BenSpark Family Adventures

Photo-A-Day 2.0 #02500 Over the past two years Andy has show some major improvements in responsibility. Andy initially had Eva's old phone which was totally paid off but one day on a trip back from the cape the phone got lost. We've never seen any evidence of it anywhere since that day. So I picked Andy up a very cheap motorola phone. It was the absolutely cheapest phone that Xfinity offered.  It was like $100 total. And that served Andy well for two years.  Andy turns 14 on Saturday and it is time for a better phone. Last week Andy told Allison that they were interested in a new phone because the one they have right now is completely full and cannot add apps or anything at this point. It was a cheap phone with very little memory. Andy requested a Google Pixel phone. So, I ordered andy a new Pixel 9a. That is the lowest end Pixel phone but it is 3 times as powerful as Andy's current phone. I waited for the phone to arrive all day and once it did I worked on getting it activ...

Photo-A-Day 2.0 #02416 Whenever I play Fortnite with my cousin these days he'll say that he cannot hear me. Well, today I was in Best Buy and figured I'd pick up another set of headphones to see if they would work better. I had a $10 gift card to get this set that was already $30 off. So for $30 I have a nice new set of headphones. Hopefully he'll hear me now. I went to Best Buy also to apply for a job there. The thing is, every place around that is hiring is doing so online. I've been applying to a lot of places via indeed.com. I haven't heard anything yet but hopefully soon I can pick up some part time work.

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #02347 Allison had some gift cards from school and used them to get herself some Strawberry airpods and a strawberry mouse.

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #02327 I was at rehearsal tonight and a bit bored because everyone was there and I did not have to fill in for anyone. I had already played out all the games on my phone and social media was all the same stuff so I started messing with the apps on my watch and discovered that I can use my watch to control my phone’s camera. So I took this photo.

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #02261 I was recently sent an email by my mobile phone provider giving me $300 towards a Google Watch. I’ve been walking daily and tracking my steps with my fitbit but was interested in upgrading that technology so I took the offer. In an effort to cut down the clutter on my night table I picked up this combination charger that wirelessly charges my phone and can also charge the watch at the same time. It even has a spot where you can charge headphones but I don’t have airpods so I won’t be using that spot for now.

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #02246 for months I have had a standing desk next to my real desk so that I can make videos with the overhead camera. Well, I haven’t made any of those videos, rather that standing desk did not ultimately meet my needs. It shook and I didn’t like seeing that when I was done with my videos. Plus it was cumbersome and took up too much space in this already cramped office. So, today I did a little Spring cleaning in the office and moved the pieces that had been set on the standing desk to the regular desk. I do think that I’m going to have to take everything off the desk sometime soon and redo the wiring situation but for now, we’ll go with how things are working.

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #02118 For context, I put the kids’ Nintendo Switch on the charger and it flashed the charging light over and over. The battery was dead. I ordered a battery replacement kit from ifixit. It came today. I installed it. The switch powered on. Then it threw an error. I looked up said error. No bueno. I tried taking it all apart again and reseating the connectors. Still error. Must be fixed by repair professionals. At this point it’s not worth it. The kids barely play it anymore and the next gen Switch is coming next year. Plus, we have mine if they really want to play something on it. This was one of the very first available Nintendo Switches, so it had a decent life.

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #02113 I’ve been working on the LEGO filming setup in my office. Today I added a webcam and new microphone, a lighter one for the boom arm. I am also going to get something to put around the lower level, the building level of the standing desk. This will let me put the lego pieces down and it will prevent them from falling off the platform (hopefully). I am running into some issues with regards to the wiring setup I have going on. The issue is that I have to try and wire things a couple ways in order for all cameras, displays and microphones to work and I want to be able to switch things quickly. It has been a challenge and I have been learning more about what my computer can and cannot do with the tech that I want to run on it. Still working on it but hope to start filming soon.

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #02098 I built the new standing desk from Sunday’s post. This will be used for my new filming setup. I plan to be doing some LEGO themed building and filming for my YouTube channel. I will be making a few more changes before filming in earnest. I have to put together a usb strip so that I can simply plug and unplug everything from this rig to film and then unplug it when I use my computer separately. I’ll also have to switch out another microphone because my existing one is very heavy for the boom arm. The camera works great in that position and I have a second camera that will film me so that when I do livestream builds I can talk with people. The usb strip will be used to connect that camera, the new microphone and also the overhead camera. I will probably use the extra screen that I have to see what is happening on the screen that is to my left. That way I don’t have to keep looking to the left to make sure I am in the shot.

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #02096 This week I’ll be putting together a special little standing desk that I’ll be using to make LEGO videos. The desk is split into two parts to have one part higher than the other so that I can use the top down camera to record LEGO builds.

Photo-A-Day 2.0 #02089 The other day I was watching Tik Tok and there was an ad for this mic stand. It looked so much better than the one that I had and much cleaner. So, I bought it and while I now get tons of Tik Tok shop ads now, it was worth the purchase. It is much more sturdy than my old one.

Photo-A-Day 2.0 #02040 About a year or so ago when I was heavy into making YouTube videos I funded an Indiegogo project for the Logitech Reach. This is a camera that can be rotated 360 degrees and can be used to make top down videos. While I am no longer making a lot of videos I think I have a great use for it. I’m going to start making some LEGO build videos because I think that will show a good perspective on the building process. It is the way I’ve always wanted to make those sort of videos. So we shall see.

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #02036 Andy bought themselves a new computer. Andy had been using one of my old laptops. It did what it needed to do for Andy for a long while but it was still a bit old and wasn’t going to cut it for much longer. Andy had expressed that they wanted a new computer and using some of their money from Mimi and Dano plus what they had saved and more they were able to buy a new gaming desktop with a whooping 32GB of RAM so speed should be incredible. We also went to Best Buy last week and picked up a 24 inch Amazon Fire TV so that Andy could use that as a monitor, TV and also to connect my old Wii U gaming system. Andy has asked so often if they could play Guitar Hero on that system and well, I never had it hooked up. Now Andy can play anytime they want. We also moved the old desk chair into their room to use with the computer. This not only freed up space in the kitchen but it also gives Andy something better to sit on than a folding chair. Now the trick it to keep ev...

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #02018 We got Mom and Dad a slide scanner for their anniversary. They have a bunch of old slides and this would be a great project to get them all digitized to keep. Many of the slides are from our great-uncle Richard. He took so many photos. My parents have all of them and so the slide scanner will be very useful to help them clear things out. Then they can get rid of the physical slides that are taking up space. The slide scanner is hooked up to Dad’s new computer. That arrived today and I got everything set up so that he can start using it right away. I hope I didn’t miss anything.

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #02013 The parts for Dad’s computer came today. Unfortunately, this did not fix the problem. The computer refuses to turn on at all even after replacing the battery and more. I think it was the salt air that did it. Shorted things out. But I tooko ut the hard drive, battery and the ram chip because that can be used in other computers. I’ll recycle the rest of it. so now it is time to order a new one and I’ll be setting that up next week. Poor Eva got COVID from science school. This really sucks because she was scheduled to go to a birthday party for her friend Ollie on Saturday. Unfortunately she’ll be just resting back at home. I took the weekend off so I’m staying on the Cape with Andy. Eva will get to spend some quality time with her cat, though.

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #02006 We’ve been having a hell of a time with drain flies. We’ve been putting things down the drains to try and kill them but they just keep coming. So, on Monday before I left for the Cape I bought some ZEVO electric Fly traps. I came back for the weekend to work and checked the traps. This is the one from the basement. It has really been doing its job.

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #01981 I decided that I need a second screen for working at home so I found this new screen on Amazon for $60. It connects to my laptop via a micro HDMI cable and usb c so it is very convenient. I’ll probably use to to have the alert monitor screen up as well as the group chat so that I don’t miss out on any messages or alerts. I’ll use the main screen for active work and stuff. I was pretty knocked out most of the day today. I must have eaten something bad at work on Saturday and that caught up with me last night and has been in my system most of the day. I’m hoping that it clears up before class tomorrow. I came back from the Cape early because I had to pick Eva up from school because she is in exams this week. Today was her second day of exams. She’s had four of them so far and two more left to go this week. So far she’s doing well with them.

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #01969 I decided it was time to finally get that 3D printer fixed. I had watched a ton of videos on YouTube looking for each and every screw and how things were supposed to go back together. I had the 3D printed part that my cousin, Shaun printed for me. This part replaced the broken Fan hood/housing. I had bought a little LED device to put in this newly printed piece but it would not fit and the power connectors were not compatible with my machine. I think you have to know how to solder and put together new connectors to make that happen. This is something I do not have the skill to perform at this time. So instead I am going to figure out a 3D printed housing solution for the mini LED screen and power it with the USB-C connector on it instead. I may try and add this to another print of mine down the road, we’ll see, though. To test out if everything was back and in working order I printed out a “benchy” that is a benchmark boat that one prints to make sure the p...

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #01966 Our 3D Printer is still torn apart because I was waiting for new Fan covers that my cousin, Shaun printed for me. He made two different ones that we should be able to use to repair the printer. I’ve been watching a number of videos to find the right one that will help me get everything back in place. I’ve got extra screws and that won’t do because they all came out of the printer and they should all go back in. I have a few things that are going to be difficult but eventually I’ll get it fixed.

  Photo-A-Day 2.0 #01957 Tonight I attempted to put everything back together on the 3D printer. The problem I ran into was using the wrong screws on the sides of the fan cover and that resulting in breaking the fan cover. I then looked all over for a way to order the part as a replacement. Unfortunately I could not find one on the Creality website. But I did find that people have created 3D models that could be printed. So, my cousin Shaun is going to print me up two new covers and I will give it a go again. This new cover also has a space for an LED screen that I can add to it.