Big House Network

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We made some changes to the Big House network in October 2020. The wire colors are not as perfect as I’d like, but it works.

  • we ran two network cables around the house into the garage for an access point, and a potential camera down the road.
  • Added a third access point in the garage for better coverage on the east side of the house.
  • Added a UPS, to allow the network to stay up even if nobody is at the house.
  • swapped out Edge Router for Unifi USG.
  • Added Unifi Switches for complete visibility remotely from the app.
  • Configured Pi Hole for bandwidth saving
  • Added a IP Camera as a test to see if this is remotely viable to have a camera at the house usable.

Big House Game Room Update

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The game room has always had the goal of being where consoles go to retire. The idea is that while an older console might sit at home unplayed for decades, it just might get used at the Big House for the novelty of playing the original Halo game on the original Xbox, in all of that 2001 glory.

The previous media cabinet was not designed for game consoles, and I’m not entirely sure what it was designed for since the doors on either side of it were not tall enough for a DVD case to stand so it’s not like you could have loaded it up with your DVD’s.

I found this laundry cabinet on Wayfair.com and decided it would be perfect for the setup. I wish it had more shelves, but perhaps I can add some down the line.

There is a 5 port HDMI switcher and a 3 port Component cable switcher. The Original Xbox, Wii and PlayStation 2 are going through the component switcher while the NES is being converted to HDMI. It’s not perfect but it works and it’s actually really satisfying to play Mario on the original Nintendo system like it was intended way back in 1990.

DigiLAN

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This is a post about DigiLAN – our homelab run amuck into production.

Disney World 2019

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We left on a very early flight – Michael, Rachel and Henry drove to the airport separately and the cab that was set to pick up the others did not arrive. As we boarded the plane without the rest of the family, we got nervous that they wouldn’t make it and the plane would leave without them. Little did I know, Grandma was spending time at security putting cream cheese on bagels because lose cream cheese is a security risk, but if it’s on a bagel that’s totally safe.

October 2020, HRM

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We were here for 10 days, arriving on a Thursday and staying through to the following Sunday, October 18th.

We had a good trip and Henry learned all about the Explorers club with Grandpa, had a great time with putting things into Coppers creek and racing them down to the main fork. He also really loved going into the hot tub and watching Moana at least 5 times in the Theater.

We took my Chrysler 200, went into Cherokee, Waynesville, Asheville and unsuccessfully had a fire with Gramma and Grampa.

Henry and I did the ‘zig zag’ trail three times and went up to the Max Patch Hike. It is exactly 12 miles from the house, which does put it at one of the closest things technically to the house but the dirt road makes it a really rough 12 miles and it took at least 45 minutes to get there.

The weather was a bit cooler up there and I was feeling like a bad dad with Henry not having a hoodie for the walk, and felt even worse when we reached the top and other adults were wearing wind breakers (with good reason) however Henry made sure we reached the top despite my attempts to get him to turn around.

Ocunaluftee Indian Village

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The Ocunaluftee Indian Village is an outdoor museum/ education center/ reenactment to teach what life was like for the Cherokee Indians in pre-Colombian times. You are treated by a guide dressed in authentic Cherokee dress, Guided tours begin every 15 minutes. They introduce themselves and the clan they are a part of. They then walk you around the village where you learn about crafts, beading, Bow & arrow and tool making. You are then shown a replica of a home and other community structures. Each Cherokee village had a storage shed for food and necessities that families could take from when in need and give back to when they had the means to. There your guide will explain things and answer questions. Every half hour or so you can join a lecture taking place in the council house or on the square grounds. These lectures are given by the guides and re-enactors and give in-depth information.