Lifebandit666

I'm a Dad. When I run a bath I hang around waiting for it to run. Usually I grab my guitar or my Rubik's cube and play around for a bit. Most of the time I lose track of time and find my bath is "overflowing" by the time I realise I should still be keeping an eye on it.

My kids are the same, usually they don't wanna bath, they're playing games or something.

So I got a couple of Tuya water leak sensors off Ali for £4 each, one for each bath.

I installed mine yesterday on the back of a basket that we keep bath things in hanging from the shower. I've run the wire down, around the taps and a dab of glue on the back of the sensor to stick it just below the overflow.

Now when my bath water touches it, all my bedroom, kitchen and front room lights will flash for a second and my GH speakers will announce that my bath is run.

I plan to do the same with my kids' bath, I just need to find somewhere to put the sensor.

It's an idea I've had for ages. Next idea is to have one placed in the downpipe from my guttering so that I get notified when it's raining, saving my washing from getting wet. We live in the UK so rain is pretty common.

Any other creative uses for normal sensors? Share them here for the community.

I got up yesterday morning to my HA server down again. It's been doing it daily since the last update, and has been warning me about Journal issues for a year at least.

Well the tried and true method of turning it off at the wall, counting to 10 and turning it back on again didn't work.

Having a scan through Docker and trying to get it started told me JournalD or whatever it is, is not installed for that container and refused to start.

So I just unplugged the SSD, wrote HAOS to it and plugged it back in, signed in and installed my backup.

Then it died for 3 hours before rising like Lazarus.

Honestly the only problem I had with the whole process was a lack of a timer telling me, well, anything while the restore was occuring.

It's funny how, even though I've relied on the Backup/Restore function so.many times, I'm still surprised at how easy it all is.

Also a funny thing happened. We had a whole day with no automated lights while I sorted it out.

My 10 year old came to me at bedtime to complain his bedside lamp didn't work, so I explained that it does work, you just have to use it like a "normal lamp" and switch it off and back on with the button.

He could not comprehend that at all! I had to explain the button I meant wasn't the ZigBee one he's been using for years, but an actual physical button on the lamp. It cracked me up, my kids don't know how lights work!

The Scottish Government has called for the decriminalisation of all drugs for personal use.

Ministers in Scotland want the UK Government to agree to proposals that they claim will save lives.

Speaking at a press conference on Friday, Scotland’s drugs policy minister Elena Whitham called for a public health approach to tackling the drugs crisis.

She said decriminalisation would mean people found in possession of drugs were “treated and supported rather than criminalised and excluded”.

Drug laws are currently reserved to Westminster.

Whitham urged the UK Government to either devolve the powers on drugs to Holyrood or back proposals to decriminalise them. Advertisement

The Prime Minister’s official spokesperson said Rishi Sunak has no plans to alter his “tough stance” on drugs.

The proposals were laid out in a new Scottish Government paper on drug law reform. The Scottish Government wants the laws amended to allow for the introduction of safe consumption rooms.STV News The Scottish Government wants the laws amended to allow for the introduction of safe consumption rooms.

Other proposals include immediate legislative changes to allow Scottish ministers to implement harm reduction measures such as supervised drug consumption facilities, and increased access to the life-saving drug naloxone.

Drug consumption rooms allow people to inject drugs with supervision. Proponents say they have been tested around the world and have been shown to work well.

But they have been opposed by the UK Government which blocked an attempt to roll them out in Glasgow.

She said: “These are ambitious and radical proposals, grounded in evidence, that will help save lives. Advertisement

“We want to create a society where problematic drug use is treated as a health, not a criminal matter, reducing stigma and discrimination and enabling the person to recover and contribute positively to society.

“While we know these proposals will spark debate, they are in line with our public health approach and would further our national mission to improve and save lives.

“We are working hard within the powers we have to reduce drug deaths, and while there is more we need to do, our approach is simply at odds with the Westminster legislation we must operate within.

“These policies could be implemented by the Scottish Government through the devolution of further, specific powers to Holyrood including the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 – or through independence.

“An immediate way for these policies to be enacted would be for the UK Government to use its existing powers to change its drug laws.

“Scotland needs a caring, compassionate and human rights informed drugs policy, with public health and the reduction of harm as its underlying principles, and we are ready to work with the UK Government to put into practice this progressive policy.”

Asked whether the Prime Minister was likely to grant the Scottish Government’s request, his official spokesman said: “No. Whilst I haven’t seen those reports I think I’m confident enough to say that there are no plans to alter our tough stance on drugs.”

Labour’s shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves also ruled out the policy. Advertisement

“The short answer is no,” she told journalists during a visit to Scotland. “I don’t think this sounds like a good policy.

“I find it quite stunning that this would be a priority for the Scottish Government when we’re here today talking about the Tory mortgage bombshell and what we would do to address that.

“We’re here meeting people training to do jobs in the industries of the future.

“We’ve got more than 700,000 people in Scotland on NHS waiting lists – pick an issue.”

Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar said drug deaths are three times as high in Scotland as elsewhere in the UK despite the same drugs laws, while Reeves added that it was not a “constitutional issue”.

I've recently started a new job. It doesn't pay as well as the old one but it's less hours, longer breaks and within walking distance of my house.

This last is the main draw. When I finish the late shift I whip out my Dynavap M and try to heat it up without being seen by other pedestrians, and road users. It's fine once it's heated.

Anyway I have just enough time to cache a bowl before I get home. I absolutely love it, gives me something to look forward to at the end of my shift and completely changes my mental space, so by the time I'm home I've blown work out of my mind and I'm in relaxed mode, which was my main issue with my old job.

I had to take time off in autumn last year with mental health problems that were all work related. The way my employer dealt with me was the push I needed to leave. On paper they were doing the bare minimum to support me, but actually what they did was throw me in a corner to get dusty and forget about me.

That's all I have, a positive vape story.

My Nest E thermostat has shown the dreaded W5 error today. All my research is saying the Wi-Fi chip is fried and its a well known issue with Nest thermostats.

It has only lasted me 6 months and from a Home Assistant standpoint has been a bit infuriating as it constantly needs reintegration.

The plus side is that it cost me a grand total of £15 off a charity shop on eBay that was selling it for spares and repairs because the display was "dead" but actually just needed a good charge. I saw from my research that this has happened to a lot of people who actually paid full price for it, and replacements are only sent out if it's in warranty.

It still works as a thermostat but ain't smart no more! I'll have to start trawling ebay for a cheap replacement display.

Nothing else to say, I've been starved of social media this week, going cold turkey from the R word, so that's what this is really.

So much wrong with this story, but also plenty of Compoface

Trying to scare people back in to the office much?

What has Johnson got on this Spoon?

90 DAYS! The media were speculating whether it would be over 10 and trigger a by election...

I used DuckDNS for ages to access Home Assistant but it was flakey. I use Google Assistant so I need external access.

Nginx was the real bastard, it made my head hurt every time I used it. So eventually I gave Cloudflared a go.

I followed a blog and managed to get it working the free, with a free domain.

Until a couple of weeks ago. It just stopped working. Thanks to a Reddit post I worked out that it was because my free domain used .ga and that was taken down because it was used by hackers and tricksters and odious people who were up to no good.

So I've bought a .com address for 5 years for around £0.65 a month through Cloudflare themselves. It was easy to set up and seems to be pretty solid, although I've only had it a couple days.