Hi there

First off a belated happy new year to you. I hope this finds you well and that 2026 has got off to a good start for you.

I've been largely inactive for the last several months (will explain more in a minute) and can see a lot of messages in echomail etc. to try and catch up with in the weeks and months ahead.

I just wanted to drop this note into FSX_GEN and FSX_NET echomail areas to let you know that I'm still about, not planning on leaving the BBS scene, starting a new-wave rock band or opting for hair transplants (heaven forbid!) :)

In brief... around the middle of last year my wife and I decided we wanted to sell our family home of 20+ years (a house built in the 1930's) and move to a property built in the last 10 years or so. Something with more modern construction standards, easier to heat/cool etc.. it turns out as you get older these things seem to matter more #who-knew?!

So we looked and could not find a place that ticked all the boxes. In the end we opted to build a new house and are soon to start on that adventure. The build should take about a year.

The last six months have seen us prep our home for sale and put on the market in late November. Just before Christmas we accepted a purchase offer and the sale went 'unconditional' last week.

We have also sought out and secured a rental property to live in while our new place is built.

In the coming week(s) we will sign a contract to build our new home and move to the rental... so it has been/still is a busy old time in Avon's world.

Next steps.

I'm moving houses in the coming month. Expect NET 1 + NET 4 HUBs to have outages on the day I move. I will try to get HUBs set up again on the same day of the move but it may turn into a 24-48 hour thing as I need to get beds, hot water etc. set up first... you know the drill.

Once I am clear of this upcoming shift I do plan to spend more time on admin and getting back into the BBS hobby a bit more.... but for now it's just been down the list of things to think about/do/enjoy.

I am going to try to get some well overdue updates applied to the nodelist in the coming week.. thanks to folks who have emailed me, and a general apology for my lack of responsiveness due to the above.

Thanks for reading... onwards and upwards.

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

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A48 (Linux/64)
* Origin: Agency BBS | Dunedin, New Zealand | agency.bbs.nz (21:1/101)

Hello Avon!

** On Monday 19.01.26 - 20:31, Avon wrote to All:

So we looked and could not find a place that ticked all the boxes. In the end we opted to build a new house and are soon to start on that
adventure. The build should take about a year.

How did you go about choosing a design for the new house?



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

On 19 Jan 2026, Avon said the following...

Hi there

First off a belated happy new year to you. I hope this finds you well
and that 2026 has got off to a good start for you.

Same to you!

I've been largely inactive for the last several months (will explain
more in a minute) and can see a lot of messages in echomail etc. to try and catch up with in the weeks and months ahead.

I just wanted to drop this note into FSX_GEN and FSX_NET echomail areas
to let you know that I'm still about, not planning on leaving the BBS scene, starting a new-wave rock band or opting for hair transplants (heaven forbid!) :)

In brief... around the middle of last year my wife and I decided we wanted to sell our family home of 20+ years (a house built in the
1930's) and move to a property built in the last 10 years or so.
Something with more modern construction standards, easier to heat/cool etc.. it turns out as you get older these things seem to matter more #who-knew?!

So we looked and could not find a place that ticked all the boxes. In
the end we opted to build a new house and are soon to start on that adventure. The build should take about a year.

The last six months have seen us prep our home for sale and put on the market in late November. Just before Christmas we accepted a purchase offer and the sale went 'unconditional' last week.

We have also sought out and secured a rental property to live in while
our new place is built.

In the coming week(s) we will sign a contract to build our new home and move to the rental... so it has been/still is a busy old time in Avon's world.
Congrats! Excited I bet!
Next steps.

I'm moving houses in the coming month. Expect NET 1 + NET 4 HUBs to have outages on the day I move. I will try to get HUBs set up again on the
same day of the move but it may turn into a 24-48 hour thing as I need
to get beds, hot water etc. set up first... you know the drill.

After buying/selling/moving 8 or 9 times, my wife (the Real Boss) and I have learned one thing after the move. If a box hasn't been unpacked after one year, we seriously look at disposing of its contents. Its made a hugh difference for the "next" time.

Seriously, good luck and take some time to enjoy the process.

Scott

|11ogg
|11SysOp, Altair IV BBS
|11altairiv.ddns.net:2323

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A49 2024/05/29 (Linux/64)
* Origin: Altair IV BBS (altairiv.ddns.net:2323) (21:2/147)

Hello Avon!

Welcome back! :)

On 19 Jan 2026, Avon said the following...

First off a belated happy new year to you. I hope this finds you well
and that 2026 has got off to a good start for you.

Thanks, and a Happy New Year to you, too!

to let you know that I'm still about, not planning on leaving the BBS scene, starting a new-wave rock band or opting for hair transplants (heaven forbid!) :)

:-D

In
the end we opted to build a new house and are soon to start on that adventure.

That's great news! Congratulations on your new house, and hoping the moves will go well!

Best regards
Zip

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A49 2024/05/29 (Linux/64)
* Origin: Star Collision BBS, Uppsala, Sweden (21:1/202)

Hello ogg!

** On Monday 19.01.26 - 20:14, ogg wrote to Avon:

After buying/selling/moving 8 or 9 times, my wife (the Real Boss) and I have learned one thing after the move. If a box hasn't been unpacked
after one year, we seriously look at disposing of its contents. Its made
a hugh difference for the "next" time.

I've moved 4 times in 15 yrs. Each time, I've added more unopened boxes to the next. I still haven't even unboxed much after my last move from 20+ yrs ago either! :D



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

Ogg wrote to ogg <=-

I've moved 4 times in 15 yrs. Each time, I've added more unopened
boxes to the next. I still haven't even unboxed much after my last
move from 20+ yrs ago either! :D

Once I moved, realized I had unopened boxes from my last move, and
donated them without opening them.

Moving is an important tool for getting rid of crap, I've been here 11
years and my wife and I spent the weekend clearing out our storage space
of stuff to be tossed.

For me, it's mostly about getting rid of hardware and cables I don't
need any more. The one thing I refuse to get rid of -- my Linksys WRT54G router. I just can't get my head around tossing it.

I'm looking into minimalism, realized I have 7 books in my Calibre
library on the topic, then realized the irony of it.






--- MultiMail/Win v0.52
* Origin: realitycheckBBS.org -- information is power. (21:4/122)

I'm looking into minimalism, realized I have 7 books in my Calibre
library on the topic, then realized the irony of it.

I think I'm generally aiming for something _approaching_ physical minimalism, and then be a digital hoarder.

Yes, I'm 99% sure that I won't read x book, but that 1% of the time...

But if I have 100 books on a bookshelf that I haven't read, that takes up a lot of space.

...mind you, not that I'm great on physical minimalism, given that I just tried sorting through my clothing, and I still have at least 27 dresses, and that... is probably way more than I'd keep if I were moving and needed to be space efficient.

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

Re: Re: If a box hasn't been unpacked..
By: Adept to poindexter FORTRAN on Mon Jan 26 2026 06:05 pm

I think I'm generally aiming for something _approaching_ physical minimalism and then be a digital hoarder.

Yeah, I'm getting rid of books, only keeping reference books I need to pick up and move to specific parts, fiction books with sentimental value, and the rest I'm getting in ebook format.
--- SBBSecho 3.33-Win32
* Origin: realitycheckBBS.org -- information is power. (21:4/122)

Hello poindexter!

26 Jan 26 07:46, you wrote to Ogg:

The one thing I refuse to get rid of -- my Linksys
WRT54G router. I just can't get my head around tossing it.

Are you still using it? Mine has Openwrt on it, and since setup i've not had to mess with it. It just keeps on working, and the only
time it's had a reboot/power cycle is when the UPS has said "I'm running out of go-go juice, I'm shutting down"...

It's been one of the most rock solid network kit I've ever owned.


Vorlon


--- GoldED+/LNX 1.1.5-b20250409
* Origin: Dragon's Lair ---:- dragon.vk3heg.net -:--- Prt: 6800 (21:1/195)

Vorlon wrote to poindexter FORTRAN <=-

The one thing I refuse to get rid of -- my Linksys
WRT54G router. I just can't get my head around tossing it.

Are you still using it? Mine has Openwrt on it, and since setup i've
not had to mess with it.

I want to gut it and put a Raspberry Pi in mine. No, I'm keeping it
around as an AP, it was an ethernet switch for the BBS for some time.

I got it for free back in the 2000s from FON, a co-op wifi network.
You'd share your bandwidth with one of "their" routers and get free
wifi access from others. It turned out to be a skinned DD-wrt, which
sent me down the third-party firmware rabbithole.





--- MultiMail/Win v0.52
* Origin: realitycheckBBS.org -- information is power. (21:4/122)

Hello poindexter!

27 Jan 26 08:12, you wrote to me:

The one thing I refuse to get rid of -- my Linksys
WRT54G router. I just can't get my head around tossing it.

Are you still using it? Mine has Openwrt on it, and since setup
i've not had to mess with it.

I want to gut it and put a Raspberry Pi in mine. No, I'm keeping it

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

I got it for free back in the 2000s from FON, a co-op wifi network.
You'd share your bandwidth with one of "their" routers and get free
wifi access from others.

Yeah, it's a great bit of hardware. I've seen so many newer units die after 2-3 years, yet this thing is still going. That's why
I've not replaced it with a newer unit. It only serves as a AP for three devices and most of the time only two are on/in use.

It turned out to be a skinned DD-wrt, which sent me down the
third-party firmware rabbithole.

That whole is rather deep!




Vorlon


--- GoldED+/LNX 1.1.5-b20250409
* Origin: Dragon's Lair ---:- dragon.vk3heg.net -:--- Prt: 6800 (21:1/195)

Hey Vorlon!

On Tue, 27 Jan 2026 10:57:24 +1100, you wrote:

The one thing I refuse to get rid of -- my Linksys
WRT54G router. I just can't get my head around tossing it.

Are you still using it? Mine has Openwrt on it, and since setup i've not
had to mess with it. It just keeps on working, and the only time it's
had a reboot/power cycle is when the UPS has said "I'm running out of
go-go juice, I'm shutting down"...

It's been one of the most rock solid network kit I've ever owned.

Mine is tucked away on a shelf somewhere. I couldn't get rid of it either. I ran DD-WRT on mine, and the only reason I took it out of commission was because of better speeds and more wifi devices. Figured I'd keep it in case I needed a quick backup, but now it's probably so outdated all our devices would strongarm it, and I've updated routers a couple of times already since then (went to AC, then to AX).

Loved that thing, though! First router I ever flashed with new firmware, and was the timeframe I started tinkering with IPv6 via a he.net tunnel. Good times. ;)

Regards,
Nick

... Sarcasm: because beating people up is illegal.
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