Home Improvement

  I've decided to alter the Home Assistant (HA) installation. There is a way to use Python and venvs but that requires a newer version of Python. To installl a newer version of Python requires either updating the existing files (sloppy) or starting with a fresh install of Debian 13 (Trixe)., a long laborious process of rewriting scripts and services and their referencing files. Another approach uses the 'container' software package known as "Docker." This method is cleanest and wont require I rewrite existing services and scripts. The reason for the change is running two RPi's simultaneously uses up energy. I can, using Docker, install HA on my solar system RPi. This will leave the 46gb SSD open for use as a backup for the RPi SSD. The RPi should also be more energy efficient at night, with changes that have been made per GoogleAI  instructions. A couple of eye-bolts are ready for installation on the peaks of the house roof; one on the West end and one on the ...

  My home network now includes ‘Home Assitant.’ Two HUE non-color lights have been added in the basement. Most recently, a WiZ color light was placed in the bathroom ceiling. Unfortunately, while HUE and WiZ are from Philips, they are not software compatible. For this I added Home Assistant software to my second RPi4b and the iOS app to my phone. I also have the capability of adding my home network router. The software is accessible from a web browser. For this, my touch screen Lenovo IdeaPad laptop would be ideal. Almost any touch pad would work. This would make access immediate and convenient. I altered the RPi4b to boot and run from a USB hard drive. SD cards, the usual format, are considered unreliable over a long period of time.

  The pipe, as it turns out, was inclined just enough to prevent water flowing. Unfortunately a hard rain came and the tank overflowed into the basement's dirt floor. I had to lower the resting position of the pipe by carving out a bigger hole for the pipe through the block The material on the bottom had to be removed leaving only the mortor. For this I used a couple of legitimatte chisels and several impromptu chisels inluding a railrpoad spike. When done, the mortor was exposed from inside to outside and the water now flows freely. The gaping hole needs to be filled to prevent small critters and bees form entering and cold from freeing the water. I filled the hole with fiberglas insulation from both inside and outside.

  Octoober 12 Some fun things I've found to do. Go into my router's programming and copy Halloween emojis into the SSID. Use the iPhone version of the HUE Essentials app to turn my front porch light's color to orange for the holiday.

  The pipe slants upward enough to allow overflow. More work on the clay block needs to be done.

  Finished the overflow drain pipe installation. The process was difficult but I believe I have a working drain pipe.   I used:  drill,   drill bit extender,  2" diamond hole saw with triangular shank,   sharp chisel and hammer,   carpenter's level,   sharpie marker,   3-in-one oil,  bulkhead adapter,   1-1/4" male thread/slip pvc adapter,   8ft x 1-1/4" pvc pipe,   drill with sanding disc,   conicall stone grinder drill bit and   a small bit of dried latex paint dripping. I ground down the shaft of the hole saw till the drill socket fit. I attached the socket to a socket/hexagonal shaft adapter and then, the hole saw, to the socket. The small bit of dried latex paint was used towedge the hole saw into the socket. The shank was a little too small. After drilling through the first wall of the block, I attached a drill bit extender. Alignment was all but impossible....

  I have two, interconnected, 250 gallon IBC tanks in my basement. The gutters on my house all drain into those tanks. Ever since installation, overflow during rains has been a problem. Fortunately, the basement is an earthen, unfinished, basement. Up till now, I close the pipes that feed the tanks when the tanks are full. Sometimes I don’t make it. If I’m in bed asleep and a hard rain comes, I don’t monitor the level, being asleep, of course.  The overflow eventually evaporates or sinks into the ground. A nuisance but not dangerous or damaging. I recently came up with a solution. I will run a PVC pipe from the side of one of the tanks to, and through, a terra cotta foundation block, hence, outside and into the grass. This would not seem a problem at first but availability of , and location, and price of such tools has been difficult. A diamond hole saw with the same or slightly larger diameter of the PVS pipe (1-1/4”) works but has to have a hexagonal shank to fit a standard ...