Thanks for all the input! Believe me I have everything I need to keep things simple, and I will at least at first. Understand this though, I'm getting up in age and spend more time on the couch than on the streets. My health says stay home more than go out. Seem like I'm always in pain. If I'm gonna spend more time at home I want something to do rather than stare at a TV or cell phone. So what can I do? set up a tent and self medicate = boring. Set up a mancave and fill it with crazy stuff sounds better. Yes I can use a wick set up, no problem just use the same one I use for my house plants. Buy a ready made set up, well that's a thought but...Make something, aggravate the hell out of myself figuring out, well that's an interesting challenge. Cost of entry isn't really an issue I just know to stay within reason and buy something I can add to as time goes on. Really I'm just trying to keep myself interested and busy. I checked out the Raspberry PI but I'm more comfortable with the programing interface on the Arduino though the PI looks pretty cool. To me this is like a car, you don't hop it up because you need to but because you want to. So all that said I will still look at some of the stuff that was recommended and again thanks whether your with me or without me.