Working on building a centos7 box to replace the web server, currently on centos6. I was going to switch to another distro because centos is dead now, but ubuntu is really annoying. So many half done things; I'll leave it to cook and hopefully they'll figure out if they're going full systemd or what. Getting to apache 2.4 compliant site configs should be a good step forward for the next migration.

Testing the journal on the new web server.

OK, another entry after setting up the SSL cert.

Holy crap, we're on the new web server with certs (using letsencrypt) and with working perl modules for the journal and... well everything I think? I changed my sync scripts on the mac to replicate data here, and the other mac to sync the web content from here and it all seems to be working. I shut off web1, but won't delete it for a very long time. Probably just move the whole thing off to another storage area 'just in case', like some ssh credentials or script or alias I've forgotten.

Had to install ImageMagick to get the image resizing script to work, that's probably in the motd notes on web1... which is shut off. :)

Anyway, let's update some projects. The generators are setup in the shed and I (with Sean's supervision) installed a little flap that lets the hose fit inside from outside where I have the tanks stored. You can run off any of the 3 tanks where they sit, or put a little 20 pound tank next to these three and still reach the generator inside with the short 20 pound regulator/lines that came with the generator. Everything is covered by that fancy new camo tarp, and the cables and eye hooks to lock them to the shed will be here Wednesday.

Went to Sneaky's for a visit to drop off some expired chicken feed that he will use (that the woman will not) and to help him debug some wiring on a new tractor. I also setup the long range wifi unit off my garage up at his place so there is wifi coverage to the barn/shop.

I did of course stay the night at the truck stop on the way up. Wouldn't be a visit without some stealth camping and really bad breakfast choices.

Installed aspell/ispell, but didn't have the dictionaries installed, fixed that now too. Again, probably in the damn notes. Maybe I should write those down again.

The weather is pretty amazing so after taking the trash out and watering the garden I'm now sitting on the porch with a cup of coffee. No reason to sit in the basement if all I'm doing it typing here. Don't need the big screens for that.

I borrowed a bike stand from Will to make working on the death bike easier. It's rear tube was punctured and of course that rear with the dual chains is the hardest tire to replace out of all the bikes. With the stand though, it was downright easy. Had my plastic tire irons from the KLR so dismounting the tire from the rim was easy. Now that it's repaired and cleaned, the woman can put it on NextDoor for sale.

The woman is training this squirrel to eat peanuts from her hand, and now every time anyone is on the porch she shows up and wants nuts.

I've been cleaning my office up, trying to reduce clutter. I removed the radio stuff from the shelving in the window and then removed the shelving. I thought I was going to make a radio rack next to the desk but my mock-ups were horrible and my actual build was also horrible. Just too difficult to work with, so I was going to put just one radio back with no extra setup. No digital modes, no extra power distribution block, nothing. Turns out though, my IC7000 is dead. Known issue apparently when they sit a cap will fail and then the relay won't trigger and it won't power up.

I wanted something there so I pulled the IC2200h out and actually found the programming cable and got it setup with the local 2m stuff. It's better than nothing and will go away when I get the IC7000 fixed. One of the preppernet guys got me a contact with a dude that does radio repair, so hopefully it's fixable. If not... well do I put the IC714 up for HF and keep the 2200h for 2m and just forget about 440MHz (a reasonable thing to ignore), or do I invest in a new multi band radio?

Not sure it's in here, but I've officially started BJJ. Haven't joined the gym yet, using the "5 free classes" thing Briggs gave me but we're coming up on 5 classes so it's time to put some money down.

Birthday lunch after golf, first real restaurant meal (albeit outside) in 1121 days.

What I actually had (from the online menu):

Amazon order showed up, and it took 15 minutes to 'secure' the tanks. Won't stop anyone but should keep them from somehow falling over. Tarp is now corded in place as well.

Me, at 51, after my first BJJ roll. I feel.... old.

The death bike sold today, kid came by and test rode it in the rain and paid via Venmo. Another item in the history books.

Went to new hire orientation at Johnson Automotive today, I'm officially an employee. Oy, what have I done? I keep flirting with death!

Made a birthday cake for myself, ended up giving half of it to dad and his woman (who just made it back from their river cruise trip disaster).

Made some dutch crunch rolls but for the last minute I popped them to the top rack and put the broiler on. They went from white to golden very quickly, and the woman really liked the crunchy top and softer interior. Going to do that again for sure.

My IC7k is dead, I think I mentioned that before and I've had zero luck getting anyone to respond about fixing it. So as to not be radio-less, I setup this ultra simplified setup. No power distribution block, nothing fancy just the 2m radio setup with the headset and the backup HF rig setup for digital modes attached to the gaming PC.

The woman finished pruning all the bushes around the front lawn. It looks much, much better... except now there is a 20' long 6'+ high pile of yard debris to do something with. Can't burn it, can't chip it (it's poisonous to the goats) so... now what?

Got the strawberry starter plants in the ground over by the pond as planned. I didn't cut the wire though, I just left the extra spooled up and will expand the fencing as needed later. That way when these things die in the next few days I won't have a uselessly small wire fence to repurpose.

Got a call from the car place, my first drive is tomorrow. Doing a ride-along on a Charlotte run just to see how the paperwork is done on both ends. Normally this would be a solo run, it's a 1 for 1 swap but the coordinator dude wants me to experience it so I can do my own runs sooner. OK then, getting paid to sit in the car for 6 hours? If only I could do audio books, would make a case for the audible subscription.

Went to the 'live' prepper meeting yesterday after dropping the woman off at the airport for her PHX trip. I missed the first half, but got to see the host dude's solar setup, water setup, garden, shop(s), etc. Quite interesting. Should have taken more photos but was just sorta walking around with the crowd taking it all in.

My first day was Thursday, did a swap in Charlotte. No photos there because I wasn't alone (had the training guy with me) but there really wasn't much to see. I did get to test out my shiny new gas card, it worked at some random BP on the way home so that's encouraging.

Figured out why my phone audio is so bad... this cable is literally falling apart. Replacement on the way.

Rene and Eric were getting some (more) trees cut down for their barn project so the woman had the tree guy come give us an estimate to chip and haul all those trimmings away. He wanted $400.... so we went for it. It seems insane to pay that, but renting a large chipper was almost $300, so for $100 I don't have to deal with the waste (which is poisonous to goats) or do any of the work. I guess that's a deal. :)

Did a swap today, or more correctly delivered a car. Customer rover being taken to a body shop and Mark followed me in a chase car for the ride back. Only $30, but more of a training event on the new/different paperwork for this sort of drive.

More Aldi experiments, this time it was more than just salsa and crackers... I actually got a $5 box of frozen California roll. Scary, but as it turns out it's totally acceptable. For $2.50 for 7 or 8 pieces, it scratches the sushi itch without having to go spend $50 for the real thing.

Survived the dentist again. Only took this photo because the woman wanted to know where I was. She's been in PHX the last week so she's never quite sure where I am during the day.

Trying to get one of the sink drains out downstairs I broke part of the trap pipe. Doh. Cheap part, but had to go to Home Depot to continue. It was too long, but some quick work with the hack saw fixed that. Seen here old and new part, with the new one actually missing the ring that locks it to the other part. I figured that out and reassembled it correctly when I went to install it. The ring fell off the old one since the end of the pipe was busted off.

Both faucets swapped and the entire bathroom cleaned up.

The woman likes the footrest she 'borrowed' from me (which I borrowed from work) but rather than order another one I just got crafty with some of that scrap wood I didn't end up using for my radio stand. The little grippy feet look dumb but they work and are necessary. Without them it just slides everywhere. Fortunately the woman knew exactly where those feet were in a box she had squirreled away.

The old coffee maker finally died today. We bought a replacement of CL years and years ago and have just had it sitting in the closet waiting for this one to die. It brewed it's last cup and then just.... stopped. Probably the pump went out, the entire unit was hot so the heater is probably still functional. The new one is much smaller with no features which isn't that big of a deal, but the water reservoir is tiny, like 2 large cups and it's time to refill.

Did a swap today, took a boring Elantra or something out and brought this Kona N back. It's almost 300hp in a smaller SUV, pretty quick.

I thought I put this in there before, but the woman brought covid back home with her. She was feeling funky and did a test:

She's now isolating in the back office/guest bedroom and wearing a mask when in the rest of the house (and only out when I'm downstairs). I can't see how I won't get it considering we were in the same car/room/bed for the day she got back so I've been exposed plenty.

Replaced the broken band on my fitness tracker with a more traditional style strap. So much better, easier to put on, stays on, doesn't pop open. 1000etter and a solid deal at $6.

Lugs got hurt again and the woman wanted me to redo the barrier inside the barn. First to make it fit sideways (it had to be shortened 18" from it's previous diagonal position) and then to make it easy to drop into place. Again, not the best work but it gets the job done and the goats can't tell.

Melissa is at some 'girls retreat' for the next few days so she's missing the prepper net call tonight. I pinged her to see if she's got cell service and she does, she sent this photo from today. Apparently their photographer person went down the wrong road and got stuck and they had to drag the car out:

I always used to take odometer photos, but then stopped at some point. Tried to get the van rolling 140k, ended up in the garage at 139999 and then forgot to take the 140k photo when leaving the next day. Dammit.

Took a home defense class yesterday while Sean and Jason were at Jeff's class (rescheduled on top of this class or I would have been at Jeff's as well). Pretty good, picked up a few things which is more than I thought I would. It's not that I "know it all" already, just that they can only teach so much in these and I have a lot of the basics down.