Category Archives: Miscellaneous

My New Wireless Security System For My Indoor Garden

Today I want to talk about something fairly important. Security. I just bought a brand-new Defender wireless camera security system to install in my indoor garden. I have some fairly valuable equipment in there, mainly my grow lights, and I do not want them to get stolen.

Surveillance system with security cameras

Why am I so worried about my equipment being stolen?

Well, first of all, grow lights are quite expensive. Second of all, is what is been happening around town as of late. If you’ve read the local news, I’m sure you’re aware of it.

There has been a spate of burglaries here in Danbury Connecticut recently. These robbers broke into a lot of places. Even the Hibernian’s office was not spared.

One thing all of these places that were broken into had in common is that they had no security system. Some of them did have somewhat of a system, but they had outdated cameras that barely work and that are easy to get around. Even an amateur robber can avoid those cameras, and it seems that this was an amateur crew.

One place that fine was the newer local coffee shop. The one I talked about previously. It was okay, because it actually has a state-of-the-art surveillance system. I noticed that when I ate there. I did think at the time that it was a bit weird to see such a modern security system in a coffee shop that serves tea and coffee,. That was until I learned how much it costs to have a coffee shop.

Espresso machines and coffee machines are very expensive and then you also need grinders, which cost a lot too. That is equipment that is certainly worth protecting. And because the owners of the shop invested heavily into security cameras and a monitoring system, the place was not burgled.

Espresso machine in coffee shopI have not yet been hit either, but I’ve decided to take preventative measures to protect my home and my garden. That is why I spent a lot of money on a security camera system so that I could have nonstop surveillance on my property. I also bought a bunch of fake security cameras, that I installed all over as well. They look exactly like the real ones, so just makes it look like I have more cameras than actually do.

In addition to the cameras, I also have motion sensors and I have detectors on the windows and the doors. If anyone opens any of them, an alarm goes off. If anyone triggers a motion sensor, an alarm goes off. I also have floodlights that are attached to motion detectors outdoors. Those turn on whenever somebody enters my property.

Security cameras guarding building

This might not be enough to deter a professional crew, but they would have to be real professional. Most robbers will take one look at the system and leave. There are plenty of easier places to break into. And because of that, the system bought me the most important thing of all. Peace of mind.

Having a surveillance system to guard my home has made me feel much safer and more secure. Is a great feeling knowing that I can feel safe and more importantly that my family feels safe.

If you don’t have any protection for your home, I strongly urge you to at least get something. Even if it is just a couple of fake cameras. You don’t want to be the person that kicks themselves after they are robbed, saying I should have just spent a little bit of money to protect myself.

So spend the money now and buy yourself some peace of mind. In addition to the peace of mind, buy some protection for yourself and your family and your valuables. You will feel so much better knowing you are safe and secure.

A Quaint Little Tea Shop In Danbury, Connecticut

sing in danbury connecticutOn a recent visit to Danbury Connecticut, I went to several cafés to get some work done. Most were nice, but I don’t generally drink coffee, only tea, and the tea they had was not great. They were just using teabags and putting it in hot water. Considering that, the price of almost 5 dollars was way too high.

On my last day, though, I found an actual tea shop. It was not just a tea shop but also a tea store. They sold actual loose leaf tea and they had a lot of seating areas where you could order some of that tea freshly made.

They also served snacks, mostly cakes and other baked goods. It reminded me a lot of some tea shops you see in Asia, in terms of selection of teas and some of the cafés in Europe, in terms of the baked goods. It didn’t quite match up to any of those, but it was quite good for the US, especially for a small town.

What I really loved was the vintage record layer they had in one corner. They also has a fairly large vinyl record collection and seemed to always have a record playing on the turntable. The music was great and seemed to be mostly jazz and classical. It was all in all very appropriate music for a coffee shop.

Another thing that caught my eye was a state of the art security system, with high-tech security cameras. At first, I thought it must be due to the record player, but I eventually realized that it is because of the coffee and espresso machines. I had no idea how expensive those things are! I guess good coffee costs money. As does good home security.

I do not remember where this tea shop was located exactly, but it was somewhere near the downtown area. There was a bookstore nearby. As for the tea selection, they had at all. The even had yellow tea, which is rare to find outside of China. Naturally, they had green tea and black tea, as well as oolong tea, white tea and two different pu-erh teas.

Of course, they also had various herbal teas and flavored teas. I’m not a big fan of those, but a lot of people like them. And, yes, I know that herbal teas are not really tea, they are tisanes, but they were calling them tea in the store, so I’m going to use the same word here.

They basically had everything, except for tea that was grown indoors under grow lights. Remember, I mentioned that in a recent post. But that’s not something I’ve ever seen in a tea store anyway, so you can’t fault them for not having indoor-grown tea.

tea shop pastries
Baked goods in a tea shop

The quality of the tea was pretty good. It’s the kind of stuff you would buy at a Walmart in China, so it’s basically some of the lower quality teas you would get in Asia, but for the West that actually puts it in the upper range of quality.

You will not find many exceptional quality teas in the US, especially in a small town like Danbury. Therefore I have to say I was quite pleased with the tea quality. I enjoyed my cup and I actually had several more after that one.

I tried a nice Big Red Robe oolong tea, which was served in an infuser mug. That’s not quite a gaiwan, but it’s as close as you can get. I thought it was pretty cool. The green tea in the black tea were served in regular cups. I did not try any other types of tea. 3 cups was enough for me.

I was definitely surprised to find this little tea shop on my trip through Connecticut, and you can believe that I will be back next time I’m in town. It has great food, great tea and great music streaming from that classic turntable.

In fact, the shop had quite a lot of space indoors, so it might make a good meeting point for the Danbury Hibernians, although they already have a meeting spot they’ve used for a long time, so I doubt they would want to switch. It’s just what I would want, because I love tea so much. So, if you’re ever in Danbury, make sure to check out the tea shop. I’m sure you’ll love it as much as I did.