Matt Chung's Site

Category: Home Organization

  • My first lawn seeds germinating!

    My first lawn seeds germinating!

    After watching dozens of YouTube videos on lawn care, I decided about two weeks ago to overseed the front lawn and water the grass twice a day (I really used to think that the earth would just magically nourish our yard). And up until this morning, I wasn’t entirely sure if all my effort was wasted, since it’s really difficult to spot whether or not seeds were actually germinating. On top of this daily maintenance, I’ve been also singing to them, giving them some verbal love.

    My first lawn seeds germinating 1.5 weeks later

    And this morning, about 1.5 weeks later after initial seeding, I discovered that my little seeds were starting to germinate!  Proof! Finally! I was so ecstatic that I snapped a couple photos and then bolted inside, sharing the photos with Elliott and Jess.

    I suppose this is one of the silver linings of COVID-19 and being locked down at home for the last year? I’m turning into a lawn care nut.

  • Weekly Review – Week ending in 2020/11/01

    Weekly Review – Week ending in 2020/11/01

    No Halloween this year

    I used to love Halloween growing up, not so much the dressing up part but the knocking on doors and getting handed fist fulls of candy. Now, as an adult, I love returning the favor and always think about giving out larger than average candy and chocolate.

    But not this year, thanks to COVID-19.

    Hopefully 2020 will be the one and only year that we skip Halloween …

    Starting writing my first e-book

    I’m compiling all my blog posts on “advanced operating systems refresher” into a single, nicely formatted e-book. The book will provide a summary and detailed notes on Udacity’s Advanced Refresher course.

    Media Consumption

    Watched the first two episodes of “This is Us”. Again, as I mentioned in my blog posts, the writer’s (and cast and crew) deserve a huge applaud for pivoting and incorporating two major events in history — the COVID-19 pandemic and police brutality on black lives — into the story line. That’s no easy feat but they are pulling it off.

    Watched Borat subsequent film. I found the film hilarious and ingenious. Reveals how complicated people can be. For example, two trump supporters end up taking Borat into their homes and at one point, they even speak up on behalf of women.

    Home Care

    I’m super motivated keeping our new home in tip top shape. I had learned that the previous owner’s took a lot of pride in the house, the retired couple out in the front or back yard on a daily basis, the two of them maintaining the lawn and plants.

    Learning how to take care of the lawn. That includes learning the different modes of mowing (i.e. mulching, side discharge, bagging), the difference between slow release and fast release nitrogen, the importance of aerating, the importance of applying winterizer two weeks before the last historical freeze day, how to edge properly and so on.

    Family

    Still working from home and still appreciate the little gestures from Jess throughout the day. I sometimes get lost in a black hole of thoughts and troubleshooting, not drinking any water or eating snacks for hours at a time. So the little snacks that Jess drops off go a long way.

    Health

    Although taking care of mental health, not so much physical health. Only exercised once last week which was basically jogging on the treadmill.

    Graduate School

    Applied theory of lightweight recoverable virtual machine to work. In advanced operating systems, I took the concept of the abort transaction and suggested that we install a similar handler in our control plane code.

  • How to clean your cleaning tools (notes)

    How to clean your cleaning tools (notes)

    How do you take care of the tools that you use for cleaning?  This is a question I’ve been curious about over the last couple days since currently going through a cleaning phase. To up my cleaning skills, I’ve been searching online for tutorials and discovered an amazing YouTube channel called Clean My Space that published a video titled “7 Expert Cleaning Tips You Need to be Using”. After watching the video, I’m now applying the cleaning techniques to maintain and take care of my home cleaning tools.

    1. Brushes (with Oxiclean) Mix oxiclean and hot water (check manual for right ratio) and then toss your brushes (e.g. toothbrush, bottle brush) in the mixture and allow the bristles to soak anywhere between 30 to 60 minutes.
    2. Sponges Apply the same method as above (or microwave the sponge). Keep in mind that the sponge should be cleaned weekly and replaced monthly
    3. Cleaning Cloths. For cleaning clothes, just toss them in the washer and sprinkle with baking soda. But for microfiber, make sure to first rise them alone then place them in delicate bag. Add a little detergent, thats it. Dry them as you would (gentle cycle). Also, never use micro fiber for greasy, since it ruins the microfiber
    4. Mop Head. Wash and then to dry. Wash monthly.
    5. Broom. Remove broom from broom stick, place in bucket (with Oxiclean). Perform this maintenance every 3 months.
    6. Vacuum. Refer to user guide (or manual), but few good general tips for maintaining include: empty on the regular basis, wash the filter (especially for HEPA vacuum), and lay the entire vacuum flat for 24 hours and cut up stuff that gets tangled in the brush, using warm soap and water and allowing let them rest for 24 hours to let them dry