I got home from Open Seattle Sunday afternoon. And I’ve been consumed by the move ever since. Yesterday, I worked a half a day and spent the rest of the day moving stuff across the street one load at a time. I’m using “I” like I’m doing all of the work. In reality, Kristen has moved a lot more than I have as she got started on Thursday and I was kind of worthless to the process until Sunday afternoon.
Two prevailing thoughts as we move from a long-time rental situation to our new, permanent home across the street.
Holy Smokes We Have Stuff
By my count we’ve moved 10 times in 18 years of marriage. But we had lived in our last place since Spring 2009. A lot has happened in our lives since then. We had a baby, our older kids entered adolescence, we both started working at home full-time, hobbies have come and gone, on and on.
The result is that we’ve got a ton of stuff. Back and forth we go across the street and with each trip we make a decision: Move, sell, donate, or pitch.
We will be doing all of that in the next 10 days as we close out and clean the rental house. (A new family is moving in across the street November 1st!)
Let’s Make the New House Cool
The Internet of Things was the theme of last year’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. While we were renting I didn’t have much interest in this, it all seemed kind of silly. But now that we’re homeowners again I’m looking at all of that stuff again.
Sure, we’re going to make some physical changes over the next few years to invest in our investment. (We’ve got a big list!) But I also want to see if there are new technologies out there which will help with that.
So, as often as I’ve avoided product reviews here on the blog, I think that it’s time to test out some of these things to see if they are just a gadget or if they can actually make a house better.
I’ve got my own curiosity… but I have a feeling that I’m not alone, that there are other folks who read my blog who also want to know if these things are just gimmicks or if they can really save you time, money, and provide some level of assurance.
Here’s what I want to test:
- Efficiency tools – Devices that monitor our utility usage.
- Environmental monitoring – Stuff that measures, logs, things like temperature, carbon monoxide, smoke, pollen and warns us about potential hazards. (I’m a dork, I’d love a weather station)
- Remote monitoring and security – Did you know there are apps that unlock your door as you walk up to the door? Or apps that control your garage door? Yeah, I want to see if that stuff really works. Plus, both Kristen and I are kind of OCD about remembering to turn things off. If there were a way to know for sure that our oven was off or that we remembered to lock the patio door… we’d like to test them out.
- Family-specific stuff – We’re a digital family. Our kids have lots of devices, I have lots of devices, so we are always looking for things to keep track of all of that, keep an eye on who is doing what, and keep everything charged & running smoothly.
What do you want me to test?
Fellow readers. What are the things you’d like to see me test for you? Leave me your ideas in the comment section below.
Want me to test your thing?
Drop me a contact and let’s connect.
Leave a Reply