Solving Omlet Smart Auto Door Timing Issues with Alexa Routines

[Beantree]

My new doctor has asked me to test my blood pressure over a few days. The evening test needs a quiet place to relax, but that is rather boring so I decided to play an LP on our old Sony unit. To say i was annoyed that one of the speakers didn't work was an understatement and was counter-productive for the test.

The weather has been terrible today so spent the morning trying to resolve the problem. All the connections checked so the next stage was to look at the speaker. Picking it up and hearing something rattling inside was a bad sign! Turned out to be a tealight and how that fell inside we don't know? The other thing loose in there was a piece of copper wire; another bad sign. Taking it apart was quite a challenge and eventually needed two wall paper scrapers and a very large screwdriver. 

Removed the bass speaker to find that the two flexible copper wires to the cone had just disintegrated. Spare part speaker is no longer available and an alternative was €45 plus delivery. Decided to attempt a repair. Stripped all the insulation off an old appliance lead, twisted the copper strands, soldered one end to the cone point, created a loop to get sufficient flexibility and then soldered the other end to the terminal. Same process for the other lead, re-fitted it into the case, connected it up and (would you believe it) IT WORKS!!!

[Valkyrie]

You have been busy!  And still keeping the thread going!

Here it's been full-on smallholding - still just the ducks and a couple of chickens but weather has been hectic.  The building work has driven us round the bend and after almost 2 years we still haven't completed - builder run out of money and not paid his workers.  But that's a long story.

Just before the small bedroom come temporary sewing room was filled with kitchen stuff I finally finished my daughter's wedding quilt.  I had to use the walking foot as it was so big, bulky and heavy that I couldn't manoeuvre it.  Wool wadding.

But finally I have my sewing room and in December, Big Bertha was installed.  I did have a little practice session, but decided no better way to learn than on a proper quilt.  I had this kit years ago and I sewed it long before we moved here.  Not too keen on the border leaves, but the feathers are improving.

 

Finally this scrappy quilt where I just played on the bits.  More feathers!  Some things I enjoyed, some I didn't, but another almost finish.  I have to bind both of them now.  I have one ready to load on but I'm doing other bits like organising and sorting first.  

 

[Cat tails]

They look amazing @Valkyrie! Love the chicken one!

[Valkyrie]

And here is Big Bertha.  Named by Chickwiggle!  Screenshot from Pinhole Quilting video gallery.

 

On 4/15/2023 at 7:41 PM, Cat tails said:

They look amazing @Valkyrie! Love the chicken one!

Thank you - they didn't take long to do - a few days at the most!  It would have taken a month of Sundays to finish on Jezebel!

[Cat tails]

On 4/15/2023 at 8:48 PM, Valkyrie said:

And here is Big Bertha.  Named by Chickwiggle!  Screenshot from Pinhole Quilting video gallery.

 

Thank you - they didn't take long to do - a few days at the most!  It would have taken a month of Sundays to finish on Jezebel!

Gosh…. 😳

and there is me working away on my tiny €90 sewing machine! Still fighting with zippers, but getting a bit better. Current skill level: pencil cases 😂

[Cat tails]

On 4/15/2023 at 3:11 PM, Beantree said:

My new doctor has asked me to test my blood pressure over a few days. The evening test needs a quiet place to relax, but that is rather boring so I decided to play an LP on our old Sony unit. To say i was annoyed that one of the speakers didn't work was an understatement and was counter-productive for the test.

The weather has been terrible today so spent the morning trying to resolve the problem. All the connections checked so the next stage was to look at the speaker. Picking it up and hearing something rattling inside was a bad sign! Turned out to be a tealight and how that fell inside we don't know? The other thing loose in there was a piece of copper wire; another bad sign. Taking it apart was quite a challenge and eventually needed two wall paper scrapers and a very large screwdriver. 

Removed the bass speaker to find that the two flexible copper wires to the cone had just disintegrated. Spare part speaker is no longer available and an alternative was €45 plus delivery. Decided to attempt a repair. Stripped all the insulation off an old appliance lead, twisted the copper strands, soldered one end to the cone point, created a loop to get sufficient flexibility and then soldered the other end to the terminal. Same process for the other lead, re-fitted it into the case, connected it up and (would you believe it) IT WORKS!!!

impressive @Beantree! It’s always so satisfying if you get something working again!
It’s actually very acceptable and normal to fix things like this on this side of the pond. Difference between a fuse for every appliance or a house fuse box I guess.

[Beantree]

You are both very creative @Cat tailsand @Valkyrie. That quilt machine looks like something on an industrial scale.

Building work not finished after 2 years is nothing unusual here. Typically a renovation takes at least 5 years and our place, on the third owners post French, is at 30 years and still being worked on. Probably won't be completed by us. The first owners (Dutch) made it habitable, the second (English from America) replaced all the roofs, the driveway and added double glazing, we're tidying up the worst of the 'loose ends', of which there are rather a lot.

[Valkyrie]

On 4/15/2023 at 8:08 PM, Cat tails said:

Gosh…. 😳

and there is me working away on my tiny €90 sewing machine! Still fighting with zippers, but getting a bit better. Current skill level: pencil cases 😂

Dang - don't know how to remove the pics - just needed the written quote!  Bah humbug!

Anyway Catsy - the pencil case looks great.  Me and zips were a no go area, but I found a blog "SewCanShe" and she does tutorials - she uses big zippers and it is so much easier than clothing zippers.  By Annie - Zippers by the Yard - and also does bigger bags.  I've not progressed from the smaller cases but intend to have a go at a bigger bag/case at some stage.  Or maybe an inside pocket zipper.  SewCanShe also sews vinyl things amongst others!

I've also acquired a fair few vintage machines along the way - including another treadle (now 3 of them) and poor Vera has lost her bobbin and bobbin race - she was only moved into the hallway when the builders came but oiling her the other day and oh how the heck did this go missing!  I know a lady who will have a replacement so making a list of other needs to do my mechanics bits!

[Valkyrie]

Yes, Beany - it is classified as an industrial machine.  Can't say I'm professional though!

Our builder started off enthusiastically but now our plumber is so ashamed that he recommended him for the job.  Not his fault - he was taken in by him.  He had seen his work as they'd done lots of projects together.  But as a builder in charge of a project, well, he can't do it.  Needless to say the plumber will not give him any work at all because of the lies.  We know when the builder lies - he opens his mouth.  It is a sorry state of affairs and we are withholding funds because nothing is finished.  We even planned it in blocks so that he'd do a task, complete it and he'd get payment.  But he never finished the list.  Things like facias and soffits still missing.  Even guttering going into the sewage system and it may have damaged our septic tank!  HRH has done a makeshift redirection to take it into the garden - or what used to be a garden and is now a swamp.  The extension does look good, but the sewing room is still cold because a wall in a cupboard isn't insulated and the wind howls through the door.  A stressy headache all round!  Beany - I don't think I'd be able to cope with 5 years!  2 is more than enough!

Getting a professional snagger - that the builder has to pay up front before we arrange anything and for a quote (laughing at the thought - he says yes go ahead - but he just says things and then changes his mind - hence us asking for him to pay us up front), but delay there because HRH is off to the US for a month - an adventure.  I have Bertha and I don't do flying now.  As for the electrician we were without the boiler as he signed off on faulty wiring that could have caused an explosion!  We are taking him to court to pay for the faulty work and having another electrician to fix it all and having to pay for everything twice is not on!  Fortunately we had the electrics tested - which the original bloke should have said oh dear that's awful please give me a chance to correct it - with I'm so sorry.  But he didn't so we went ahead with the new electrician.  Some things were earthed, some wasn't attached to anything.  A circuit of lights was just a circuit of wires that joined up in a circle without being attached to any electricity!  Bare copper wires dangling - live ones - and there is another guy that the builder used.  One of his staff (second in command "experienced fellow") drilled through a supporting beam in a dormer window - they were made to measure and the building regs said with 80% damage, it would never be insured, so we had to wait for another to be made.  And that is only some of the issues we've had to deal with.  I think we have a 9 page dossier of all the problems!

Thank goodness for the sewing machine and the veg patch.  Builder offered to put up our polytunnel.  When it was delivered he ripped the wrapping open to look at the instructions, then it has been left outside for 6 months getting rained on - probably the rats have set up home in there.  He actually wanted to do it so we'd pay him, but we wanted the other stuff finished first.   Arghhhh!

[Beantree]

That sounds horrendous Valkyrie, but sadly not unusual. When I retrained and was a self-employed plumber, half my work was correcting other peoples' mistakes. One of the first jobs saw me stripping off plaster ready to brick up a window (not plumbing I know). Took out an old extractor fan and realised that, to fit it, they had knocked all the bricks but half of one out from underneath a main support lintel (carried the upstairs support wall and ultimately the roof). Result was an emergency call to a structural engineer, a hasty trip into town to hire all the acrow props I could find and in the end stitching a fractured support wall together with threaded stainless bar and structural adhesive. Good experience because I've had to do something similar here.

Was called out by a joiner to look at some smelly leaks from newly installed boxed-in pipework and toilets. Turns out the 'plumber' he used had re-used all the old waste fittings and all of them leaked. Took two days to uninstall and reinstall the lot and then the joiner didn't want to pay me! Fortunately for me his customer was already one of mine, so the customer paid me direct and deducted it from the joiners' bill. And then there was a friend who flushed his new toilet and it ran hot. And then there was the customer who called me to fix his bathroom basin which had two cold taps and he had given up trying to get the plumber who installed it back. Horrifying what I've found swept under baths and then panelled over in some really expensive and immaculately clean houses.

Older houses used the lead water supply pipe as the mains earth. No problem with that until a plumber replaced the broken brass stop tap with a plastic one, leaving the whole house pipework potentially live. Turning a tap on there could kill you.

The main issue here, aside from tradespeople being just as bad, is the time it takes to get them and the cost (about double England prices). They are booked up for many months and if anything interrupts their work, like no materials or another trade, they just stop and move on to the next job, putting you to the end of their list. My friends' father is a French plumber and he had all the right contacts and it still took 5 years to refurbish his country retirement house.

I've always avoided tradespeople since renovating the first house I bought turned into a disaster; they were recommended as well.

Polytunnels are simple, up to the point you fit the plastic covering!

[Valkyrie]

Yikes Beany!  You have learnt a lot of valuable skills though.  We have had issues with trying to get materials, but it is better than when we first started - timber was the hardest thing to get hold of.  Then of course, the costs went through the roof - no pun intended!

Well the groundwork has been done by the digger and the area levelled for the polytunnel.  It needs pegging out now and the corner posts need to be sunk deep and concreted in for stability - with these gales it will need to be done properly.  Can't really see HRH doing it with me - he is a menace when it comes to reading instructions where I have to do it all properly afterwards!

[Beantree]

Here they set concrete into the ground with hooks on top to take external steel cables covered in hosepipe. They stop the cover blowing off. They are positioned at the mid-points between the internal frame sections.

[Valkyrie]

I know there is tape along the outside of the frames to stop the sun melting (hah - sun - what is that?!!) the plastic - not sure if it has soft stuff on it like one side of velcro. and I have ordered extra struts inside for storm strength.  The corner posts can be set in concrete but they are well down below - apparently they don't need to be concreted in, but we felt that being so exposed with little topsoil that was unlikely!  My washing line lasted no more than 2 days before it hit the ground with the sheets.  We had 2ft removed from one side and 9 inches from the other before hitting the shillet - like slate on its side and, well, at Hartland Point the rocks jutting out of the water are pretty much identical - except they are covered in water!    It is sort of level.  One corner ends up flooding, but then the soil will be levelled out again once the posts are sunk.  HRH is off to America this morning and won't be back for a month.  Delays, delays, delays!  I did tell him he wasn't allowed to go when full on harvest time comes.

[Beantree]

The heat tape has adhesive on one side and is smooth on the other, so the side against the plastic. Stops the cover sheet rubbing as well. Effectively there is nothing to stop the sheet from lifting, apart from the tension around the base.

We sold our polytunnel and the guy made a fantastic job of putting the cover sheet on; the neatest I've ever seen. He fitted battens at the base of the frame and then wound the sheet around another batten and screwed both together. Much neater than burying it and there is a small air gap around the base to allow better ventilation (and an easy route for the mice/ voles as well).

[Valkyrie]

Those pesky little voles get everywhere.  Good job Bertie Buzzard and his family pounce, as does Kirsty Kestrel, Olly Beak and wife.  Foxes love to dig for them - veg patch has rabbit proof fencing but the ruddy fox just jumps over (actually she dives in between two strands of barbed wire Fosbury flop style -very impressive)  But then just makes a mess as it roots out the furry sausages!

Sounds like you had a lovely polytunnel.

No sewing today - was clipping wings this morning and got a thump in the eye by one of the flappers.  Hasn't stopped watering since!  Bah!

[Luvachicken]

So nice to see that you are all still busy, I haven't been on for a while since the arrival of Bonnie.

@Valkyrie, your quilts are amazing and that machine is huge.

And @Cat tails, your pencil cases look fab too - very good if you have only just started.

[Valkyrie]

Luvviiiiiiieeee - good to hear you are still doing well.  I missed a fair bit - Bonnie?  

[Luvachicken]

On 4/18/2023 at 7:07 PM, Valkyrie said:

Luvviiiiiiieeee - good to hear you are still doing well.  I missed a fair bit - Bonnie?  

Bonnie is my 17 months old Cocker Spaniel.

She is a blue roan and has taken up a lot of time although she is worth it.

We got her when she was 3 months old after a 9 year gap from our elderly Cocker Spaniel, Daisy.

[Valkyrie]

Awww how lovely.  I love the blue roans, OH's cousin has one too.

[Cat tails]

I’ve graduated from pencil cases to small bags. Not unhappy with the result!

[Valkyrie]

Lovely Catsy!  And the fabric!

I'm just taming the fabric strings by sewing onto bits of old catalogue paper, then cut into smaller blocks, can get 4 with different looks to them.  Can't say I enjoy paper piecing as the ripping off is rather tedious.  In the meantime, the rain continues.  

[Hellis]

On 4/15/2023 at 7:34 PM, Valkyrie said:

You have been busy!  And still keeping the thread going!

Here it's been full-on smallholding - still just the ducks and a couple of chickens but weather has been hectic.  The building work has driven us round the bend and after almost 2 years we still haven't completed - builder run out of money and not paid his workers.  But that's a long story.

Just before the small bedroom come temporary sewing room was filled with kitchen stuff I finally finished my daughter's wedding quilt.  I had to use the walking foot as it was so big, bulky and heavy that I couldn't manoeuvre it.  Wool wadding.

But finally I have my sewing room and in December, Big Bertha was installed.  I did have a little practice session, but decided no better way to learn than on a proper quilt.  I had this kit years ago and I sewed it long before we moved here.  Not too keen on the border leaves, but the feathers are improving.

 

Finally this scrappy quilt where I just played on the bits.  More feathers!  Some things I enjoyed, some I didn't, but another almost finish.  I have to bind both of them now.  I have one ready to load on but I'm doing other bits like organising and sorting first.  

 

these are amazing! very professional, i would like to have a go on one of these long arm machines sometime. My quilting is pretty basic but I have a go! 

[Valkyrie]

I've only done about 4 free motion quilts on Jezebel Janome.  She was made for quilts but even with a big harp space it was still a struggle to quilt as I do large quilts for the beds. It was really painful across the shoulders to manoeuvre the big woolly wadding ones, so this is an absolute godsend.  A light touch is all that is needed - until you bump over a very lumpy seam join!  LOL!  So I'm not that clever, but enjoy playing and doodling in practice sessions.  And my son-in-law had a go - he was really good and he hadn't even done any sewing or quilting.  I think there are places where you can go and do your own quilt under supervision, so maybe if you have a big one . . . 

[soapdragon]

LOVE the bag, CT! How clever! Are you still crotcheting? Hades sits on my bedside table!

 

[Cat tails]

On 5/8/2023 at 7:45 PM, soapdragon said:

LOVE the bag, CT! How clever! Are you still crotcheting? Hades sits on my bedside table!

 

Yes still crocheting too! But have to spread my time over crocheting, sewing and pyrography. 😅