To piggyback on this… so many people have added permanent LED lights to the outside of their houses (at least in our area). It used to be fun to see a house or two lit up with current holiday colors, or sports team colors. But now there are several on each block, and they have become much brighter. On the 4th we were up on a hill watching fireworks and there was a lot of competition from the LED houses.

You could try Brain.fm. It’s supposed to help focus, but I’m not sure it helps any more than other ambient music.

I second SomaFM. But I’m more of a Groove Salad listener.

I was expecting it to be cake

One way to keep your locks from sounding like they are struggling is to invest in some 1.5V rechargeable batteries. They have a different chemistry than regular rechargeable batteries, but put out 1.5V per battery instead of 1.2V. Like most rechargeables, they maintain the voltage until they die suddenly. I just set a reminder on my calendar to charge them once every two months. They also work well in security systems.

I disagree. My locks have a keypad, so I can give out codes to friends & family that I can control and revoke. If I gave them a key, they could copy it, lose it, etc.

When I set my alarm for the evening, the script will shut the garage doors if they are open, and lock all the locks if they aren’t already.

I guess it could be said they can be hacked. But as someone mentioned above, regular locks can be picked. Back up your locks with a nice security system.

As someone who’s had both, it’s not as bad as I thought it would be. You have to keep on top of it. Don’t let snow sit for a few days. And get a good floor scraper to break up ice.

A positive to having a north facing house: my garage stays cooler in the summer.