Author Archives: Panther

Thingies for shoes

I can't stop being amazed about the number of things out there. There must be a lot of people with a lot of great ideas. I appreciate that very much because it benefits me. Sometimes I look around on Amazon and stumble upon useful things I didn't know existed.

Are you familiar with shoe trays? Those plastic things you put your dirty shoes on? I never really liked them. I think they are too big and difficult to clean unless you take them outside.

On Amazon, I've found some shoe-formed thingies with similar functionality. I have a patio door with a doormat in front, where I have a pair of shoes standing that I use when I go outside to feed the birds. I often drag a lot of empty seed pods in on the doormat with those shoes, which doesn't look good. When I saw these flexible shoe drip mats, I thought that they would do a good job at the patio door. I also hoped that they would be easier to clean. The last thing is still untested, but they do a great job of keeping the empty seed pods away from the doormat.

Flexible shoe drop mat

D-Link support

I'm still very happy with my ASUS WiFi mesh system, but I was also annoyed because I had a brand new router from D-Link in my closet, which didn't work as expected. Therefore I pulled myself together and created a support case at D-Link. My immediate opinion was that I must have overlooked a setting causing my Skype calls to fail. Furthermore, the connect button for the L2TP connection didn't work. To connect the L2TP, I had to reboot the router.

A week after I created the support case, I finally got a reply. They wanted to let me know that they were sorry for the long wait and that they would start looking at my case. A couple of days later they told me that they couldn't reproduce my problem with Skype. They asked if they could have a copy of my configuration, which I send them. The next message from D-Link said that they were able to reproduce the problem with Skype with my configuration file.

The next step was that they got permission to use my configuration for further troubleshooting and use it for creating a new firmware version. A week later, they send me a beta version of a new firmware that I should test. And now everything works.

I must say that I'm very impressed by the support from D-Link. Of course, it took some time to correct the problem, but they did it. And since it appears that no other customer than me has reported the problem I think it is incredible that they spend so much time on my problem. I felt that they took me seriously, and I'm not afraid of recommending D-Link products or buying their products the next time.

Christmas lights outside
I hope that the real birds aren't buried underneath the snow (the artificial birds are the glowing spots in the snow)

New cutlery

I bought my first cutlery set when I was still living at home with my parents. I still have that set and use it, and I'm very happy with it. It is not fancy in any way, but it works, and the knives are still sharp. When my ex and I moved in together, we bought a new and prettier cutlery set. We purchased two cutlery sets so that we had extra when we had visitors. I've never been satisfied with those sets since I don't think knives are very good at cutting anything. After ten years, they are useless.

Finding a new cutlery set is not easy because I'm very picky. Many modern cutlery sets have squared spoons, or the design has a higher priority than functionality, which doesn't suit me. I also don't understand why they are not allowed to be colored.

At some point, I was looking for Christmas decorations and by coincidence, I saw a cutlery set from Villeroy & Boch which was named Play. It is available in different colors and, to me, it looks great. I would prefer to see the set in real life but that is not possible since the stores are all closed here at the moment.

I had already decided that if I got anything extra in salary from my firm in January, I would buy a set for six persons. Luckily, I received a one-time fee because I had made an extra effort last year on the job, so I ordered the red set.

I received the cutlery set a couple of weeks ago and I started using it immediately, and I'm very happy with it. It is light and very well balanced. The set is also very pretty and the red color will do nicely at Christmas time. Now, all I have to do is decide which other colors to buy.

Cutlery set

New Wi-Fi again

I've never been completed satisfied with the purchase of my new D-Link router. Skype still doesn't work, and the connection is not stable. I'm not blaming D-Link because I haven't contacted them, and that is stupid. I had hoped that a new firmware would solve my problems, but that hasn't happened yet.

In one of the many news mails I receive, I found a review of a Netgear mesh system. Of course, it awakens my curiosity, and I start looking into mesh systems in general. Quickly, I find that Netgear systems are expensive if you want new technology. Instead, I find ASUS mesh systems, which cost a third of the Netgear systems, but they still use the newest technologies. Furthermore, I find the ASUS system on sale, and all of a sudden, I find it difficult not to buy a set.

When I want to get new electronic equipment, I always start by investigating which new technologies would benefit my needs. In regards to wireless systems, I want the newest technology - of course within a reasonable price range. I decided that the wireless mesh system should be Wi-Fi 6 system, and it should be a tri-band system with one 2.4 GHz band and two 5 GHz bands. That way, one 5 GHz band can be used as backhaul between the two devices. I also need the system to be able to create an L2TP connection to a different network. I also want to be able to disable Smart Connect. That way, I can create separate networks for 2.4 and 5 GHz, respectively. The reason for that is that I've experienced devices that are unable to maintain a stable connection with Smart Connect enabled. Finally, I want to be able to connect at least two wired devices to the Wi-Fi nodes.

ASUS ZenWiFi AX XT8 matches all my demands and then some. The devices are identical, which some reviewers don't like, but I think it's a great idea. It is possible to have multiple internet links connected, and it's even possible to have a 4G dongle connected and use that as, for example, a secondary connection. If you already have your house wired, you can use the wires as backhaul between the nodes. The system also has a built-in security package, which is free, but I haven't tried it yet.

Until now, I only have positive things to say about this mesh system. Everything works, and my connection is more stable than with the D-Link router. I still need to explore a couple of things like the security package, but from my point of view, the system is approved.

ASUS mesh routers

Artificial flowers

Artificial flowers have invaded my home ever since I bought artificial things for my Christmas decorations. The first small step was when I bought artificial poinsettia last year. I was very happy with my purchase, and when you have bought something from a specific category on Amazon, they send suggestions about related items.

It led to purchasing of several artificial flowers of different kinds. I bought flowers to create a flower bouquet, and I also bought a complete flower bouquet. Several other artificial plants have made their way to my windows sills. The flowers for one of the bouquets were missing some greenery. That made me go through the greenery I bought for my Christmas decorations. I had bought some that, in my opinion, were too light green for Christmas decorations, but they were perfect for the bouquet (see before and after below).

The last flowers I have ordered are heralds of spring. I'm talking about tulips. First, I wanted to buy them as a bouquet, but the two-colored tulips I wanted, was out of stock. Instead, I chose them as a kind of pot flower (see the picture below). I have not regretted any of my purchases, and I might buy more so that I can switch between different flowers.

Flower bouquet without greenery
Bouquet without extra greenery
Flower bouquet with greenery
Bouquet with extra greenery
Tulips
Tulips created as pot flowers

New towels

My towels need replacing, and I have been very satisfied with them. I bought them at Amazon a long time ago, so I, naturally, went there to look for new ones. Of course, they don't make my towels anymore, so I started to look for others. I don't want solid color towels because I think they are too boring. Instead, I looked for multicolor towels.

It turned out that the company where I bought my Christmas towels also make a lot of other towels, so I started to look around. In a relatively short time, I found some towels that I liked. Since I was ordering from the company again, I also bought the Christmas towels that I want for next Christmas. You can see the towels in the pictures below.

I'm very happy with the quality of these towels. They are soft, absorbent, and look stunning.

Christmas hand towels
Hand towels

Chair repair

The footstool on my chair stopped working in the days up to Christmas. A couple of days later, I was eating at the kitchen table when a loud bang sounded. After a thorough search, I found that one motor had left its suspension. Again I contacted the store where I bought the chair, but nothing happened for two days. Therefore I decided to contact the company that repaired the chair the last time.

A couple of pictures and an hour later, the company had created a warranty case. Because of the holidays, they were not able to get the spare parts before Christmas. When they called at the beginning of last week, I was expecting an estimate of when they could repair the chair. To my surprise, they already had the spare parts and wanted to know when they could come by and fix the chair. Since I work from home every day at the moment, we agreed that they should come the next day.

The motor was changed, which also solved the problem with the footstool. The repairman had just left when I saw some deep scratches on my floor. I called the company, and the repairman returned and was very sorry. Currently, the company's insurance company has created a case, and I have to get two offers on what a repair of the floor will cost.

I hope that it can be fixed relatively easily, so I don't have to move the furniture out of the living room.

Scratches on the floor
One of two places with scratches. It doesn't look nice.

Wire stripper

I didn't know a tool like this existed. Maybe it's not weird since I'm no electrician, and I don't know anyone who is. As I've mentioned earlier, I've bought some Philips Hue lamps, and I have more lights on my wishlist. Therefore my dad suggested that I should buy a tool that could strip the wire. My parents also want Philips Hue lights, and with a wire stripper, the work is a lot easier.

My dad and I started hunting for a wire stripper, but it's not easy to know what to look for when you don't have any experience in the area. We searched the internet, including Amazon, and spend some time reading reviews.

We ended up buying a wire stripper from Knipex, which is automatic. That is, you put the wire in the 'mouth' of the wire stripper and squeeze - and the insulation is gone. I've tested it on some wire, and it works. I look forward to using it next time I have to put up a light.

Wire stripper

Happy New Year 2021

I started last year rather dramatically by getting hospitalized. I was both in the intensive care unit and the non-intensive care unit, and therefore I don't need to try that again :-) In hindsight, it was a scary episode but, luckily, everything turned out okay.

Half of the year was affected by the incident as it took some time to get back to normal. I fought hard to get back to playing music again because I had an arrangement with the big band at the end of April and another with 'wienerorkesteret' at the beginning of May. I came very close to quit playing. It was exhausting to start playing again because I had to fight on many fronts simultaneously. Naturally, I had no embouchure, and the ability to blow was almost gone. At the same time, my hands were trembling so much that I didn't dare practice playing the flute because I was afraid of dropping it. The coordination between hand and fingers was difficult, and my brain had difficulty reading the sheet music, follow the play-along music and play and the same time. My brain was also getting tired very fast. It was hard.

The Corona epidemic, being told to work from, and the sunny weather in the middle of March and forward were my salvation. I didn't feel guilty for not going to work (physical attendance), and I used the time saved on commuting for long walks. It did wonders for my physic and mood. Also, I succeeded in being ready for the two arrangements at the end of April/beginning of May, but they were, of course, canceled because of the epidemic.

I primarily used the second half of 2020 to buy lamps. I've never used so much money on lighting, and I've never been more satisfied with the result. Philips Hue creates products that fit my needs perfectly.

So, what does 2021 bring? I don't know. Primarily I want to play music. Of course, I hope that a couple of musical arrangements will be possible. One last thing that is high on my wishlist is the possibility of a mini-vacation in Germany. It doesn't have to be for a long time, but I miss all the groceries I can buy in Germany but not in Denmark :-)

I'm still playing with the thought of creating a homepage dedicated to reviewing play-along sheet music. I'm considering using less time on this homepage and use the time saved on the new homepage.

Lastly, I want to wish everyone a happy new year.

Fireworks

Merry Christmas 2020

Merry Christmas. It has been a great Christmas this year. I know that many of you haven't had a 'normal' Christmas, but my Christmas has been like it always is. We are a small family, and we didn't have to choose which family members to invite for Christmas - that would have been a difficult choice. This year I've decorated the house the way I wanted. Last year was a bit chaotic.

This year I went all-in with artificial Christmas things. My parents and I have had an artificial Christmas tree for several years, but my parents wanted to get a new one because the tree was too big for them to handle. An artificial tree that has a height of 210 cm is heavy even though it is in three parts. Last year they donated their old tree to charity, and this year I was sent out to hunt for a new smaller tree. I was in several stores, but they only had the cheap trees with four branches and three needles. That looks pathetic.

On the UK version of Amazon, I had noticed a tree with snow, berries, pine cones, and lighting. For fun, I sent the link to my parents. I never imagined that they would buy a tree without being able to see it first, but they did. I do understand why they bought it, considering the selection of trees in Denmark being so lousy. You simply have to take a chance.

Luckily, they were very satisfied with the tree they received. It has a height of 150 cm, so it is small compared to the old tree, but they are happy that they can handle the new tree themselves. One small disadvantage is the LED fairy light on the tree. My dad is sensitive to light like me, and the lighting is too bright in the evening. At daytime, it is ok, but he wants to be able to dim the light. That is not possible, so I've started to look for new lighting that is less bright and can fit on the tree. That way, they can use one lighting in the day and the other in the evening.

The artificial Christmas decorations have also been a huge success. It's a great pleasure to see that the fir branches are not collapsing after a week. The needles are not falling off, and my parents don't have to worry about the decoration being placed too close to the fire stove. Furthermore, I've used an artificial advent candle which means there is no fire hazard.

Overall a great Christmas, and there is only one thing left to say:

Merry Christmas

Christmas tree