Micro-greens are fast and fun to grow. Whether you are growing these for their nutritional value or just as a project with kids, it will be a great experience. I have been gardening to some extend for most of my life. I have tried soil …
Overview: This all started with my father-in-law deciding to get a season long campsite for his camper this summer. At night he needs to run several breathing machines which require 120 volt AC. In the past he has just run his generator through the night …
This is instructions on how to turn a cheap smoke detector into a water leak detector. I do not have picture of my setup but I did find this video which shows the setup pretty well. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Umkw15FETno . Next time I visit the grandparents I will take a picture and add it here.
The basic concept is to take advantage of two things. 1) each smoke detector has a button you push to test that it works. 2) water works well, especially over short distances as a conductor of electricity. As the video shows you take two wires and solder them to the two connectors for the smoke detector test button. At the other end you keep the wires close together but not touching. You will secure these where you expect water to collect.
In my case I put the wires close together inside the crock in the basement. In order to determine where to put them, just watch how full the crock gets before pumping and put the wires just above that line. Within minutes of the pump failing the water will rise up and connect the wires creating a circuit. This will make the smoke detector test button trigger and the alarm will sound. For our grandparents house their crock is hidden under the stairs in the basement and so we ran the wire to the upstairs. The smoke detector is mounted upstairs. When their pump fails it triggers the smoke alarm. They have told me this has saved them several times from flooding. The great thing is that the smoke detector has a battery and so when the power goes out and the sump pump stops working it will still go off. If you do not have a sump pump maybe your sewer drains back up. In this case put the wires close together inside the drain. If water starts to come up or if a leak in the basement runs to this drain your alarm will go off.
Now this is only one use for this type of alarm. It can be setup anywhere water could leak. If you feel like spending more money you can get a wifi sensor and have it notify you if there is a leak. Of course if you power goes out wifi will also not work. As you can see here, sometimes the simplest solution is best.
If you are like me, the last thing you want to think about this summer is pool maintenance. We have a basic 15 ft x 4ft framed pool we put up each summer. This pool comes with a simple skimmer / pump and pool filter. …
For those of you who are just getting started with a website or maybe even those who are seeking to improve their existing website, I hope you find this post helpful. I want to cover some basic elements that I think every website owner should …
Just like my corner in the basement, my wife has given me a corner in her website, isn’t she wonderful? I spent many hours figuring out the technical aspects of this website and have constructed it from the ground up. Of course, Liv has provided all of the content and described how everything should work. At the end of it all, she turned to me and said to me with a look of all seriousness how happy she was with the results of “her” hard work, WTF. I reminded her that I could destroy what was created… you get the point. Of course, she was joking around as she many times does. The closer you are to Liv the more Liv will give you a hard time. This is the norm for her family. Sometimes it is a real pain in the butt. Like last night, when it was almost 4 am and I was about 4 hours past when I usually go to sleep. Not exactly in a joking mood after many hours of working on the site trying to get things perfect. No matter the day or mood she always seems to be able to pull me out of my seriousness.
Seriously though, my wife is the person I most admire and I am more than happy to help in any way I can. She always seems to know just what she wants and pursues it without anyone being able to stop her. Liv is quick to offer a helping hand and has contributed more to those people fortunate enough to be her friend than anyone else I know. Quite simply, she inspires me daily to follow those things I want and to be better than I was the day before.
Enough rambling, time to get to the point of this all. What am I doing posting on Liv’s website? Today, Liv and I were sitting together talking about our day and life. This is a common occurrence as we spend hours talking about any topic on our mind. We were discussing the recent launch of the website. How it is a place for people to ask her any question and also a place for her to share her thoughts and endeavors. We thought that people might also have questions for me since I have a part in all of this, if only as a supporting role. I may share my thoughts related to topics which are brought up or maybe/probably get off topic and share whatever tidbit comes to mind. Feel free to ask either of us anything that you wonder by using the contact link above. I am the computer genius and tech support is the only reason I have friends. Liv thinks it is hilarious to bring this SNL skit up on the tv and say this is me SNL Jimmy Fallon Computer Repair Guy. Not sure if you can find the whole skit but it is funny and even though I hate to admit it somewhat relevant at times, I guess…
Just to make sure things are clear, I am in no way a “writer”. I leave this to my talented wife. As such, I asked her to proof read what I wrote here. She did read through but then ended with saying this is my corner of the website and I can write it however I want… not exactly helpful. Thanks hunny, intentionally being an ass just to be funny. Seriously, she would not offer a word of advice here. Its like when you ask your grandparents for advice and they just support you in “your decisions“. I think I need to drown my thoughts in a bowl of ice cream. Farewell.