Automate the washing machine's signals???

["Derek Erb" <erb@xxxxxxx>]

This is more a dream than anything else... but I would be eternally
grateful if anyone could come up with a solution.

My home office is downstairs in the basement.  Just across the hall
is the "computer room" with my servers, switches, routers and
wiring
frames.  On the other side of the room is the (clothes) washing
machine.

My family has a tendency to put on a load of washing, leave it to
run and just leave it until they have a sudden desire to empty it
and take the clothes back upstairs to dry.

The problem is this:  When the washing machine finishes it makes to
most obnoxious, annoying and loud beeping sound.

End_of_Wash() {
beep(5) times;
wait(12) seconds;
Call End_of_Wash();
};

You get the idea.  This thing is an endless loop of beeping.  It
does not stop until someone turns the damn thing off.

Is there some way, any way, to automatically transmit the signal
upstairs that the washing machine has finished?  I obviously want
this to be automated so that it also works when I'm not actually
working in the office as well.  I also dream of being able to
actually redirect the annoying beep so that goes upstairs as well...
but some dreams just don't come true.

As I mentioned earlier the washing machine is in the same room as
the wiring frame.  I have Cat5E cable all over the house with at
least 2 RJ45 sockets in each room.  The main electric circuit box is
also in this room.  Is there not some way we can hook all this up
and get them talking to each other?  Wireless would be wonderful but
I'm willing to go wired on this one...

Any and all help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated and
delay my throttling this machine to death to the eventually great
dismay of my family...

Thanks,

Derek Erb
Paris - France



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