Month: December 2025

December 10, 2025 – I Can Do Anything, I Am So Smart

December 10, 2025 /

Many people have doorbell cameras these days. My wife is obsessed with them; I am so, so. I like the idea of having a security system including cameras but I don’t like the fact that they are constantly dinging and going off. Our front doorbell camera was our first and it certainly fell into the nuisance category. Not to mention that at least half of the time it would miss the mail man delivering. What good is this thing anyway?

I decided that the solution was to upgrade from the base model to the professional model. I also did away with the battery because we were more frequently discharging the battery then I really thought was reasonable. The heat of the summer would somehow cause it to run on battery instead of the line power. Previously, I never had the doorbell not work because it was summer time.

I had it in my head that I needed to pull the refrigerator out to get to the chime mechanism. Despite the fact I already an a resistor in line (for the base model), the professional model needed another do-dad. I was reading that it had a capacitor to regulate power to the camera. That seems reasonable.

I have not pulled the refrigerator out since we have owned it (three years). The refrigerator is deeper than the original and to actually remove it, the doors have to be taken off. That is both refrigerator and freezer. Needless to say, it is not trivial. You can see from the picture that I did it. I stuck my head behind the refrigerator and all I see is the transformer. What the heck?

Epiphany. The doorbell chime is actually covered by the sign above the refrigerator. This is the largest reason that sign is placed where it is. For many years, there was a clock wired to the chime mechanism. It was put in place in the 1970s when the kitchen was built and my wife thought that it had served its useful life when we bought the refrigerator. The fact that the sign was there meant that the doorbell was out of sight and out of mind.

Fortunately, taking the doors off was the perfect reason to clean things out. It is amazing the amount of crud that builds up inside the freezer. Not only was it far past time but it was also necessary to get ready to sell the house (I did this work in September just so it doesn’t seem like I replaced the doorbell before moving out). We also paid a cleaning crew of three, four hours of kitchen cleaning and I still see things that need to be done. It is kind of amazing and gross but the kitchen has been loved.

The point is that what I thought I knew I didn’t. I did a lot of extra work because I was confident I knew what I was doing. I delayed doing this job for weeks because I was going to have to pull the refrigerator out only to find out that I could have swapped the doorbells in an hour at the most. Talk about humble pie when I had that moment.

Aside from being humbled, what else can we learn from this situation? Well, other than pride no harm, no foul. But seriously, how many other things in our life are we certain about? Pseudo science and politics come to mind. I don’t really want to go there today and so I won’t but anytime the phrase ‘the science is settled’ should send warning bells off. Memories are clearly foulable, mine is no exception.

This wasn’t the first time I had egg on my face from not remembering correctly. My wife says that this is arrogance. I think that I am relatively humble and I would say confidence is the proper word. But, there can be a very fine line between the two. Since I brought it up, it is fair game about what people think of me. But, I would say the difference is confidence is the ability to go into the unknown without fear versus arrogance is forcing your narrative onto others. To bring it home, me stating my opinion is not forcing anyone to agree or even listen, it is putting something out there as a beach head to stand the test of debate.

End Your Programming Routine: I could see this developing into something like a sermon but you don’t want that and it wasn’t my intent. What I am doing is holding that inner mirror up to make sure that we periodically check ourselves so that we don’t get too certain about anything. Even established facts should be periodically challenged or evaluated to make sure that they still hold up. This isn’t about a doorbell installation but being an adjusted human being.

December 9, 2025 – Milwaukee 12V Max

December 9, 2025 /

I needed another cordless tool-set like I needed a hole in head. I have an old Craftsman 14.4V drill, Makita 14.4V drill and Makita 18V drill and impact driver already. But, I wanted a second impact driver for one in the house and one in the shop. I thought that a smaller form factor would be the right approach rather than adding another 18V tool.

This actually all started several months earlier. I don’t like to admit this on multiple fronts but I started thinking that I wanted a power screwdriver. My wrist occasionally bothers me when I put together all of the boxed furniture my wife purchases. This has become especially true since I have been battling this neck injury. I did some research and there were a few, good options out there but the battery platforms were all lower voltage than the tools I had.

The Milwaukee brand screwdriver had high ratings and they offered a lot of other tools in the same battery platform. Once purchased, I had the green light to buy tools from a different line. Another benefit was that local hardware stores carry their tools and batteries. Of course, a lot of the above jibber jabber was written in early October before we decided to move. So throw that logic out the window.

What I mean to say is that there is an argument for owning both the 12V and 18V platforms. The smaller form factor of 12V tools are more compact and cheaper than their 18V cousins. It really doesn’t matter that they have less run time (my experience) and homeowners need one hole or is installing one shelf and not pounding screws all day long every day.

When I compare my 18V Makita to this new 12V Milwaukee setup, I really do feel as though the Makita is superior. They batteries run longer and hold charge for literally months without me touching them. That said, the Milwaukee has plenty of power for the around the house use when charged and ready to go. I have noticed a significantly faster, dormant discharge rate of the 12V batteries. I am still looking to quantify how much better in my long term ownership of these new tools. But what I can say is that every battery was fully charged when I put it away and a month later the batteries are showing half charge.

If you will recall, at one point I was considering becoming a contractor or something in the construction field. One reason I have multiple tools is to have them in different places at the same time. I could leave tools at the job site (securely of course) and still have enough resources at home to do the things that I need. It goes with a similar philosophy of having tools in the shop as well as in the home. Let us be honest, no homeowner really needs more than one battery operated drill unless it is special circumstances like building a deck with multiple helpers. The prudent thing would be to see if a tool could be borrowed. But, I am also kind of lazy and don’t like to run to the shop 100 times for everything that I need to do a job. Adding a second pair just shortens my trips to the basement instead.

One tool that I find I use a surprising amount is my corded multi-tool. This thing is amazing, especially for fine, finish type work like scribing or precision demolition. When trying to precision cut an 8′, T-111 panel it is a pain to try to manipulate a cord and be on the ladder at the same time. I would desperately like to get a cordless version but as handy as it is, I need a justification to spend $250. But, if I look at the Milwaukee 12V version, it is only $100. I think that I could probably justify that for almost any project. Yeah, it is not going to run all day but I already have a corded version that can do that. This would be to trim up one molding spot to slide a floor tile for a finish cut without moving furniture to get to the outlet.

I would argue that for most homeowners, the 12V is more than adequate. I wouldn’t even recommend going to 18V just to get the extra benefits given the cost. I have been extremely impressed at these tools considering my last 12V experience was in the Ni-Cad battery days. This was when you needed the higher voltage tools just to have adequate power.

End Your Programming Routine: My son asked, why Milwaukee and not Makita? They also have an extensive 12V line. The real answer is that they had the screwdriver I wanted but he also doesn’t know that I have been a Milwaukee fan since before I owned the Makita cordless tools. I have a number of corded tools from them and I think they are equally good in their own right. It is hard to justify another battery platform unless there is a distinct advantage like dipping into another tool line that meets your needs.

December 8, 2025 – Tis the Season 2025

December 8, 2025 /

It’s that time of year again. It is time for my gift buying episode. The thing that is different about this year is that I also talk about strategies that I typically use for my spouse. I probably won’t get a lump of coal this year but these are the kinds of things I would suggest for guys like me. Feel free to send me something on my list and good luck in your season’s shopping.

December 5, 2025 – Mere Christianity, Book Three: Chapters 1-6

December 5, 2025 /

Read along: http://www.ntslibrary.com/PDF%20Books/Mere%20Christianity%20-%20Lewis.pdf

Hopefully you have all finished the book by now. I have not but maybe you listened to my podcast of excuses yesterday. I really did not plan to just go silent for weeks but my life runs me at this point. Those are the the things that I can do along with the things that I have to do and limited by the things that I am able to do. Enough of that.

Below are the bullet point summary. One for each chapter.

  • Morality is a set of rules that attempt to regulate individuals internally as well as between each other. All rules are equally important and not to be picked and chosen.
  • Prudence, temperance and justice are three virtues essential to Christianity. These are not binary, all or nothing ideals but have degrees of gray that have to be weighed.
  • Biblical views should support political opinions and not run them.
  • Psychoanalysis, very popular and up and coming academic idea is separating the unconscious from free will. This is controversial idea when equating self worth and sin. Those were Lewis’ thoughts.
  • Sexual morality; repress it and get more of it. Yet, Lewis subscribes to the traditional idea of celibacy outside of marriage. It does seem a little counter intuitive.
  • Being in love and relationship love are two different things. This is the concept that relationships change or progress over time. Interestingly, the begins the chapter with divorce and that is why it is important to recognize the progression of love.

It is good that I did this chapter summary weeks ago because I have a hard time remembering what I read two months ago. This is really half of what Lewis was trying to get across but it makes it more convenient for me to split this section in two. What is he saying anyway? I say that the message is that morality is necessary to the human race.

You might say what does morality have to do with proving that there is a God? I would probably be in your camp as well. Lewis tries to make the connection between God and morality. After all, the Old Testament is generally many, many pages of Jewish laws largely about morality. The new covenant sends Jesus to edit many of those laws.

I think that it is an interesting idea that Lewis comes up with that morality is not to control people or sort them out per se. Rather, he has this idea that morality is a training ground for Heaven. Meaning, these are the skills necessary to be successful in Heaven. I suppose that you could say people self select entrance to Heaven by being moral or not. I really do not know how this could be proven.

I really do like the idea that virtues are not binary. When I learned the ten commandments as a child, I learned the words “Thou Shalt Not Kill”. But, I have heard the more modern “Do not Murder” which I think is actually more appropriate. If the commandment was more in my language, then so many biblical heroes would have violated that commandment and could have never been in favor of god. That is also presupposing that there are exceptions for things like war and self defense. My personal feeling is that it would be better to stick to “Thou Shalt Not Kill” but then there are always those gray areas like what if it was an accident? Therefore, I have to agree that morality is not binary.

The world is full of paradoxes. I mean what about surrogate parenting. I really don’t believe that it is infidelity but by the strict definition of fidelity we have somehow agreed that this is a place where a woman bears a child that does not belong to her is morally OK. To play devil’s advocate, what if God was saying that particular couple was not supposed to have kids for whatever reason? And what if that reason was that one of the parents poisoned their bodies with diet or drugs or whatever? Or what if the person just did not want to go through the pregnancy process (Paris Hilton anybody)? The permutations are endless.

End Your Programming Routine: Next week we will get the full effect of this Book and what Lewis was trying to do. It seems amongst the literary analysis there is some speculation that this is a weaker argument then the first two books. I tend to agree but that doesn’t mean that we cant refine a little value out of this. Let’s keep going into pride, hope and faith next week.