Deebot, It’s Open, No change, Two projects

Yesterday I added to my fleet of robotic cleaning assistants, my new Deebot Ozmo 937 showed up.  I already have two Neato units as well as a Samsung Powerbot to vacuum the floors.  I also have two Irobot Braava units that wet/mop the hard surfaces.   I came across the Deebot in a Costco add and it grabbed my attention because it does both, conventional vacuuming and wet pad mopping.

In addition the robot has an interesting app that maps out your floorplan once it discovers it via it’s laser vision.  Once established, on subsequent cleaning runs you can see exactly how much of the house has been cleaned and where the robot is in the house.  If you fill up the water tank and attach the microfiber mop the Deebot knows where the carpet starts and ends so it only mops the hard surfaces.

So I opened up the box last night and worked on setting it up.  I ran into a few snags getting the robot connected to wifi but it turned out that was from my own stupidity.  The fit and finish of the robot looked very good.  The only negative I spotted was the dust bin on the robot is very small, the smallest of any robotic vacuum I have seen.  My theory is this is because of the room needed to also hold the water tank for mopping, the dust bin size was reduced. It also has an interesting option where you can swap out the conventional brush agitator for just straight suction if you are just doing hard floors with lots of dust/pet hair on it.  I never saw a vac with that option before.

So the battery actually had close to a full charge on it so I figured I would let the Deebot loose around the house to see how it does.  I was immediately surprised by how quiet it was, the quietest bot I have had.  This is partly because the bot senses carpet versus hard floor.  On hard surfaces it reduces the suction which reduces the noise.  We were able to have the Deebot rolling around while watching TV without it being overly obtrusive, that never happens with the other vacuums. Hopefully this weekend I get to try out the mopping performance as well.  However my first impression of the Deebot is very positive thus far.

So this week the new on campus fitness center finally opened up at work.  I have been looking forward to this for three years as I desperately wanted any option to get me out of Planet Fitness, a gym I truly hate.  Unfortunately it is the only place that geographically allows me to work out over lunch, until now.  So I was hoping the fitness center would have everything I need to not ever have to go to PF again.  Unfortunately that isn’t the case.  They over allocated space to fitness classes and a stretching room, taking up nearly 2/3 of the building.  The remaining third has all of the cardio and resistance training equipment jammed in there.

There are no barbells, not even a Smith machine.  Hell there isn’t even a chest press machine.  The dumbbells only go up to 50 pounds as well which is below what I would use on normal chest or shoulder days.  The equipment they do have in there is decent Precor brand but I still wish they would have consulted more with employees as far as what we wanted in the space.  It seems like the center was laid out by people that don’t know much about working out in a way that doesn’t involve group fitness.

So anyway, my game plan now is to split my workouts between Planet Shithole and the new fitness center.  I will do my chest and lower body days at PF and the other three days walk over to the fitness center.  It may be nice to have some diversity in my daily routine.  I did already send off some friendly feedback to staff here responsible for the center offering some ideas for the future, hopefully they are open to tweaking things as time goes on.

Yesterday was my first workout at the fitness center and it was quite nice, I basically had the weight area to myself.  Not having to deal with the ridiculous crowds at Planet Fitness is a huge win for sure.  I’ll be back there today.

So there has been no significant change in my BP.  The biggest thing is the right eye, which does not close properly seemed less sore.  Perhaps the countless administration of lubricating drops has created a barrier that is protecting the eye better.  I don’t plan to give daily updates regarding this, it just get repetitive and annoying for both you and for me.  If something changes you’ll be the first to know.

This weekend I have two significant projects I would like to accomplish.  The first is tearing out the rotting 2×6″ border around the orchard and replacing it with fresh lumber.  The job will require a lot of work with my post/pry bar and a shovel.  The other project is hopefully getting my new solar generator set up running for the coop.  My initial plan is to use the front fence corner of the chicken area as the platform for my two panels.  I would then run the wires underground to the coop where the solar generator will be residing.  As is always the case, I have the plan laid out in my head and nowhere else.  I expect that plan to mutate depending on the results. Having the panels in that corner will ensure they get as much sun as possible while providing the chickens with another covered area to hang out under, something they always are looking for.

Cindy and I are going to get out to see Shazam this weekend.  It’s a movie I wasn’t that interested in at first but the more I heard and saw about it, the more fun it looks.  It will be a good warm up for the ultimate super hero movie arrival coming in a couple weeks, Avengers Endgame.