Hi all.

I've yet to read/catch-up on happenings here.

Have been full on at work and also traveling recently to help my father with some more downsizing we've been supporting him with at my childhood home.

Hope to spend some time this week playing catch up and doing some more overdue admin.

Daylight savings ended over here last weekend and already the days are feeling shorter (daylight wise) and that whiff of 'winter is coming' is definitely in the air now.

I lugged firewood in tonight and I think later this week we'll certainly be using it... a cold snap is forecast in the next 1-2 days.

Speaking of firewood I had best sign off and go out and cover it up! Had the tarp off it today and in the sun to help keep it dry.

Hope this finds you well.

Best, Paul

Kerr Avon [Blake's 7] 'I'm not expendable, I'm not stupid and I'm not going' avon[at]bbs.nz | bbs.nz | fsxnet.nz

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* Origin: Agency BBS | Dunedin, New Zealand | agency.bbs.nz (21:1/101)

Re: Hey there
By: Avon to All on Sun Apr 13 2025 05:36 pm

Hi all.

Howdy,

I lugged firewood in tonight and I think later this week we'll certainly be using it... a cold snap is forecast in the next 1-2 days.

Curios how expensive firewood is for you?

I love the open fire, but firewood here is just ridiculously expensive.


...лоеп
--- SBBSecho 3.24-Linux
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On 13 Apr 2025 at 05:36p, Avon pondered and said...

Hi all.

I've yet to read/catch-up on happenings here.

Have been full on at work and also traveling recently to help my father with some more downsizing we've been supporting him with at my childhood home.

Hope to spend some time this week playing catch up and doing some more overdue admin.

Daylight savings ended over here last weekend and already the days are feeling shorter (daylight wise) and that whiff of 'winter is coming' is definitely in the air now.

I lugged firewood in tonight and I think later this week we'll certainly be using it... a cold snap is forecast in the next 1-2 days.

Speaking of firewood I had best sign off and go out and cover it up! Had the tarp off it today and in the sun to help keep it dry.

Hope this finds you well.

Best, Paul

You may be getting a whiff of winter, but here in Victoria, Australia, we had temperatures reaching 30C. Certainly not winterlike here, and it will remain warm, and push 30 again later this week.

Not that I mind, quite pleasant compared to chilly, wet weather, and good weather to have an outdoor party, which is what I did today.

Anyway, its good to see you are still keeping fsxNet going. I haven't been on here in a while, and I thought I'd click on the icon called "syncterm" on my desktop and see what was going on.

Regards,
Borax Man

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A48 (Linux/64)
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Hello deon!

** On Sunday 13.04.25 - 19:05, deon wrote to Avon:

I lugged firewood in tonight and I think later this week
we'll certainly be using it... a cold snap is forecast in
the next 1-2 days.

Curios how expensive firewood is for you?

I love the open fire, but firewood here is just
ridiculously expensive.

Camp firewood might be the most expensive. But the quantities
and type you can get for an entire winter is usually much
cheaper by the cord.


--- OpenXP 5.0.64
* Origin: (} Pointy McPointFace (21:4/106.21)

Re: Hey there
By: Avon to All on Sun Apr 13 2025 05:36 pm

Hi all.

I've yet to read/catch-up on happenings here.

I've been wondering where you've been! I keep forgetting you're on the other side of the planet from where I live (USA). We're getting ready for summer and you're getting ready for winter!

Thanks for checking in!

*** Diamond Dave ***
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On 13 Apr 2025, deon said the following...

Re: Hey there
By: Avon to All on Sun Apr 13 2025 05:36 pm

Hi all.

Howdy,

I lugged firewood in tonight and I think later this week we'll certainl using it... a cold snap is forecast in the next 1-2 days.

Curios how expensive firewood is for you?

I love the open fire, but firewood here is just ridiculously expensive.

...лоеп
--- SBBSecho 3.24-Linux

Yeah, I'd be interested too... On average in east Vic I was seeing firewood advertised at an average of around $180 per cubic meter, I was getting it for between $120-130 last two years - going through an average of 5-6 per year.

We've had some rather narly weather over the last year bringing down some
large trees in the area, so I go "help clean up" by means of collecting what
I can when I can.

On boxing day night we came up our road around 11pm to find a dead tree had blown over across the road - closing it up. We drove around the other side of the mountain, I tucked the wife & kids into bed, changed into PPE and went on
a battery chainsaw frenzy - cleared up the road, have been going back to the same tree every now and then cutting more of it up and lugging it home.

So far I have about 2 cubic meters of mostly dry firewood and another 2-3
still to be cut & left out to dry

I still expect I'll be buying a load or two over the next few months...
Last winter our local hardware store was selling 20KG bags of good redgum for $15-20 which aint too bad, so I still have a couple of them bags here too...

Our fire is the main heating for the living areas and the main bedroom,
whereas I installed mini-split ACs in the kids rooms, so they can heat / cool their rooms and they're fairly cheap to run.

This week's weather is definitely on the cooler side...

|14Dave!
|05(|13dflorey|05)
|13Retro16 BBS |05--> |14bbs.retro16.com |05(|13WIP|05)
|07No one expects the Spanish inquisition!

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A46 2020/08/26 (Windows/32)
* Origin: Retro16 BBS (21:1/226)

Re: Re: Hey there
By: dflorey to deon on Mon Apr 14 2025 09:53 pm

Howdy,

Yeah, I'd be interested too... On average in east Vic I was seeing firewood advertised at an average of around $180 per cubic meter, I was getting it for between $120-130 last two years - going through an average of 5-6 per year.

How far "east" are you?

When I look around, I'm seeing around $380m3, or $550 or so a tonne. (I'm south east melbourne.)

I'm obviously looking at the wrong places...

Actually I just looked in gumtree - looks a little better at around $230m3...


...лоеп
--- SBBSecho 3.24-Linux
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How far "east" are you?

When I look around, I'm seeing around $380m3, or $550 or so a tonne.
(I'm south

east melbourne.)

I'm obviously looking at the wrong places...

Actually I just looked in gumtree - looks a little better at around $230m3...

Just past Warragul, behind Yarragon.
Them prices are VERY high!!

|14Dave!
|05(|13dflorey|05)
|13Retro16 BBS |05--> |14bbs.retro16.com |05(|13WIP|05)
|07No one expects the Spanish inquisition!

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A46 2020/08/26 (Windows/32)
* Origin: Retro16 BBS (21:1/226)

Curios how expensive firewood is for you?

I love the open fire, but firewood here is just ridiculously expensive.

Haven't had anything to do with firewood for a long time, but I recall a time, when the family ordered it by the ton... rolled in on an 5-8ton truck... but it was a wood stove with water heating so you needed something to burn year round. Can't have been hiddeously expensive back then, it was being purchased by a pensioner.

ST

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A48 (Linux/64)
* Origin: Storm BBS (21:2/108)

Curios how expensive firewood is for you?
I love the open fire, but firewood here is just ridiculously expensive.

It used to be expensive during covid like anything. then normalized a bit in my country and now a cubic of oak and similarly caloric wood is about eq 100 bucks.

-h1

... Xerox Alto was the thing. Anything after we use is just a mere copy.

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A49 2024/05/29 (Linux/64)
* Origin: 2o fOr beeRS bbs>>>20ForBeers.com:1337 (21:2/150)

So far I have about 2 cubic meters of mostly dry firewood and another 2-3 still to be cut & left out to dry

I do the same, I usually burn about 2 cubic meters in the winter season but I always stack up to 4 in fall so I always have at least 2 seasons dried up and something that can still dry up and come up stashed less expensive. I always cut instantly on arrival or get it cut to fit in both for storing and burning in my fireplace. Space optimization I'd call it.

-h1

... Xerox Alto was the thing. Anything after we use is just a mere copy.

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A49 2024/05/29 (Linux/64)
* Origin: 2o fOr beeRS bbs>>>20ForBeers.com:1337 (21:2/150)

hollowone wrote to deon <=-

It used to be expensive during covid like anything. then normalized a
bit in my country and now a cubic of oak and similarly caloric wood is about eq 100 bucks.

I have a landscaper who's a bit of a barter-er. He trades work for work
with some people and has a community of like-minded people. He comes by
and thins out the bamboo he planted at our house, then re-homes it in
someone else's back yard. He came by with some aloe plants he'd thinned
out from another yard, "borrowed" some extra sprinkler hose from one of
my jobs and came back with some wonderful pots in exchange that he
thought my wife would like. She loved them. This even carried over into pastries - he ended up with 4 or 5 of those big costco-sized boxes of
pastries and was giving them to all of his customers.

He called me one day and asked if I wanted some firewood. He's traded
something for it and had more than he needed, and just charged me for his travel time. I ended up with a good 1/4 cord of seasoned wood and a
backache from carrying it down 2 flights of stairs...




--- MultiMail/Win v0.52
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I have a landscaper who's a bit of a barter-er. He trades work for work

<cut>

He called me one day and asked if I wanted some firewood. He's traded something for it and had more than he needed, and just charged me for his travel time. I ended up with a good 1/4 cord of seasoned wood and a backache from carrying it down 2 flights of stairs...

Nice story! ;) I'm always equally scared and amazed by these types of people.
I love their sense of freedoms... at the same time it just testes my limits of understanding weirdness ;)

-h1

... Xerox Alto was the thing. Anything after we use is just a mere copy.

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Hi there

How's it going?

Over here in New Zealand we're just about out of daylight savings time and soon to put the clocks back an hour at the end of the coming week.

It's a four day working week this week and next with Easter in the middle.

Autumn is starting to make an appearance with leaves starting to turn yellow or dropping now... temps are still reasonably warm for this time of the year but the weather has been more extreme with stronger winds and parts of the country hit by more flooding with rain fall events dumping a months worth of rain down in a day.. :(

Sunday night as I type this... really should get some sleep soon but it's been fun tapping away at the keyboard tonight :)

Best, Paul

Kerr Avon [Blake's 7] 'I'm not expendable, I'm not stupid and I'm not going' avon[at]bbs.nz | bbs.nz | fsxnet.nz

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How's it going?

Good, and I hope it's going good for you as well. :)

Over here in New Zealand we're just about out of daylight savings time and soon to put the clocks back an hour at the end of the coming week.

We just sprung ahead a couple weeks ago. I hear that here in BC we are going to stick with daylight saving time and are not going to be switching back and forth anymore. I welcome that news.

It's a four day working week this week and next with Easter in the middle.

I am retired now. I always thought that when I retired I would have time on my hand but that is not the case!

Sunday night as I type this... really should get some sleep soon but it's been fun tapping away at the keyboard tonight :)

My Sunday is just getting underway.. :)

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Re: Hey there
By: Avon to All on Sun Mar 29 2026 09:46 pm

Howdy Avon!

How's things with getting settled in?

We're just about the exact polar opposite with the seasons here - we've been in DST for a couple of weeks now, trees are budding up and things are starting to grow (we're still hitting freezing temps at night much of the time), and we've had some wicked winds the past couple of weeks. A chunk of the neightbour's shingles on their roof got ripped up a week ago. Parts of our province have had flooding issues due to atmospheric rivers.

We installed solar on our house at the end of October, and I've been waiting for a perfectly clear day ever since (it was an extremely dark and gloomy winter). Things are brighter now, but still waiting for what almost seems like a mythical day now. That said, we've been net pushing power to the grid for most of the past 10 days or so now, so things are definitely moving in the right direction.

This week I'm going to have to prepare food for a big family potluck next weekend... could be time for chili, but I'm not sure yet.
--- SBBSecho 3.37-Linux
* Origin: Yak Station - Some yakkin' happenin'... (21:3/233)

Over here in New Zealand we're just about out of daylight savings time
and soon to put the clocks back an hour at the end of the coming week.

Thanks for the daylight!

And, yeah, here in Germany we just set the clocks an hour ahead. I'm not happy about having to get up an hour earlier, but I am pretty happy that it's 7p and the sun hasn't set, yet.

It's a four day working week this week and next with Easter in the
middle.

I'm also looking forward to Revision, which is the Easter demo party. So I've taken off the Thursday and Tuesday as well.

Still lots of things to do for the event, but I'm glad that my 500-line ANSI salute to 19 films that entered the US public domain this year is at least to, "first draft done", if still a ways from being finished.

I'm also trying to decide on a photo to enter.

And also trying to prep juggling things (I have a new three-person pattern to try, if possible), and maybe possibly try something with code for either light up juggling balls (the documentation is... not much, and there's no API) or my WowCube that I basically never use, but seems like there should be _something_ neat that is possible.

Sunday night as I type this... really should get some sleep soon but
it's been fun tapping away at the keyboard tonight :)

I'm glad you're able to spend a bit of time with the hobby, and hopefully you're catching up decently well.

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On 29 Mar 2026 at 03:08a, Al pondered and said...

Good, and I hope it's going good for you as well. :)

It's been an interesting couple of months. We signed a build contract in early Feb and had hoped to have plans into our city council building department by now so we can obtain building consent... at this stage the company we've employed to develop the plans, arrange consent and the build the home have yet to submit the plans into council :(

So in short it feels like things are dragging and we're not as far down the track of the project as I would have liked to have been. We will chase up the company (again) next week... wish us luck!

We just sprung ahead a couple weeks ago. I hear that here in BC we are going to stick with daylight saving time and are not going to be
switching back and forth anymore. I welcome that news.

sounds good, it's a topic that comes up over here from time to time also. So far no change.

I am retired now. I always thought that when I retired I would have time on my hand but that is not the case!

I keep hearing that, it will be my turn to do the same in a few years (less now that I keep thinking there are!)

Kerr Avon [Blake's 7] 'I'm not expendable, I'm not stupid and I'm not going' avon[at]bbs.nz | bbs.nz | fsxnet.nz

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On 29 Mar 2026 at 09:18a, The Wanderer pondered and said...

How's things with getting settled in?

we're settled in, but it's only temporary for about a year or so, until a home we're getting built is finished... but as you may have read in another reply it seems to be slow to get started :(

We installed solar on our house at the end of October, and I've been waiting for a perfectly clear day ever since (it was an extremely dark
and gloomy winter). Things are brighter now, but still waiting for what almost seems like a mythical day now. That said, we've been net pushing power to the grid for most of the past 10 days or so now, so things are definitely moving in the right direction.

how many panels did you opt to go with and what sort of inverter / battery setup?

Kerr Avon [Blake's 7] 'I'm not expendable, I'm not stupid and I'm not going' avon[at]bbs.nz | bbs.nz | fsxnet.nz

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So in short it feels like things are dragging and we're not as far down the track of the project as I would have liked to have been. We will chase up the company (again) next week... wish us luck!

I hope things start moving in the right direction for you.

We just sprung ahead a couple weeks ago. I hear that here in BC we are
going to stick with daylight saving time and are not going to be
switching back and forth anymore. I welcome that news.

sounds good, it's a topic that comes up over here from time to time also. So far no change.

I would have prefered if they stuck with standard time but I am glad there will be no more back and forth.

I am retired now. I always thought that when I retired I would have time
on my hand but that is not the case!

I keep hearing that, it will be my turn to do the same in a few years (less now that I keep thinking there are!)

It is true. A am busy as hell now, in a good way but busy as hell. :)

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Re: Re: Hey there
By: Avon to The Wanderer on Fri Apr 24 2026 02:28 pm

How's things with getting settled in?

we're settled in, but it's only temporary for about a year or so, until a home we're getting built is finished... but as you may have read in another reply it seems to be slow to get started :(

Uh oh - I did read the other message and I hope delays don't drive up the cost of things for you. I get very tired of dealing with unresponsive businesses - it must be so nice to be so busy and have such money that one doesn't need to respond to (potential) customers!

We installed solar on our house at the end of October, and I've been

how many panels did you opt to go with and what sort of inverter / battery setup?

We have a 13KW system - 26 500W panels with 13 little inverters, no battery - the power utility is treated like the battery.

Since my last message, we've finally had some sun and I'm watching us catch up on generation from under-production during winter. We've generated 4x as much power as we've used so far in April, but that's only a surplus of around 750KWh so far.

But, as our weather gets warmer and the days keep getting longer, I think the system is likely to do everything we want it to do.

Having no more methane bill and what will amount to a $0 electric bill will be pretty nice for the next several months.
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