Category: News

Interesting finds in the news or site news.

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Started taking crossfit classes!

Took my first on ramp class yesterday.  It’s a 4 week introduction to crossfit and the proper form for all the exercises.  I was able to do everything but it starts to kick your ass as you do more sets.  I decided to give this a try because one of the guys at work has been doing it and looks great. He kinda talked me into giving it a shot. It have lost almost 40lbs with just using Tovala meals and sensible lunches but the loss is starting to slow down so I think adding a workout 2 to 3 times a week should get me dropping weight fast again. My goal is to get to 200 and then reassess. Doctor says I should be 180 but I think that might be to low.

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Tovala Gen 2 oven

Decided to get the new generation 2 steam oven from Tovala and gift the 1st generation to my mom. Tovala had a great offer for Gen 1 owners to gift the oven to someone else and get the Gen 2 for $99.

Both ovens are great but the 2nd Gen is better for me.  It’s smaller and is not as imposing on my counter.  It feels more like a toaster and a bit less premium then the 1st gen unit.  If you have a big kitchen and like the stainless steel look the 1st Gen unit is better for you… Bigger, nicer looking and better built… I. E. more solid feel to the door.

Either one is great but if your short on counter space the new one is for you… If you want something nicer looking and have the space go for the older design.

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Finally found a good task app!

Well some of you probably use this but I just found it myself… Todoist.  I’ve tried a ton of different apps and this seem to be the one that works for me. If you are looking for a good todo app I recommend you give it a try.  It is a bit neutered in the free version but you can get a feel for it.  If you like it it’s like $29 ish a year and totally worth it I think.  Give it a try!

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New Dogwash

Decided to give the new dog wash in Frenchtown a try.  It’s a nice place but it was hard for Bentley to get into the tub.  He is not so sure about ramps and this tub had a ramp up to it.  Once he was in it was great, nice and big with plenty of room to maneuver him in.  The dryer is nice and strong and for some strange reason Bentley loves dryers so he was happy after the stressful wash to get warm air blown at him.

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Installed front and rear doorbell today

I’m sick of missing people and packages at the door so I installed 2 Nest Hello bells today. It took me some time to run the wires as no existing equipment was installed in the house. I have some wires to paint but the install is very clean and I tried to reuse any old holes I could find. I only needed to drill two holes for the entire job! Now I have to see how much bandwidth they use uploading video all the time. My current cameras only upload when they detect movement. So far I like them but I will see how it goes when I am at work talking to someone at the door.

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Painters pulled a fast one

They changed the date and showed up this morning! It was supposed to be for next week. I had to call out from work last minute.  I am off again tomorrow as well.  Looks good and alot faster than I would have been able to do.

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Just installed a Sense in my distribution panel!

I just installed a Sense with the solar option in my power distribution panel. So far it looks good.  It’s still learning so I can’t really go into it’s functions but I can say installing it is a snap.  If your comfortable working around mains voltage then you should be able to do this is about 10mins like I did. It’s basically 4 CT’s and wiring it up to a 240V breaker.

As I said it’s learning the devices in the house so at the moment it can just tell me usage and production numbers.  It the future it will be able to identify when a load comes on and off and kick off an action.  An example is when your washer stops blink your hue lights in a room.

Once it unlocks more features I will do a proper review of the device so check back!