And it keeps getting funnier every single time I see it

Obviously this isn't something that I think a lot about.  I love the domain name, but still not a big fan of posting things.

Here is the update since last time:

Replaced the water heater with a side venting one so I could ditch the chimney.  Replaced the roof on the house and shed (paid someone else to do it) and got rid of the chimney at the same time.  Still need to remove the chimney from the attic to the basement but at least it doesn't poke through the roof anymore.

Replaced the siding on the house.. finally got rid of the cedar wood siding... no more woodpeckers! 

Had an issue with my breaker panel (melted the main breaker) so had to replace it.  Upgraded to 200 amp while I was at it.  Once that was completed I installed a new inverter and battery system... got 15,000 KWHs of battery power available which should last at least a day.  The furnace, fridge, freezers, water heater, well pump and a few other things run off that.  Some day I hope to install solar which will tie nicely into my new inverter.

Installed Home Assistant on a RPi, with an added Bluetooth antenna (more range) and a 433mhz receiver (also more range).  Now I can capture all the Lacrosse Temp Sensors and other Sensors I've installed around the house. Started adding Emporia power monitors and connected those into Home Assistant too.

Bought a tool chest from Menards and started organizing my shop.  It feels like I have a lot more space.  Got various other new tools (router, drill, channel locks, pry bars, router templates, dremel, amp meter, thermal camera, and other misc stuff)

Built a new pantry shelf in the basement.  Turned out really nice and holds more than the old ones did.  Organized an ancient cabinet that I think my Dad built in the 50s or 60s... I store all my electrical supplies in there (wiring, plugs, switches, etc)

Bought a new QNap NAS with 5 16TB drives and 16gb ram.  I don't remember what RAID level I built it as but there is about 43TB of usable space.  I figure at some point I'll rebuild the old one with new HDs and set it up as a security camera server.

This year I hope to replace the shed siding and add battery power & lights to it.  Want to also redo the interior of the garage and redo the insulation at the same time.

Work is still good.  Lots to do and no time to do it :)

Hopefully it won't be another 2 years before I post again.

Underwhelmed

 It was supposed to be great. It was supposed to be awesome. But reality isn't even close. 

SSDD, I'll just keep doing what I do and being super awesome at it. 

Time keeps on ticking...

I think of blogs as "journals" or "diaries".  I've never been much of a write down my thoughts kind of guy.  I prefer to write code.  Which should explain why I don't update things here very often.

So, here is a quick update on what has happened over the past year or so.

Boss retired, that sucked.  One of my coworkers from the team got promoted to be my boss, that did not suck.  He is good to me and lets me do the things I like to do, I guess I trained him well ;)

SP guy retired, that REALLY sucked because that meant I had to step up and BE the SP guy.  Not something that I love to do.  Hoping we get a new SP guy soon so I can get back to focusing on the things I like to do (coding!)

"Permanent" work from home.  That's pretty good.  Save on gas, clothes, food.

Replaced a lot of the flooring, both toilets, all cabinets, kitchen / dining / front hall lights, stove, all sinks, and switched tub to just a shower. (did all that instead of buying me a new car)

Well tank "died".  Had to limp along for 6 months waiting for the well guys to get parts so they could replace the whole system.  Got a continuous pressure system.  Way better than the normal tank crap we had before.  Now we can shower and run laundry or dishes at the same time.  Replaced the whole house filters while I was at it.

Did some more landscaping.

Got a new mirrored back glass for my DW... looks pretty cool.

Got 400mb internet.

Wrote several simple JavaScript games just because I could.  Nothing that I'd publish for others to see, just for myself and a hobby coder friend of mine.

Still miss my friends.

A new update

Another year and a half has gone by since I last posted.  Lets do a quick catch up...

Work is good, boss is good, doing a lot of coding (both web & winform based) and generally just being awesome at what I do :)

Most recently, I built a replacement for my 300 CD changer using a Raspberry PI 3, a 23" touch screen monitor and software called SilverJuke.  Makes playing ripped CDs really easy.  I did have to make an enhanced interface so the buttons were bigger for the monitor.

Got a bunch of landscaping done (paid for it) that we have wanted done for 2+ years.

Replaced the dishwasher.

Freezer died, lost a bunch of food, bought a new one, moved on.

Really hate the COVID restrictions but working from home has turned out to be better than expected.

Miss my friends

Got a LOTR

Playing pinball randomly.

Work

So, I had this big long rambling post about my work history and the bosses that I have had. I decided not to post that but to condense it down to this:

A leader can make your job enjoyable enough that you stay despite everything, or they can make you want to leave as quick as possible.

I've had both kinds... I'm fortunate enough that my current leader is awesome.

SharePoint... why...

Why is it that SharePoint 2013 can expose everything except the Meta Data Services / Taxonomy through REST?

CAML Case Sensitivity

Why the heck did the makers of the CAML interpreter make it case sensitive?  This is 2016!  A 'query' language should NOT be case sensitive.

<GEQ> should be the same as <geq> which should be the same as <Geq> why would the last one be the only one that actually works???

Those ppl should be fired.

Stuff

So I had a good friend of mine fix my RPi SD slot (he has a good desoldering station) and it works great.

I added some LEDs to the Saucers in my RFM... I don't like the Green, RED is OK going to try Blue.  Also got a saucer for the SOL hole so that should be cool.

Not much else going on.  Just doing a bunch of coding @ werk, a little playing with some toys.  PC puked so I had to get a new one.  Not fun.

Other than that, things are good.

Aaaaaannnnndddd.... we're back...

Wow.... what a long time to have left this alone.  So much has happened in the last 2 years that I can't even begin to write it all down.

Personal: We got our Black Belts in both Open Hand and Kobudo.  Soon to have our 2nd in Open Hand.  Have been teaching a lot.  Built some shelves for my oldest.  Put in new windows and blinds all around.  Changed hosts and in the process lost the CNAME for this site... forgot to fix that with the new host and finally figured out how to do it.

Work: They got rid of my group, pushed me onto another, and I finally moved to a third of my own free will.  Get to travel to the corp offices soon.  My bud started working with me then left for greener pastures.  Another bud retired.  The company is in the process of being purchased.

All in all a very entertaining 2 years.  The future still looks bright with God and my girl and family by my side.

Lets hope I remember to update this some. :)

XBMC Setup

I recently changed my XBMC server to use an HDMI cable rather than a VGA to Composite connection.  Unfortunately I had many issues getting it to pass sound.

I updated my Ubuntu from 10.04 to 11.10 hoping that would help and it didn't immediately.  I ended up having to build XBMC from source along with installing other crud.  Also ended up losing some source code :(

VERY long story short... I ended up changing my XBMC setup to disable DTS and AC3.

House Stuff

To date, I have done the following things to this house (not in this order):

Replace all door locks (me)
Replaced the well pump (professional plumber did it)
Replaced the well tank twice (my friend and I)
Installed Carbon and Sediment whole house filters (my friend and I)
Replaced the furnace & A/C and relocated within basement (professional installers)
Replaced the Water Heater (my friend and I)
Replaced Water Softener (my friend and I)
Replaced the roof shingles (neighbor, brother, inlaws and I)
Replaced garage side door (inlaw and I)
Replaced garage door (professional installer)
Replaced garage door opener (inlaw and I)
Changed out garage dual plugs for quad plugs (me)
Painted inside of garage (me)
Stained house twice (me)
Replaced all 4 downspouts (me)
Changed out Dishwasher (me)
Removed wall paper from Bathroom and repainted & install new molding (wife and I)
Repainted 3 Bedrooms, Living room and Computer room (wife and I)
Framed out, insulated, dry walled and wired basement (me)
Added inverter to run part of house when power goes out (friend and I)
Installed built in Desks & Shelves, replaced carpeting and rewired computer room (me)
Wired house for network (me)
Replace Fence (Friend, inlaw and I)
Remove fence around patio (me)
Install ceiling fans in 3 bedrooms and computer room (me)
Install storage shelving in basement (me)
Replaced the garbage disposal (me)
Installed RO Filter (friend and I)
Installed TV antenna (me)
Replaced several cabinet drawers (me)
Built playset (inlaw and I)
Dug Firepit (me)
Built garden boxes (me)
Cut down 6 trees (friend and I)
Cut down several bushes (me)
Plant several trees (wife and I)
Plant bushes (wife and I)

Things yet to do:

Replace all windows (professional)
Replace front door (me and someone else)
Replace kitchen cabinets (professional??? or maybe me... )

Jack of many trades... master of some...

Been awhile

So, its been a little bit since I last posted and I thought I would catch you up on whats up.

1) I was at my buddy's house and he had the exact same problem with his Wii that I did so I used repair proceedure #1 on it and PRESTO it works again. Good timing on me being there.

2) Bored as heck. Really want to try and figure out some cool stuff to do, just not very motivated.

3) I have some cool ideas on things to make, just don't have the resources to build them just yet. (need a plasma cutter, steel 'bender', concrete mixer, and other stuff) :)

Sounds like tons of fun doesn't it? Wish you were here?