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Rediscovering Dad: Turning Moments into Magic
Watching The Terminal has sparked a moment of deep reflection – a moment that feels raw and transformative. It’s interesting how a film can hold up a mirror to your own life, and this time, it reflected my relationship with my kids. I realized I’ve been wearing too many hats – strict parent, teacher, boss…
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Building My Raspberry Pi Setup with the Pironman 5 Case
When I decided to build my home automation server, I knew it had to run Home Assistant OS (HAOS) on Raspberry Pi hardware. I ordered everything I needed and decided on the Pironman 5 case. However, the case delivery was set to take over two weeks, and I was eager to start tinkering with Home…
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How ChatGPT Unexpectedly Opened My Eyes to the World of DIY Circuits
It’s incredible how far automation can go with a little curiosity and determination. These days, loads of sensors and smart devices are readily available on Amazon, and they work great. Over time, I’ve picked up a bunch of gadgets and slowly tackled some of my daily challenges through automation. With Christmas around the corner, it’s…
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Smarter Radios, Cleaner Clothes: My Latest HA Tweaks
Wow, what a journey it’s been since starting this home automation project from scratch! Here’s what I love most about it: First Automation: Smart Radio Charger It all started with a small problem I had at home. We use two radios (walkie-talkies) – one in the ground-floor kitchen and one upstairs in the office –…
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Stepping Onto the Mat: Lessons in Growth, Fear, and Parenthood
When I joined the Aikido club, it wasn’t for me – it was for Sasha, my five-year-old son. I wanted him to grow up confident, kind, and capable, and I thought Aikido could help him get there. But I didn’t want to just sit on the sidelines. It was important to me to be on…
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A Minimalist’s Raspberry Pi HAOS Server
Since I decided to set up my home automation server on a Raspberry Pi, I needed a case to house it. I found this cool, high-tech-looking case for the Raspberry Pi 5 that resembles a mini gaming PC, complete with LED lights that would make it stand out like a Christmas tree! Unfortunately, it wasn’t…
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A Reflection on Joining the Right Flying Model Club
I wanted to write this as a reflection on my experience with a model flying club I recently tried to join. This isn’t something I’ll send directly to them – it’s a personal note to myself on what went well, what didn’t, and some valuable lessons about flexibility and customer experience that apply to business…
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Flashing My ZigBee Dongle: A Not-So-Straightforward Start
Before connecting my ZigBee dongle to Home Assistant OS (HAOS), I decided to upgrade its firmware first. While this step isn’t strictly necessary, I wanted to take my time, learn the process, and set things up right rather than rushing through. So, onto the firmware upgrade… After some research, I found that there are generally…
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Home Assistant Journey: First Impressions and Choices
My Home Assistant journey officially kicked off! 😄 I spent the first day diving into research – watching videos, reading guides, and gathering tips to get started on the right foot. A couple of important decisions were up first: choosing the hardware and selecting the right platform (installation type). For hardware, I looked into two…
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Home Automation Reboot with Home Assistant OS
Recently, I watched NetworkChuck’s video “your home automation SUCKS!!” that got me fired up about trying out Home Assistant. A few years back, when home automation started to gain traction through easy-to-use apps like Tuya and Google Assistant, I dove in and automated parts of my house just for fun. I set up smart lights,…
Mastering Technology, Systems, Automation and Beyond