Wife is pissed

She really does enjoy and supports the hobby. She just doesn’t trust it enough to not wake the kiddo at 3am and ruin everyone’s night

1 Like

I have been lucky so far, my wife hasn't had much in the way of missteps so far... I had a good one happen to me:
I was trying to automate the hall and bath lights. Had a simple (no sensitivity control) motion detector and door sensor. Wrote Alexa routines: A: motion turn on lights in hall and bathroom, wait 15 minutes and turn them back off. B: bathroom door closes; turn on light. C: bathroom door opens; wait 2 minutes turn off light. It worked... or so I thought. Sitting on the potty, reading my phone like we all do, and the lights go out. I use the app and turn them back on. It happens again. Soon a tug of war is going on. Turns out my cats were triggering the motion sensor, and the off commands had piled up in a "stack." This ended this automation attempt until I get better sensors.

The same routine setup also lead to a few lights going out during showers, because while getting ready for bath time the door was opened and closed multiple times (triggering the wait and off command) this one got me yelled at... just a little.

Just last night, I was sitting on the couch with the hubby. The lights dim when the tv is on and brighten when it goes off. As you're going to get up and go upstairs with no intention to stay in the room. We remained seated talking. The motion sensors reset and the lights turned off while we were sitting there. In the dark I hear a deep voice "your bullets suck".
:rofl:
I responded with "Honey, the lights have been this way for over 2 years and has it happened to you before?"
"No"
"So it took you two years to notice that the lights will turn off if you don't get up and leave? I'd say that's pretty good."
"Okay, you're right"
:microphone:
#micdrop

8 Likes

You might have suggested it was being romantic :slight_smile:

well ... that would have been all fine and dandy, but my snarky voice announcement ruins that by randomly stating when quiet time is invoked
"mode is quiet. I guess this means that you're not going to put out?"
It rotates with a few other snarky responses that would have definitely proven me a liar about a romantic lighting scheme.
:rofl:

4 Likes

Back in the 1970s, when mega-fauna still roamed the earth, there was a scandalous and much-xeroxed article in one of the electronic hobbyist magazines about wiring up a 555-timer chip and a few high-power FETs to make a very slowly dimming light for "romantic" applications. This dedicated device was invoked with a button push, and would cycle down to dark over a 10 to 30 minute period.

Problem is, those of us who owed soldering irons to make one were the least likely ever to have a woman in our apartments at all, as back then, geeks had actual pocket protectors and some carried slide rules in belt cases pre-dating the "light saber" by over a decade.

6 Likes

Oh my gosh 555 timers, the first IC I wired up in electronics class. Brings back some memories. Let me get my HP 16 C out and prototype the logic :slight_smile:

2 Likes

4 Likes

I'll add my novice story to the pile...

  • Installed smart bulbs throughout apartment
  • Installed first samsung button in kitchen to replace pull chain
  • Realize it has a double-tap function

What genius action should I map to this???
I suppose I may want ALL the lights on if I was just arriving through the door at night....

Well, me, then my buddy, then my fiance, all contracted COVID after I was on a work trip. Ironically it was the trip that kickstarted the HA.

Buddy and I had largely recovered, but the lady was still struggling and hadn't been getting much sleep. We all watched a movie and she went to bed while we stayed up for a night cap.

Friend - "How do I turn on the kitchen light?"
Me - "Hit the button!"
Fiance - "$@$%%^#$%^&*%$%"

:slight_smile:

3 Likes

I sure this can be done by other means... I think this baby could be rigged up in their rooms....https://www.homedepot.com/p/Orbit-Yard-Enforcer-Motion-Activated-Pest-Deterrent-Sprinkler-62100/203907475

I wasn't going to add anything, buttttt....
The internet service in our area has been, "flaky", of late. I recently upgraded our home with a mesh system and several "smart" devices and yesterday, my wife pointed out that the internet keeps going out since you've been "wiring" the house. I did mention the internet in our area, the whole town, has been having intermittent outages. The ISP reports spotty coverage as they cannot keep up with demand until they upgrade.
This is somehow my fault... :face_with_raised_eyebrow:

3 Likes

A man is alone in the woods and he makes a statement ....... is he still wrong?

6 Likes

Hahaha. I love it. And I feel your pain.

I don't need the new Hub Information Driver as I get detailed field reports immediately when something even hiccups --very detailed, heh.

3 Likes

Once you take responsibility... :smiley:

A bit off-topic, but I had a niece read me the riot act yesterday because the backup system I set up for her computer couldn't retrieve a file she deleted by accident. I turned out that she changed the backup drive letter back in August, and has been ignoring the errors when the backup program couldn't find its destination since then. Clearly my fault... :upside_down_face:

1 Like

Remember the rules: if your'e married you are guilty until proven guiltier!

3 Likes

It is a word, and I use it all the time in my writings for work.

1 Like

I’m going to have to try that !!!

Good thing I don't care if I'm wrong, or in trouble. :stuck_out_tongue:

1 Like

Me neither, I regularly aggravate the wife and kids. She can't wait until I return to the office after this covid stuff blows over.

1 Like