are lined up. Fresh garlic, bay leaves, and cumin should punch up the flavor. Brown rice and stir-fried Swiss chard will balance the meal.
Early season finds at the Mill City Farmers Market
Our local farmers market was busy this morning. I walked away with asparagus, baby kale, bread, and honey. It’s too early in Minnesota’s growing season for anything cruciferous, except a few types of leafy greens.
Rainy day comfort food
Rained all day, inducing a mild case of cabin fever. Made a mushroom sauce for leftover polenta, heavy on the mushrooms: finally, a task with a beginning, middle, and end that I accomplished today. Finished the sauce with heavy cream, shoyu, and Dijon. An immersion blender and some water revived the polenta.
Annual data snapshot
Today was the day to complete our annual data snapshot (around 500GB compressed) onto encrypted thumb drives. I keep these drives indefinitely, so if we ever need to recover an old file that we accidentally deleted at some time in the past, we can hopefully recover it from a snapshot.
Tech upgrade: new Dell tower
My tweaking project for the next few days involves setting up this Dell tower that arrived today. It’s replacing a 15-year-old Windows system, which will lose Microsoft support this fall and isn’t safely upgradable. Here, the new computer is tucked away behind a partition wall. The 19-year-old monitor and the 10-year-old Brother networked laser printer/scanner continue to meet our needs.
Signs of spring
It’s finally springtime in Minnesota. When I came home from an appointment, tulips had magically appeared on the kitchen island and this bathroom. Tonight we’re firing up the BBQ for the first time this year–Dwight’s roasting squash.