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Follow the Recommended Light Bulb Watts

It’s a sign the renovation is complete when the lights are hung from the ceiling. Today mine went up, a moment I’ve waited for for 8 months.

Went to the store, bought the wrong 25 watt bulbs, couldn’t handle more waiting, so used what I had on hand – the 40 watts.

Was upstairs organizing when I had a doubting thought, so I texted my electrician.

When that giant no came in I hurried to switch it all off. My electrician doesn’t use hyperbole. The guest room smelled faintly of burning.

The moment was so anti-climactic omg.

Max means max. 25 means 25.

He brought me these ones wow, never seen such fancy bulbs, they’re LEDs.

LEDs consume less energy to produce more light,
and will last 15+ years.

Now we know.

 

 

A Car Breathalyzer Device

When the law says you have to be sober before driving, a Breath Alcohol Ignition Interlock Device is installed.

You don’t technically blow, it’s more humming into the machine, and for longer than you may think. And it knows if it’s not you humming, and someone is trying to start the car for you.

It’s wired to the ignition.

Okay all clear, put it in drive and go. Then it will go off at random times, and the driver will have to blow clear again before they can continue.

It logs a record of when the car was started, and the driver must regularly meet with an officer to ensure things match up.

Kind’ve like – we’ll trust you but, you’ll still have to prove and account for things.

Related Column: About drunk driving checkpoints – here

 

 

Completed the Cleaning Stage of this Renovation

Took all weekend. Not being dramatic, 25 hours anyway.

Saturday night there was even an impromptu neighbour party in my backyard. I’d sail out, dump out another bucket of water, top up drinks, top up the bucket and leave to scrub.

Good timing from Krud Kutter, they’d sent me their lineup of products to test. Non-toxic, biodegradable, and you can spray it on plants and pets.  I’ve never cared about pouring chemicals down the sink, but now that I’m on a septic, I care.

Below is which type is used for what. It’s kind’ve confusing (and not alphabetical?) so here: yellow for tough stuff and laundry, red for everything else, and purple removes sticky residue like stickers and roofing tar.

Hired my kid worker for an afternoon, and we observed it cut grease well, especially where I dropped a stick of butter on the deck.

Kept it old school though for the wood floors – vinegar and drop of dish soap.  Remember when I had to clean like this last fall? What I didn’t tell you was about the chemical burns on my hands. House is same level of clean this time, but without that. So I threw out all the chemical cleaners. Am I a hippie now?

If it wasn’t so annoying, the coverage that drywall dust
can achieve would be impressive.

Still no real furniture, stuff everywhere, just gotta dance it out.

Every item inside the house, every piece of furniture, scrubbed. Every window and screen. Every felt pad replaced. Every drawer emptied, washed and re-stocked. Every furniture bolt tightened. Ceilings dusted. Walls washed. Purged a couple car loads of nonsense.

It’s been like having 3 jobs this past month. Let’s take a little break.

Okay back up, shouldn’t have sat down.

Keep going, going….. DONE.

All that’s left is the fun part – push everything into place and decorate.

And then create a Before/After photo series, which I think about constantly.

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No money was exchanged for this post.

Krud Krutter sent me their products, it was timely so I tested them, then typed my impression. This is a beta test of my latest idea.

 

 

Guys the Renovation is Complete!

Painter finished today, new bathroom mirror glued to the wall, now all I have to do is mop the floors – easy I love cleaning – and tomorrow my furniture gets moved back in BOOM. Most excited for my couch, haven’t had a place to sit in over a month.

That also means back to regular programming here, cars and security. Thanks for your patience during all this, coming for car posts and finding renovation stuff is anti-climactic, I know.

I also pledge to buy a new phone omg this photo quality is garbage eh. iPhone 6 ahoy! And I’m not getting black for the first time ever, choosing gold.

Have a great weekend and TTY Monday!

xo Keri

 

 

The New Way to Steal a Car

A signal booster is the new shim.

The method exploits keyless entry, a once-luxury feature now found in entry-level cars.

I speak with Ted Harrington, co-founder of Independent Security Evaluators, a company that pioneered car hacking.

Very basically:

The Attack

Amplify the proximity radius, and now the key and car are talking when they shouldn’t be. Thief goes in, off he drives.

The Defence

Keep your key fob in a Faraday Cage (no signals can get in or go out)… do this by wrapping the fob in aluminum foil.

Read it online at Autonet.

Favourite line:

Pretty geeky, and probably beyond the average criminal, right? The trouble is that the online black market is massive and lucrative.

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Back to ‘Keri on Driving’ – Index

Blog tag = auto security