Ben Brockhaus' Blog

Yes, I drink beer. Yes, I love pretty much anything to do with sports (except golf, hockey and car racing). Yes, I do love nachos and tend to spill on my shirt when I eat them. The only thing holding me back from becoming “one of those guys,” which I guess is not all that bad, was the fact that I didn’t do the whole fantasy sports thing.

This year, I finally gave in, without too much of a struggle. Actually, I’ll admit it: I always wanted to do fantasy sports. So this year I got in a free online fantasy football league with some guys at work.

Like most guys, I want to constantly check my score on Sunday. But I kind of get tired of getting up off the couch to go to my computer to check the scores. In fact, I missed a Seahawks touchdown last Sunday while I was checking my “all-important” fantasy football stats.

To my delight, this week at X10 we came out with a new product: The X10 Fantasy Sports Tracker. It works real simple. I plug it into my computer monitor, and plug the receiver into my TV. Now I can watch whatever is on my computer, LIVE on my TV!

As in most online leagues, the scores and stats automatically refresh themselves. You know what that means? The only time I have to get up off the couch is to grab another beer and run to the bathroom! Now all I need is an automatic beer dispenser, and Sundays will be perfect!

Posted by Ben B at 01:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Did you know that mail theft is a big problem in this country? Until someone started stealing my mail, I had no idea!

Evidently, it happens quite often. And let me tell you, it’s quite frustrating. My girlfriend and I had to resort to buying a locking mail box and never sending outbound mail from our house.

We had three Netflix movies taken, my girlfriend’s Macy’s credit card bill, which they somehow managed to use to charge up $300 worth of stuff, four envelopes of Val-Pak coupons, six Missing Children flyers and 25 pre-approved credit card offers. Just kidding, except for the first two.

Yes, someone went into our mail box every day, and stole our mail in broad daylight while we were at work. What a shame. It seems to me, in this corrupt world we live in, that the U.S. Mail is the last honest institution we have. It’s sacred, and it’s also a felony. How could you steal someone’s mail? That, I’ll never understand.

I wish I had been there one day with my baseball bat. It’s funny how I always think of these brilliant solutions after the fact. Realistically, an X10 surveillance camera with motion-activated recording would’ve been a wiser choice. Unfortunately, I was too late with this solution. However, it does show me who is pulling into the driveway before I answer the door. So next time anyone wants to come to the door while my Seahawks are playing on Sunday to sell me something or talk to me about their beliefs, be warned, I will not be answering the door!

Posted by Ben B at 03:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

I was brought up with an understanding of how important protecting our environment is. After attending college, and seeing how so many people live, I’m not so sure that most people feel the same way as me. I tend to worry about things like tearing the plastic off of my junk mail envelopes and recycling the rest, rinsing out plastic containers and recycling them, not littering, not putting harmful chemicals down the drain, protecting wild salmon runs and endangered species, global warming, not driving gas-guzzling SUVs, turning off lights when I’m gone, alternative energy and things like that.

But evidently for some people, it’s too much effort to rinse out a can and recycle it. It bothers me immensely. So here are 5 easy ways to be friendly to the planet. They won’t take too much of your precious time, and will make a big difference in the end.

1.) Don’t leave water running! While you’re brushing your teeth, washing dishes, washing your car or whatever, wash, rinse, turn off the water and repeat. There’s no need to waste water.

2.) Set your home on energy-conserving schedules. X10’s ActiveHome software is an easy way to schedule your indoor and outdoor lights to come on and off automatically and save energy, as well as lengthen the life of your light bulbs!

3.) Don’t leave the heat on while you’re away! Turn off the heat when you’re gone, and turn it down at night. With X10’s Thermostat Set-Back Controller, you can even set your house to heat up or cool down before you get home from work. You’ll be amazed on how much this will cut back your electric or gas bill!

4.) Buy Energy-Efficient Products! Do you really need a monster truck that gets 8 miles to the gallon. If everyone drove one of those things, the Earth would be out of oil in the blink of an eye. Also, you can now buy energy-efficient light bulbs that use far less energy that the ones you probably use now!

5.) Recycle!Is it really that hard to rip the plastic off your envelopes, rinse out containers and put newspapers in the right bins? Stop putting them in the trash!

Posted by Ben B at 04:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (0)

Here’s an interesting topic: metal detectors. When you think metal detectors, if you think about them at all, you probably picture that cheesy commercial of the guy on TV. “My wife is proud of the weight I lost. But she’s even prouder of this!” (old guy with a thick mustache holds up a gleaming diamond ring). Does that ring any bells?

Well I recently purchased one of these bad boys. If you read my previous blog, then you’re probably thinking, “metal detectors and spies – this guy is a nerd!” I’m okay with that. If I was some weird old guy who walked around the beach and park, wearing a visor and scouring for treasure, then that would be one thing. But I’m not.

The first place I used it was at the family cabin on Hood Canal, where there were formerly a summer camp in an farm back in the 1930s, both since gone. So I used it to uncover artifacts. So, you see, I’m more in it for the historical value.

Anyway, the reason I’m writing this is in defense of myself. Believe me, since I bought this thing, I’ve heard every metal detector joke in the book and seen about a hundred renditions of that stupid commercial. I don’t care! Ha! Bring it on! It’s just that you secretly, at one point or another, probably wanted a metal detector yourself. Don’t lie…

Posted by Ben B at 04:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBacks (0)

I should’ve been born a spy. Seriously. Why a spy, you ask? Because every little thing wakes me up - noises and lights. I’m a light sleeper, like a cat. So if I was a spy, I would wake up when…oh never mind.

Anyway, the point is when I moved in with my girlfriend, I found out that she likes to read before bed every night. Funny, because we have spent the night together countless times over the past three years, and she never read before. Anyhow, I found this to be a problem, because I couldn’t get to sleep with the bright light shining in my eyes. But then I remembered I wasn’t a spy, and instead an employee at X10. Dimmable lights! Why hadn’t I thought of that before.

So I brought home a simple Transceiver, a Slimline Wireless Wall Switch and a dimmable lamp module. Now I’m not a gadget guy, but somehow I set this simple system up and had it running in under five minutes. Problem solved! Now before bed she dims her reading lamp to a mutually agreeable level each night. She can read, and I can get my beauty sleep and dream about being a spy!

Posted by Ben B at 01:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I was seven years old, away at school camp when my baby sister was born. When I got home, I was more interested in my toys than the bald, little bundle crying in my Mom’s arms.

Well, as the years passed by, she actually grew on me a bit. And now, she’s 18 and going off to college. Wow, I still think of her as a little girl.

I live in Seattle, and she chose to go to school in the Bay Area. That makes staying in touch a bit more difficult. For one thing, I’m not a big phone guy. I’d rather talk face-to-face. Secondly, cell phone minutes are precious. I don’t have unlimited minutes, and when I go over my time, I end up eating Top Ramen until my next paycheck.

However, I’ve been lucky enough to try out a new X10 product that soon the world will know about. I’ll give you a hint: it lets me talk face-to-face with my sister in Oakland without using a cell phone, flying down there or paying any extra fees! It’s a revolutionary product.

Stay tuned for the World Premiere…

Posted by Ben B at 02:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)