Overheard in the kitchen while Kristin put away groceries.
Mom: We have enough tricuits to last until the end of time.
Audrey: Time doesn’t really end. The sun will eventually engulf the earth, but even then time doesn’t end for the rest of the universe.
Me: Mmm.. Triscuits.
Earlier this week I had the opportunity to attend a workshop about the foundations of risk and risk estimation from Nassim Taleb. For those that don’t know Nassim he is the author of a number of books including ‘The Black Swan’, and is an options trader, mathematician, and general purveyor of the fundamentals.
Taleb’s approach is to use fundamental math to explore what outcomes are possible. The techniques are straightforward, the simulations helpful, and the outcomes slightly unexpected.
The actual ‘teaching’ at the workshop was chaotic, but the underlying concepts were easy to understand, especially if you read his books first.
It was also my first chance to hang out with my friend Paul (and his wife Joanna). I have known Paul on FB for many years, but this was the first time we were able to meet face to face. Not surprising he was exactly as I expected.. he is intellectual curious across a board spectrum of the fields of the world, thoughtfully and contemplative about what drives things, and fantastic at explaining how a theory applies to a real world scenario.
Over the years I have been on FB I have been surprised so many times by people posting that they ‘need to give up Facebook’ because it is causing so much stress, harm, or some other detrimental outcome. Facebook has been nothing but an incredible asset for me. It allows me to meet people I would have otherwise not met and stay in contact with friends, neighbors, and people I may never meet in real life. Like the gun, the knife, and the pen, it is a tool that can be used or misused. It is your choice. Really.
I’m on my way to New York to learn about cool stuff from Nassim Taleb and probably learn even more hanging out with Paul Yaw. If only New York was a tad closer to Portland.
Me, for scale.
Time for some plugs. The garage and shop each have plugs in groups (breakers and GFCIs) , so I’m color coding them with grey and black plugs so I’ll know at a glance and which plugs are which circuits. Unfortunately it is a pain to get more than 3 colors in decora plugs that are not isolated ground so the shop plugs ( which are per wall) will be same color for 2 circuits.
Some of the kitchen countertops were installed today. There are still some more pieces for the induction top area and the tea station.
The material is brazilian black mist granite. Interestingly while it is called granite, it isn’t granite.. it is probably gabbro which usually has less silica and is iron or magnesium rich. It is a good countertop material.
Ok. Let’s see what this is all about…
Speaking of speakers – I have made some adjustments to my speaker zone plan, and I think I am going to go with the Lync system from Home Theater Direct.
I have a total of 48 ‘house’ speakers, plus 14 in the AV area. The house speakers are the ones I would use on the Lync system. It is a 12 zone system (there isn’t a real limit on the number of speakers as you can always buy more amp). It has a wall controller that can work as an intercom, and of course you can control everything from a device app (phone, tablet, etc).
Based on the speaker locations I have picked 12 zones indicated by color in the diagrams. The outside speakers are part of an inside zone, but will have dedicated volume controllers so they can be normally muted.
The intercom part is something Kristin wants to work well, especially with 3 of us and 3 floors to be on. The HTD also supports a door intercom system which I can use at the door and the gate, and if someone comes to the door or pulls up to the gate it can mute all of some of the channels and allow someone from any location to answer the gate/door call. I can also use a homeseer event to trigger camera displays and auto gate opening.
HTD supports homeseer integration, which means I can use my own presence detection for music following (following you as you go room to room, etc).
Perhaps the biggest reason for using the system is it does not require any kind of dealer interaction or dependency, nor any internet connectivity to work.
Cabinetry work continues, and the windows are almost ready for paint. I finished the floor and the edge trim in the server room over the weekend. I’m happy that I made all of the doors in the house 8 feet tall, so 45U racks can go anywhere!
Next up I need to figure out a splice cabinet for all of the fiber, and get cracking on splicing.
The stair posts are done, and they have some heft to them. Railings next.
Progress on the house continues… Cabinetry is a slow process. 😉 Stone templating was done early this week, so fabrication will start on Monday.
Lower floor is mostly done, awaiting floor installation and some trim painting. The gas heater for the lower floor is installed and working.
Service was installed at the gate. Interesting that they used a dedicated 25KVa transformer for a single service that will probably draw 5 amps.
Front door will be red, as picked by Audrey.