Author: Bazar
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Raising the bar
I had a bit of an enlightenment today… While listening to The Diary of a CEO by Steven Bartlett, he shared his approach to identifying underperforming employees and the importance of letting them go. He posed a thought-provoking question: Pick any random employee and imagine if the entire company inherited this person’s qualities – their…
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How Money Is Created, Circulates, and Disappears
This post is part of my personal journey to understand how money really works—not just the basics, but the full picture. I started with a simple curiosity: if I make £100 profit, pay taxes, and spend the rest, and that money becomes someone else’s profit (who then also pays tax and spends it)… does all…
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LED Driver Journey
It all started with something simple: my battery-powered Christmas LED lights. I loved how they looked, but I wanted to make them more convenient by powering them through USB instead of burning through AA batteries. Simple idea, right? So, I grabbed a USB cable, did some basic soldering, and connected the 5V to where the…
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Feeling Lost, Disconnected, and Ready to Start Again
Something feels off lately. I’ve been losing interest quickly in almost everything I do. Motivation seems to have vanished. Evenings are spent mindlessly watching YouTube, my work during the day is light and uninspired, and mornings are an unstructured mess. There’s no consistency, no habits – just randomness and a lack of spark. What’s even…
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Seeing Our Sun as the Star It Truly Is
We often take everyday wonders for granted. Take the sun, for example. Every day, it rises above the horizon like a giant fireball, bringing life, light, and warmth. We know it’s there and go about our lives without much thought. But today, something magical happened. A thick fog settled in, so dense that visibility was…
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From Doodle to Waltz: Perception vs Mastery – Does It Even Matter?
When I was about 12 years old, I saw a doodle on a wall. It was simple yet unique, and I was immediately captivated. Although I wasn’t skilled at drawing, I had an idea – what if I learned how to recreate this doodle, line by line? Without a camera to capture it back then,…
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Rediscovering Dad: Turning Moments into Magic
Watching The Terminal has sparked a moment of deep reflection – a moment that feels raw and transformative. It’s interesting how a film can hold up a mirror to your own life, and this time, it reflected my relationship with my kids. I realized I’ve been wearing too many hats – strict parent, teacher, boss…
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Building My Raspberry Pi Setup with the Pironman 5 Case
When I decided to build my home automation server, I knew it had to run Home Assistant OS (HAOS) on Raspberry Pi hardware. I ordered everything I needed and decided on the Pironman 5 case. However, the case delivery was set to take over two weeks, and I was eager to start tinkering with Home…
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How ChatGPT Unexpectedly Opened My Eyes to the World of DIY Circuits
It’s incredible how far automation can go with a little curiosity and determination. These days, loads of sensors and smart devices are readily available on Amazon, and they work great. Over time, I’ve picked up a bunch of gadgets and slowly tackled some of my daily challenges through automation. With Christmas around the corner, it’s…
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Smarter Radios, Cleaner Clothes: My Latest HA Tweaks
Wow, what a journey it’s been since starting this home automation project from scratch! Here’s what I love most about it: First Automation: Smart Radio Charger It all started with a small problem I had at home. We use two radios (walkie-talkies) – one in the ground-floor kitchen and one upstairs in the office –…