We came back from a holiday and had the low battery issue with our Nest thermostat mentioned here.  Luckily I was home and popped the thermostat off the wall and charged it via the usb port.  If the weather would have been worse the result could have been much different.   In the past most of our home automation stuff worked pretty well. Lights turn on and off on schedule. You can ask the Amazon Echo to turn light on and off amongst other things and it all seems to work most of the time. I think most of the issues typically have to do with wi-fi connectivity.

One theme that runs through all of the newer electronic devices from washing machines to wemos is how susceptible they are too dirty power.  I spent hundreds of dollars on a dryer repair just to have the same circuit board go flaky a second time. My options are to get a whole house power protector which is expensive, turn the power off to the devices when not in use or go back to devices with mechanical inputs.  I thought the last option was interesting meaning we stay with our turn this knob to make this machine do something in that the thing that drives all of these devices might supplant moving to home automation.

Phil

My brother David picked up one of these carvings in Thailand on his way back to the states from Vietnam. I remember it being around our house with a Buddha that he had. Fast forward to 2015. I was at a fish market in Blue Ridge Ga where the proprietor sold random things he would pick up on the side. I’m killing time waiting on my order so I go outside and look at some of his treasures and sitting right on top of a pile was this guy. I think he’s supposed to be one of the Chinese deities. I purchased it for $5 just so I could send a picture to David. His reply was you’ve got a good memory. My thought was that there was another solider from Georgia with his own story headed back from Vietnam to whatever he left behind. Seeing it sitting there by itself made me feel a little sad and wonder what happened that it ended up here..

Sincerely, Phil

Every marker in the image above is a direct relation based on my mitochondrial dna. Be nice to folks they could literally be a part of you! :)

Your direct maternal lineage is the line that follows your mother’s maternal ancestry. This line consists entirely of women, although both men and women have their mother’s mtDNA. This means that fathers do not pass on their mtDNA to their children. Your mtDNA can trace your mother, her mother, her mother’s mother, and so forth, and offers a clear path from you to a known, or likely, direct maternal ancestor.

Sincerely,
Phil

I’ve suffered from migraine headaches my entire life. As a young person they seemed especially brutal. Besides the effect of the headache the next day would feel like I had been kicked in the head by a mule. If you’ve every suffered from them you most likely know what I mean.

Migraines have different physical effects from person to person. Mine start with what looks like a worm jerking around in the periphery of my left eye. (my perspective) It’ll get larger and cover more of my eye to the point where my vision is impaired. Usually after that I’ll only have periphery vision for a matter of several minutes. My vision would be poor enough I’d just find a place to stay until it passes. Then it all clears up and the headache starts. As a young person the only relief I could get was to put my finger down my throat until I threw up. This wouldn’t stop anything but it did give me some relief. As I’ve gotten older I don’t know if it’s a matter of knowing how to deal with them but they don’t seem to have the same effect.

Early on I was able to figure out what would bring it on. It was one day when I came in from the cold to have some chili that it dawned on me. As soon as the heat from the bowl of chili hit my face I could feel a migraine coming on. Mine basically are triggered in one of two ways. My head is hot and it cools down to quickly or my head it cold and heats up to quickly. This means that my migraines usually happen during either early spring or late fall when the weather is in flux.

Migraine’s do make you keenly aware just how fragile we are.

Sincerely,
Phil

Writing a blog can bring you much satisfaction. It gives you the opportunity to be creative, talk about something you’re interested in, and communicate your ideas amongst other things. It’s not difficult to get started just pick a topic and start typing.

A few reasons to blog:

1. Just like other things in your life the more you do them the more proficient you’ll become at them. Blogging is no different, it makes you a better writer and communicator.
2. As you continue creating more and more blog entries you’ll become more thoughtful about your subject. Your thoughts will become more focused and intentional.
3. You might find that there are other people out there that have the same interest and thoughts about the subject.
4. Your blog might inspire readers of your blog. Since blogging is free to your audience it’s an act of giving.
5. You’ll be more confident. There is something about getting your thoughts out there that builds confidence. Not everyone will agree with you but you’ll most likely find that you have more supporters than naysayers.

If you have any questions please use Rapid Sprouts contact page to get in touch.