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What’s New

Submitted by peterm on Wed, 09/22/2021 - 18:18

Here's a brief run down on what's happened since 1/1/2019 when I retired from UC Santa Cruz.

2023

Dog shows in Palm Springs, Ventura, Del Mar, Las Vegas, Turlock, Vallejo, Venice Beach. Lots and lots of rain. New Apex tires and wheels for the track. Homework club. New this summer is Junior Lifeguards, swim lessons, and more dog training.

We've got one of the grand-nephews in swim lessons and Junior Lifeguards. The other kids are participating in basketball and art classes.

2022

Smartthings, Zwave, Synology NAS and Apple Homekit

Submitted by peterm on Sat, 10/02/2021 - 18:09

We've been using Smartthings since I got into a Kickstarter for their products. Over the years, we've used the ST hub to control a lot of GE light switches, dimmer switches, and zwave devices. In 2021, I read this article about running Homebridge under Docker on our Synology NAS.

The Greenhouse

Submitted by peterm on Mon, 05/07/2018 - 10:15

At some point in our home remodeling project, we were about to lose our concrete guy due to weather. It was a El Nino year, so of course we were grading and pouring during the winter!

So we got a thought. Instead of losing our concrete guys, maybe we should expand our scope. So we had them grade what was already a pretty flat and unused section of side yard and pour a 20x20 pad. We figured at some point we'd install a greenhouse.

New for 2017

Submitted by peterm on Wed, 01/18/2017 - 12:56

I'm just back from Australia and started listing out some of what I've committed myself or my teams to accomplishing this next year...

Here's the short list of projects I'm leading or involved in for 2017.

Old House

Submitted by peterm on Sun, 06/07/2015 - 14:03

Going through these hundreds of snapshots, I'm reminded about some of our design principlles in going from the old house to new house. No 70's wallpaper, no vinyl floor patterns, easy cat cleanup, no electric range, no brown tile, no clutter, no slipping on bricks, no dark woods, no carpet, filtered air, filtered water, better and more lighting.

Even the cats got a new wall library out of the deal.

Fireplace Insert

Submitted by peterm on Sun, 06/07/2015 - 09:44

After we moved the propane tank, we knew we wante to stop using the wood burning stove and the old fireplace was never utilized. So, we did a fireplace insert with gas and we've never regretted it. I've updated the thermostat to work with our home automation tools and we can heat the front room in 10-15 mins. We used Woodstove and Sun and we'll use them again for the firepit supplies when that project gets scoped.

Hydroseeding

Submitted by peterm on Fri, 06/05/2015 - 16:38

After the septic was replaced and hillsides graded and a lot of brush removed, Ken suggested we hydroseed to protect the open hillside. This gave ua a great bloom of wildflowers and grass.

What was surprising was that Morgan Karst of Superior Hydroseeding was someone I went to high school with.

Grading Projects

Submitted by peterm on Fri, 06/05/2015 - 16:30

We did a lot of work on grading projects with Ken Clausing of A+ Construction. He and his crew replaced our septic lines, removed a lot of brush, graded a swale, graded a place for the propane tank, removed stumps and gave us lots of good advice for mountain livin'.

Septic System Replacement

Submitted by peterm on Fri, 06/05/2015 - 16:05

The failed septic system in late May 2012, got us started on a number of projects. Ken Clausing of A+ Construction was nice enough to come up that day. This is the project that started it all...

New Kitchen Slide Show

Submitted by peterm on Fri, 06/05/2015 - 16:03

Here's a new slide show for the new kitchen. This is part of the work conducted by Santa Cruz Kitchen and Bath. Joshua Scott Construction was the contractor. Andrew Wightman the designer.

The hood is a custom fabrication by RCR Fabircation here in Santa Cruz.

On Remodeling - Early Projects

Submitted by peterm on Fri, 03/06/2015 - 19:53

As we prepare to break ground on the next phase of construction at the house, I started to go back and record some of the projects we've done over the past few years. I've been sorting through thousands of images taken and trying to slim that down into some interesting reminders of how things used to look.

It kinda depends on where we start in the timeline, but it roughly went like this.

13 years ago, the side yard of the house looked like this. That's a bocce ball court with a xeryscape and brick patio.

Fabulous Fun Friday Furlough Day

Submitted by peterm on Fri, 09/04/2009 - 10:11

Well, I'm trying out my first furlough day. So far, I've slept 12 hours, read my email, got caught up on twitter and read a few articles on Drupal. I've found out that lots of folks are out today and we don't have good coverage on some of our servers.

The whites are in the washer, towels in the dryer. As fun as this is, it feels a lot like a Saturday or a take-a-max-accrual-vacation-day where you're at home on an official day and keeping an eye on your operations...