Flashback: Dishes in the Tub

When my sister, Brooke, decided to move to Chicago six years ago, I decided it was time to get an apartment on my own. While having a roommate had its advantages, I felt I was finally old enough to be completely on my own. Right away, I found a beautiful one bedroom place in St. Paul with hardwood floors and a GORGEOUS clawfoot soaking tub. Without consulting any outside opinions, I put down a deposit and agreed to move in the following month.

Being young and inexperienced, I didn't realize all the things one should check for before agreeing to rent (or purchase) a place to live. For starters, I foolishly believed air conditioning on the top floor was not a necessity. When your cat sits in the living room in this position for hours at a time, you know its hot.

But that's not all. After just a few weeks, I learned the other "quirks" the renting agency neglected to tell me:

• The laundry room DID have three washers and three dryers. However, there were no lights in the laundry area and no windows, not to mention only one of each worked on a good day. 

• The water heater was on a boiler system. Hopefully you weren't in a hurry because lukewarm water took a minimum of 8 minutes, hot water at least 10. 

• I couldn't dry my hair and have the bathroom light on without blowing a fuse. Same for the kitchen light and the microwave. 

• And the best part: the kitchen sink didn't have hot water. In order to wash my dishes (because there was no dishwasher) I had to fill up a tupperware basin with water in my bathtub and carry it into the kitchen. 

So this past weekend, when the pipes to the kitchen sink began shooting water all over the basement, I found myself, once again, washing dishes in our bathtub. And having marinara sauce all over your white porcelain tub makes you thankful for plumbers and their ability to be at your house first thing Monday morning.

Despite this setback, we've actually managed to get a TON of painting done. And even though we're far from being finished with decorating, things are starting to finally take shape.

 

The House Connected: The Smart Home Revolution

Here's a story I wrote for work about our house and the technology available to us. Hopefully you find it just as interesting as the techies I usually write for!


This fall, my wife and I purchased our first house. And like many young couples, we went the ambitious route and snagged ourselves a fixer-upper. And boy was this house ever in need of fixing … so much so that we utilized the 203k renovation loan program so we could tackle projects immediately and get the home back to livable condition.

The great thing about rehabbing or building a home in today’s day and age of “smart technology” is the sheer amount of affordable options for those looking to go green, automate basic home processes or program appliances. We installed a new television that utilizes built-in Wi-Fi to give us the ability to surf the internet and stream movies directly from our TV. We purchased a sound bar for our television that doubles as a wireless speaker for our iPhone by utilizing Bluetooth connectivity. We have even looked into a home security system where we can visually monitor our house via our phone and a sprinkler system that can be managed by a slick mobile application. But our favorite new automation toy for the house is the Nest Learning Thermostat.

The Nest Learning Thermostat is a brilliant product from a couple former Apple employees who created the first iterations of the iPod and iPhone. As their website states, “Nest learns your schedule, programs itself and can be controlled from your phone. Teach it well and Nest can lower your heating and cooling bills up to 20%.” As you would expect from any product with ties to Apple, the Nest has a beautiful interface, boasts simple navigation and revolutionizes an entire industry. As Wired Magazine recently quipped, “The Nest is the iPhone of thermostats.”

Since Nikola Tesla first patented an idea for a remote control in 1898, home automation has mainly been something we’ve read about in science fiction books. But since the invention of smart technology, consumer electronics has advanced leaps and bounds. Even when the first iPhone was released in 2007, I don’t think many consumers would have imagined a thermostat that could program itself coming to market less than five years later.

And perhaps even more impressive, the Nest is available to the general public at a very reasonable cost of $249.99. In fact, most home automation devices are finally becoming cheap enough for middle-class families to explore. No longer does it take a massive electrical overhaul and new equipment totaling thousands of dollars to automate simple house processes. By investing in a reasonably-priced, new smart product, the ability to connect via your smartphone and control the device is intrinsically built-in. Never before has a homeowner been more in control of the basic operations of their house. And we’ve barely even scratched the surface.

This “internet of things” so to speak is quickly building a future of immense connectivity. As CNET recently wrote, “the trend toward ubiquitously connected devices and people is inescapable and poised to change everything about the consumer electronics world.” According to Cisco CTO Padmasree Warrior, there were 500 million connected devices in 2007, or about one for every 20 persons on the planet. In 2013, that number will jump to one trillion devices, or 140 devices per person!

But while the ability to control your air conditioner, open and close blinds and dim lights is helpful, a world where almost every device is programmed and can be managed by a remotely-located device is a bit dangerous. While I don’t think a thief or hacker will care too much about fiddling around with sprinklers, I’m sure they would love to get a hold of the ability to manage a security system. Not to mention, we’ll soon enough have the ability to open house or garage doors via our smartphones and that could pose a major threat if a phone is stolen or lost.While concerns over security and privacy are very real, the benefits of a house with connected devices and automated processes is extremely beneficial to consumers. Not only does it provide you with the control necessary to streamline and improve the way your house runs, it will also save you time and money. And as much fun as I’m having renovating a house with 21st century conveniences, I can’t even imagine what new gadgets and technology will be available to me in 30 or so years when my renovation is finally complete!

Making Progress

It's been crazy around here at the Williams household and I'll be honest, I'm having major writers block as I sit down to write my first post in what feels like months (ironically, we're watching Charlie Kaufman's Adaptation, a humorous film about ... writer's block). You see, my entire existence this past week has been consumed with painting.

Edging.

Rolling.

Touch up.

Repeat.

We had every intention of taking our time to make our house our own, but last week we got a fun surprise from the HUD inspector: our place isn't considered "move-in ready" until every room has a fresh coat of paint on it. And the bank won't release the rest of the funds to our contractor (to pay him and his guys) until painting is complete.

My hands are raw and chapped. Josh and I have been changing into the same painting clothes every day for the past week (next item on to-do list: laundry). Our entire place smells like Sherwin Williams. But it's all finally coming together, and we cannot WAIT to show you some final "Before and After" photos. For now, here's a quick peek at what we've been up to.

 

Bunk Mates

Like many siblings, Brooke and I spent our formative childhood years sharing a room. In such a small space, the only logical sleeping arrangement was to set us up in bunk beds. Being the eldest*, I assumed that I would be given the privilege of the coveted top bunk. (*Even with multiples, there is always an oldest and youngest. A mere two minutes separated my sister and me, and by golly, I used those 120 seconds of additional life experience as a rationale for every argument we had growing up).

My parents, however, believed I could keep a better eye on my baby sister sleeping on the bottom bunk. Oh I kept an eye on her alright; I watched her roll off the bed and onto the floor at least once a week (usually without waking up). The first time it happened, I was sure our positions would be switched as I was a non-moving sleeper. Nope. Instead, they simply scooped her up, placed her back under the covers and went back to bed. This routine went on for over two years. Two years, people!

As anyone can attest, sharing tight quarters heightens all sensitivities and lowers tolerance at an exponential rate. The mere sound of the other person breathing causes your blood pressure to spike to unnaturally high levels. As such, normally petty disagreements morphed into full-scale warfare with innocent toys losing life and limb.

When fighting, the top bunk provided several advantages, the most obvious being the higher ground. Perched five feet from the floor, Brooke could quash any of my attempts to ascend the fortress of our beds.

The bottom bunk did have one unique benefit: an exposed mattress directly above me. As exercise, I would routinely kick the living crap out of the mattress (and her) as she lay there with no protection. After nine years of sharing a bedroom, my parents finally separated us after walking in on Brooke violently slamming my face with a pillow and me kicking the bed above me with enough force to get my loving sister airborne.

Twenty years later, I never thought I would be sleeping on my childhood mattress. And I certainly did not expect to be back in bunk beds, let alone with my husband.

That's right: this past weekend we finally moved into our new home!! After months of paperwork, renovations and inspections, Josh and I can officially call ourselves residents of Westwood Hills Road. In fact, I'm sitting on our new couch, staring out the window at a rafter of turkeys across the street as I write this.

But back to the matter at hand.

Being that I am a terrible sleeping partner (more on that later), Josh made the executive decision that a king bed was necessary to ensure our marriage survived. Problem is, with everything that has been going on, we just haven't had time to buy one. Which is why we are sleeping here for the time being:

Yes ladies and gentlemen, it only took thirty years but I can now claim residence to the coveted top bunk. I don't know about you, but I think that's a pretty awesome way to start off 2013.

Cheers and wishing you all the best in the year ahead!