Status: Sheltering in place, we have plenty of food and supplies. We ventured out to get our hair cut for the first time in months and got groceries today.
Read something: No matter how loud they shouted, many Soviet citizens thought such exercises (in free speech) absurd. But they hid their real thoughts because speaking (Out) honestly (in a crowd) was dangerous. The Soviet dictatorship created a fear society that failed the “town square test”—can EVERYONE express themselves freely, publicly, without fear of punishment? Can we speak freely without checking for a BLM protestor confronting us wherever we are? Can we have a sign like Blue Lives Matter or All Lives Matter in our yards without fearing damage to our homes? Three-warning-signs-of-ideological-totalitarianism
Plans: Let the NodeMCU’s and the dehumidifier run until September.
- 08:00 Slept in, sipp’n coffee.
- 09:00 Going to the store for the first time in MONTHS!
- 10:00 Putting away groceries and getting organized
- 11:00 Blogging.
- 12:00 Nap
- 14:00 Running Generators #4 and #5, changed oil in #4.
- 16:00 Reading news
- 17:00 Dinner
- 18:00 Watching movie challenger disaster.
- 21:00 bed.
NodeMCU ESP8266 Wi-Fi SoC
NodeMCU Status: Our air conditioner is limping with a oil logged evaporator until we replace the unit in October. The thermostat is also limping along because of leaking batteries. I’m using these NodeMCU’s to measure the temperature and humidity throughout the house and turn on / off the power to the thermostat.
Inside this 4″ fake plant is a NodeMCU that wirelessly transmits the readings of the two DHT22 sensors sticking out of it. The NodeMCU produces about .5W of heat so it’s under about 2″ of Styrofoam holding the plant in place. In still air I’ve noticed that the temperature readings are about 1 degree high. I thought about ways of moving the air or moving the NodeMCU to a box away from the sensors. In the end I can easily compensate for the additional heat by adjusting the set points. The best idea I had otherwise was to put a fan directly underneath the plant blowing air up into the leaves. One thing I did learn was that I can easily adjust the “Mass” of the sensor by moving the sensors in/out of the bush.
Feelings: As Christians we are compelled to look after the Widows and the poor. Just how we do that in this climate when there is so much energy fighting the democracy I don’t know. I saw an ad for @free99fridge in the newspaper that I thought was cool enough to contribute too. I also got a message from ChildFund (AKA Christian’s children fund) that asked if I would answer a survey yesterday. When I called up the survey I was appalled to learn that people were dropping their sponsorships. When I decided to sponsor a child I thought about the long term, until they were 18. If I thought my financial position could be compromised so that I couldn’t support $36 a month, I would not have agreed to the sponsorship. $432 / year is not very much money to an American, we probably spend more than that on Coffee and Cigarettes. In my case, we give CF an extra $14/month to support the child’s community. We also give an extra $50 / month to the child which has normally been shared with the family.
The only other issue I have with ChildFund is their upper level management walks away with over $1M/Year in salaries of our gifts.
We picked up an additional sponsored child today. We should be able to support for 6 years until they turn 18.
Tomorrow: Saturday.
Retirement: Need to build a budget, are spending is too close to our income. Back to shopping for groceries in person, 800/Month is TOO much on a retired budget.
Project Engineering: Hiding our temp sensors inside fake plants.
Purchases:
Repairs:
Religion: We were called to read Luke and comment on the author.
Family News: Mom’s in the hospital.
Arts:
- Health: 220Lbs, too heavy.
- Swollen feet have collapsed, no more potato chips!
Travel: Florida travel looks within reach.
Taxes: Waiting on Land taxes.
Pi News: I’ve been working with “Home Assistant” software, the Pi’s themselves are in good shape.
Media: No Instagram posts today and we’re off Facebook.
Injuries: No injuries.
Accomplishments: None.
From the book “Triggers” by Marshall Goldsmith
Did I DMBT make my wife feel loved? Yes
Did I DMBT help my wife today? Yes
Did I DMBT be happy? Yes
*Did My Best To