the forbin project

...so, things didn't work out so well for Forbin (go look it up), well, sorta, it kinda did in a way, but I digress (hard to believe from Phrodaux, but hey look a duck, look at that...a duck)

Downloaded 10/9/13 from http://static.cinemagia.ro/img/db/movie/02/30/49/colossus-the-forbin-project-180531l.jpg

This is one for the nerds, wanna be nerds, the technophiles and the technophobic.

Home automation.

I've always wanted home automation, really, I read about it in the 70's, and really wanted it.

I still don't know why.

I read about it, and look at all the products and DIY hacked together versions, have purchased books and the occasional x10 module.

I still turn my lights off with a switch on the wall (well mostly, there is the occasional remote control... and from the FQ too many)

I read about the ability to turn the lights and/or stereo on at home when one is in Fiji, but A) Why do I want the lights and stereo on when I am not at home to enjoy said lights and stereo, and 2) Why would I be in Fiji worrying if my lights and stereo were on or off? If I was in Fiji, I think the last thing I would be worrying about are my lights and stereo. I would most likely be thinking about my sheep and horses and global warming and if I were breeding horses and sheep, what would the cat think. 

The other thing I read about, besides breeding horses and sheepeses, is that I can set my thermostat to be more "active." It would be warm when I want it to be warm, cool when I want it to be cool, but to be honest, instead of spending oodles of cash on a new thermostat that was designed by one of the apple guys, I have a 20yr old thermostat that came with the house that pretty much does that. I can set the time and temp and day and it just does it. Doesn't need to learn (cause lernin' is for chumps), just says at x o'clock make warm, at x o'clock stop. done. And to tell the honest truth, for the most part I don't really notice if I am warm or cold until someone (like said Fairy Queen) says "It is freaking cold in here, you should put on some pants," but to be honest again, I do like not wearing pants.

What I want is home automation, but really we really don't know what that is yet...


Then the bad people came.

They came and took our big boy Odin's pain meds the day before he no longer was in need of worldly things like pain meds or netflix. There is a special place for those that steal doggy's pain meds, that from someone who doesn't believe, but for this case is willing to make an exception. A....special....place.

Downloaded 10/9/13 from http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/20/Hell_Is_Real.jpg

(ok, maybe a more special place, this looks kinda nice)

Now we have automation. We have a "security system".

Security. Something that yells and tells me that something is open or moving when something shouldn't be open or moving.

eww.

for as much as I want to be able to turn on a reading light from Fiji, and know that the living room is 68 degrees, I don't really want the "need".

I never locked a door throughout college. Occasionally I would come home to a party where people would ask me if I was invited. Nothing was ever taken, or at least nothing that we noticed or cared about. Given that we mostly lived on government cheese and mystery canned goods that couldn't be given to the poor as it didn't have labels (is it cat food or is it tuna night was a highlight) and beer came in stubby bottles with the label "BEER" in black letters on white background and cost less than distilled water, there really wasn't much to take.

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(mmm... beer. It was $4 a case, really)

I kinda liked it.

home.

a place where people felt welcome to sit, have a beer, watch some tv. sing a song they didn't know the words to, and not be really sure who lived there, but felt welcome...

...and have a snack, snacks are important, snacks make people feel safe and at home, even if they don't know who's it is, or if it came in a box labelled "CHEESE" in black block letters on a white background.

Downloaded 10/9/13 from http://helpamotherout.files.wordpress.com/2009/04/governmentsurpluscheesebox-7574152.jpg?w=300

(mmm... cheese)

all in all, I'm not sure we're better off...

...but at least now I feel confident that the couch is well lit and at a comfortable temperature on the off chance that I end up in Fiji.