02E08: Cumulative Progress

Sunday - Adobo Lunch

Progress at the new Sietch was less dramatic today, but we got a lot of different little things done. Allow me some time to run through things just to make myself feel a little better.

First, I gave in and tackled the new WiFi network as today's first project. This was a rather stressful endeavor, as is often the case with slightly more complex consumer home networking tends to be. Our TP-Link ER605 was simple enough to setup as a load balancer and it is running both the Globe and PLDT internet connections together, so that's great. What took a heck of a lot longer was getting the Netgear Orbi WiFi mesh devices to play nice with our atypical setup. The Orbi app didn't want to recognize the fact that it had an internet connection through the TP-Link router, and I only got it to work by skipping the app and going the old school web admin route, which surprisingly worked in the end. Then I tried to add the older Orbi satellites from the existing network as extensions of the current network and failed - eventually, I realized I had misread the support article and it looks like the new system isn't compatible with the older units. So scratch that. Signal in the Sietch itself still isn't ideal, and I was hoping to use our older Google WiFi units as some sort of an extender there, but they require a wired solution to work. Thus instead, I've invested in another Orbi satellite to address connectivity in the room and have embraced the fact that it's time to let go of our Google WiFi pods.

Just to feel like I'd have more wins today, I ended up bringing out our Google Home Mini speakers and setting them up in the Sietch. It took longer than planned since I had to restore them to factory defaults and went through the whole setup process again - a process that didn't go perfectly smoothly since connectivity was a little intermittent. They generally work now but have significant dropouts - something that should be addressed once the additional satellite arrives.

Tobie tackled making sense of the built-in storage in the Sietch. There's a very high cabinet that makes for great extra storage but isn't the most accessible cabinet either. We had initially dumped whichever games there just to get them out of the moving boxes and he endeavored to implement some degree of order. That involved taking out games more likely to be played and replacing them with inactive games or duplicate games and whatever. He got all that done while I was fussing over the internet and the smart speakers, and I love him even more for that. I recognize my initial "projects" weren't the most important in the short term, but he knows I can be quite tenacious when I set my mind on things like this. I'm lucky he gives me space to get these things out of my system.

We stepped out to get a new more items we needed for our ongoing efforts including a power tool to help dismantle the existing cabinet doors that we no longer need. 

My additions included a new suction-mounted corner caddy for the bathroom because we needed shampoo storage and more extension cords and adaptors. This is an older house and the sockets aren't the friendliest for three-prong and European-style plugs. The bathroom caddy looks great and we might get a single-shelf version for the kitchenette. At least it hasn't fallen down so far, so it looks like it'll prove to be a solid solution. 

Tobie tried tackling the cabinet doors, but it looks like it's still going to take a lot more work to get them unscrewed. The cabinets are quite old and the screws are really wedged in there AND have been painted over a few times. Tobie has had some initial success but he's still testing other techniques to get through the worst of the shelves.

Then the rest of my efforts include little wins here and there. I re-sorted our collection of bags containing bags, separated by plastic bags, thinner reusable shopping bags, and cloth grocery bags. I also corralled all of the extension cords and adapters into a single bag to help with my ongoing wiring and setup efforts. And then I found some anti-slip pads to add to our new drawers so they don't slip around so much. We were hoping to get some cabinet lining material while we were out. but they only had smaller cuts, which didn't feel very optimal. I wanted to check online for other options before settling for what was in stock.

With a thorough vacuuming, changing the sheets, and possibly washing the pillows, I think the bedroom will become decently usable this week. The bathroom is also pretty much functional - I just need to wash the bath mats and get the whole thing cleaned to sign off on it. The kitchenette is also decently functional for coffee and light snacks, also pending a good cleaning.

The main efforts for the rest of the week involve figuring out what should go into the built-in shelves so we can clear enough space for the dining table, which remains disassembled. We aiming to "move into" the bedroom this week while we continue to figure out the main living area and eventually the home office attached to the main house. 

Today was a lot of little things...but I'd like to think it's still adds up to a lot in the end. We're getting there bit by bit. I'm hoping that we can get out of this more intensive organizing and cleaning up mode by next weekend so we bring back gaming into our schedule. We're very overdue for some proper geekery.

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