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Sat 08 Apr 2023

We've had some dragon fruit plants in pots for ages now and I think it's time to plant them and make a frame for them to climb.

Tue 11 Apr 2023

I've decided to extend the extension again and now the excavator tracks I've been using for garden beds are in the way. So it's time to get them out of the way. They weigh about 300kgs each so it's no small task to move them.

A crow bar and some leverage gets the sling under the track.

As I'm by myself I have to use a breeze block to apply weight to the other end of the crowbar to hold the track in the air enough to slide the sling underneath it.

Then I drag them away with the Cruiser.

Wed 12 Apr 2023

That's better. I can now start laying out more frame.

The existing structure is where I planned to stop, but you see that purlin sticking out in the air (top right)? That's about where the building will now end.

The dragon fruit frame is finished, well for now at least. When they grow I'll add more frame on the top to give them something to hang over.

Sun 16 Apr 2023

Our first attempt at strawberries. This is an organic one that was given to us.

This is in one of the wicking beds, they work really well.

Mon 17 Apr 2023

A temporary post placed in the first post hole for the extension to the extension.

I've been buying a lot of used corro lately, and before I'm finished I think I'll need a lot more.

A progress shot.

These have to go. They were originally planted to provide a screen for the Jimny as that used to be garaged under that roof behind the bamboo. But the Jimny has gone now and anyway I'm sheeting that wall so a screen is no longer required. Also the bamboo is something of a fire risk.

Tue 18 Apr 2023

Cutting some posts for the house extension...in the workshop extension.

Thu 20 Apr 2023

A lot of the framing done for the extended extension.

The area you can see on the left was going to be the entire extension and be the living room, dining room, and kitchen. The new plan has a much larger kitchen in this area on the right, the part with no flooring joists. This means that the dining and living areas will be way more spacious as well.

Fri 21 Apr 2023

Early morning on the building site.

Sun 23 Apr 2023

I used to love astronomy and when I saw this for sale in Bundaberg I couldn't resist.

It's a fantastic piece of kit with auto tracking and all sorts.

But after a week or so playing with it I decided that I don't need yet another complicated and technical hobby, as far as astronomy goes these days all I really want to do is lay outside with binoculars and scan the stars.

So I sold it, and actually made a small profit.

Wed 26 Apr 2023

Some more progress.

The floor joists for the kitchen are now in place. No blocking or stumps yet though.

I've upgraded my computer to a newer and faster unit. And while doing that added three 4k screens.

I love it. When it comes to computer screens you can never have enough real estate.

Mon 15 May 2023

I've decided to add a deck to the extension.

So the house footprint is now a few meters larger.

Tue 23 May 2023

The deck is coming along nicely.

Comments

Date  ::	02 Jun 2024
Name  ::	Peter Cox
Location  ::	Mount Nebo
Comment  ::	It's alive!...It's alive!... It just keeps growing.
Date  ::	06 Jun 2024
Name  ::	GRAYnomad
Comment  ::	Bigger 'an Ben Hur these days, and I have plans for even more
Date  ::	07 Jul 2024
Name  ::	erik Huijsmans
Location  ::	Netherlands
Comment  ::	Love the progress. About the telescoop i know the feeling of wanting things that i like but don't really need and i still have to many.
Date  ::	31 Jul 2024
Name  ::	GRAYnomad
Comment  ::	I have a lot of "toys" I don't really need But in my defense I do use them occasionally and they are useful.
Date  ::	11 Aug 2024
Name  ::	Robert
Location  ::	Sydney
Comment  ::	Rob, Looking forward to your next blog updates!!
Date  ::	11 Aug 2024
Name  ::	GRAYnomad
Comment  ::	I can't upload anything to my site at the moment, looks like I'll have to raise a support ticket with the host company.
Date  ::	22 Aug 2024
Name  ::	Jesper Hansen
Location  ::	Portugal
Comment  ::	Great to see all this progress. I'm one of those who now and then drop in and read your blog. Please, don't stop. I would terribly miss it if you did. Congratulations on the new woman in your life, I wish all the best to both of you from Portugal, where we're slowly getting ready to emmigrate to Denmark. I'm getting older and miss my friends and my language. The wifey is very keen on the idea too. How many years since you built the first Wotthehellisthat? That's how long I've been following you!
Date  ::	23 Aug 2024
Name  ::	GRAYnomad
Comment  ::	Thanks Jesper, yes you've been here for many years eh? I've spent nearly two weeks with tech support and so far no luck, I cannot FTP to this site and have even set up another web site with a different provider and that has the same problem. So I'm almost at my wit's end and might have to migrate things to a provider like WIX. Unfortunately that will mean all the info on this site will pretty much be lost as it won't transfer, and to restore it all would be too big a job. In that case maybe I can continue the blog in a different format. I'd rather not do any of that and just get this problem fixed, but it's not looking good at present.
Date  ::	16 Sep 2024
Name  ::	MarkD
Location  ::	QLD
Comment  ::	What's your FTP problem? I can connect to the ftp server at www.robgray.com using the FreeBSD ftp command and the Linux tnftp command. $ ftp rob@www.robgray.com Connected to robgray.com. 220---------- Welcome to Pure-FTPd [privsep] [TLS] ---------- 220-You are user number 1 of 50 allowed. 220-Local time is now 10:58. Server port: 21. 220-This is a private system - No anonymous login 220-IPv6 connections are also welcome on this server. 220 You will be disconnected after 15 minutes of inactivity. 331 User rob OK. Password required So the server looks to be ok, so maybe a firewall problem or a client problem? If it's an old windows client, it might also need the PASV (passive setting).
Date  ::	19 Sep 2024
Name  ::	David H
Location  ::	Hobart
Comment  ::	… and it looks like sftp might work too, which is even better (just one port (unlike plain ftp) so hopefully no firewall issues, everything encrypted on the wire): david@blackbox:~$ sftp rob@robgray.com rob@robgray.com's password: Received disconnect from 69.90.66.140 port 22:2: Too many authentication failures Disconnected from 69.90.66.140 port 22 Connection closed. Connection closed david@blackbox:~$
Date  ::	24 Sep 2024
Name  ::	GRAYnomad
Comment  ::	Mark & David, I can log in just fine, but cannot transfer any files or even get a directory listing. IIRC there was a TLS error. I have about 10 FTP clients and they all have the same problem, I did finally get FileZilla to work but only if I use a VPN.
Date  ::	26 Sep 2024
Name  ::	GRAYnomad
Comment  ::	Good news. I have managed to get a working system in place that will allow me to continue with the chronicles and other aspects of this site. There'll be a new posting in a few days.
Date  ::	28 Sep 2024
Name  ::	MarkD
Location  ::	Sunshine Coast
Comment  ::	The point I was trying to get at is that with most FTP clients when you initiate a transfer, the server opens a socket back to the client which has to get thru your firewall and ISP NAT, etc! This is pretty weird behaviour, but it's due to FTP being a primordial Internet application protocol designed before ISPs and NATs existed! PASV is a client command/option which changes this behaviour such that the client creates the transfer socket out to the server and thus avoids firewall issues. You probably know all this, but your symptoms of being able to login, but not transfer are indicative of a failure to establishment a reverse socket. Why this has changed for you over time is hard to say. ISP changes to blocking server to client sockets? Changes to your router - particularly around UPnP? For those FTP clients which fail, I would be double-checking whether they can be told to use PASV or not. Many now default to that, but not all. As an aside, I'm pretty impressed that a web hosting company supports FTP in 2024, it must be starting to be a rare features since even the IETF is deprecating its use.

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