Andrew Joll

I have a horrible feeling at least part of HP's ticketing system uses PHP.

So had a funeral in Mataura, then popped in to Gore to do a quick job. Now it's the compulsory Gore Night 'N Day banana thickshake - about the best out there.

In todays "accountant geeking out with Excel" I've finally gotten around to analysing the solar proposal. Powershop's new system has no history prior to April and doesn't allow per-hour usage download any more, but a call to them got September-March info, and...

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I've yet to confirm exact import/export rates with Powershop, but at the moment it looks like an 18 or 22 panel system have a similar payback period of 7 years at our current relatively high usage (running an ML350 Hyper-V replication target at home keeps it ticking over!).

Next step - the builder is re-screwing our roof next week (we built in 2003, with the roofer using spring-head nails just before most changed over to screws) and will report on the condition, then hopefully it'll be all go. Just have to work out the business use percentage to work out my claim :)

...some judicious use of Edge DevTools, Postman and help from Copilot got me into the right token and calls to the API their website's heat map uses to get Apr-Sep. Solar data came from Earth Sciences/NIWA. So 3x JSON payloads and 1x CSV from Powershop, 3x CSVs from NIWA, all combined in PowerQuery.

Took Slinky for a walk in this gorgeous weather.

A few years ago Dicker bought Exeed, and things went from amazing service from the Exeed team to meh service from Dicker. Ingram did well out of it though though, with my old Exeed account manager ending up there (Dicker still haven't told me he left...) and me doing a lot more with them.

Now Dicker have purchased Sektor. Sektor's service has been meh for a few years now - it will be interesting how terrible it ends up being once Dicker take over. www.reseller.co.nz/article/4231...

Have a new quote back for solar, a lot better than the last one. Just need to chase Powershop for usage data (their tech refresh has been baaaad and taken customer service with it!) and chase my builder client who is going to re-screw the roof.

(for that last point, turns out we built this place just before everyone switched from spring head nails to screws, bummer....)

Well that's handy. Copilot has told me how to use dev tools to work out the API Powershop is using to generate the heatmap on its website, so if they can't provide it when I call tomorrow to follow up the email from last weekend, I'll just hit Postman.

"Yes dad, we are snuggling. That's what all cats do, so just put down the camera ok?"

Friday night, a bit of xbox with a snoozy cat snuggling in to me. The best.

So two weeks ago New World was doing sugar free Solo, now this? Soft drink variety is looking up in NZ :)

21 Sept

Once again, Imogen on Three avoids saying Pusyger Point. Just "in the Fjords." Can someone please give her some training in how to pronounce NZ place names??

18 Sept

So, shut down the Xbox, put the controller down with the intention of going to bed...someone has a different idea though....

10 Sept

Ugh I wish Stuff/Three would learn how to use a compressor. Immo's interview with the climate guy is horrendous.

geonet.org.nzGeoNet: Quake - 2026p660242GeoNet logoGeoNet logoEarth Sciences New Zealand logoNatural Hazards Commission Toka Tū Ake logoGeoNet logoEarth Sciences New Zealand logoEarth Sciences New Zealand logoNatural Hazards Commission Toka Tū Ake logoNatural Hazards Commission Toka Tū Ake logoThe quake may have been felt in Alexandra, Balclutha, Fairlie, Gore, Haast, Invercargill, Lumsden, Milford Sound, Mount Cook, Oamaru, Palmerston, Queenstown, Ranfurly, Roxburgh, Te Anau, Tuatapere, Twizel, Waimate, Wanaka, and surrounding localities.

9 Sept

Could someone at Stuff/Three please tell Imogen how to pronounce "Puysegur." It's a little obvious she's lacking bit of confidence when she always says "Fiordland" instead!

Andrew Joll reposted

NZ Earthquake Bot

@nzquake.bsky.social

2 Sept

QUAKE: Mag 5.5, Wed, Sep 02 2026, 06:57:10 PM, 35 km north-east of Milford Sound. Depth: 10 km #eqnz https://www.geonet.org.nz/earthquake/2026p660242

Earthquake.

And another one. Shaky evening.

Andrew Joll reposted

NZ Earthquake Bot

@nzquake.bsky.social

2 Sept

QUAKE: Mag 5.4, Wed, Sep 02 2026, 06:13:32 PM, 40 km north-east of Milford Sound. Depth: 10 km #eqnz https://www.geonet.org.nz/earthquake/2026p660160

geonet.org.nzGeoNet: Quake - 2026p660160GeoNet logoGeoNet logoEarth Sciences New Zealand logoNatural Hazards Commission Toka Tū Ake logoGeoNet logoEarth Sciences New Zealand logoEarth Sciences New Zealand logoNatural Hazards Commission Toka Tū Ake logoNatural Hazards Commission Toka Tū Ake logoThe quake may have been felt in Alexandra, Gore, Haast, Lumsden, Milford Sound, Mount Cook, Queenstown, Ranfurly, Roxburgh, Te Anau, Tuatapere, Twizel, Wanaka, and surrounding localities.

22 Aug

Fun storm. Half second power blip at home, home office PC kept going with its UPS but the one out with the networking must have died - one of the house RCDs tripped and took it out. Also alerts for a two second power outage at the office in town at the same time.

22 Aug

So that'll be another major feeder tripped. Powernet's outage site is taking ages to load which is never a good sign in a storm!

7 Aug

It would appear Brian's payout system and my Outlander have a different idea of what character set is appropriate for RDS.

1 Aug

It's that time again, where the "oh I can take care of that for you" answer to clients upgrading catches up on me. DBAN and memtest86 ready for disposal on Trademe. Anyone want second to fourth gen Core PCs for free pickup in Invercargill?

I found out at the end of last month that I had APC partner points to use up, enough to get a Ninja Creami. Trying the frozen yoghurt tonight. I could get used to this!

Is anyone aware of any issues on the NZ internet at the moment? There's a DDOS notice on Voyager, and clients who are coming in via IKE VPNs to my Voyager connection from Spark are reporting outages. I've switched those ones over to the 2degrees connection.

Connectivity from One NZ, Voyager and 2degrees sites to Voyager is fine, with the only other issue being a site on one of my wholesale Voyager connections saying they can't get in to Smartsheet, but they're the only ones using it so not sure if that's just them.

Oh and no packet loss reported (monitoring to 1.1.1.1 and 8.8.8.8), with latency reasonably constant. Voyager's higher latency is an active ticket with them.

28 July

Disappointing to see Three/Stuff jump on the anti-datacentre bandwagon.

24 July

I've been doing my parents Saturday groceries since lock down in 2020. Mum (Scottish and now 91) is very specific with her units. I've just gotten used to "cake of chocolate" but this morning I need to buy "two flagons of cranberry juice" so need to find a 1970s bottle store.

Sleepy boys.

I'm making a pie for dinner. Any guesses as to the type?

17 July

The lad seems a bit sleepy.

geonet.org.nzGeoNet: Quake - 2026p530771GeoNet logoGeoNet logoEarth Sciences New Zealand logoNatural Hazards Commission Toka Tū Ake logoGeoNet logoEarth Sciences New Zealand logoEarth Sciences New Zealand logoNatural Hazards Commission Toka Tū Ake logoNatural Hazards Commission Toka Tū Ake logoThe quake may have been felt in Alexandra, Arthur's Pass, Ashburton, Balclutha, Dunedin, Fairlie, Geraldine, Gore, Haast, Hokitika, Invercargill, Lumsden, Methven, Milford Sound, Mount Cook, Oamaru, Palmerston, Queenstown, Ranfurly, Roxburgh, Snares Islands, Te Anau, Timaru, Tuatapere, Twizel, Waimate, Wanaka, and surrounding localities.

16 July

Yeah it felt like a Fiordland one.

NZ Earthquake Bot@nzquake.bsky.social

QUAKE: Mag 6.1, Thu, Jul 16 2026, 09:14:53 PM, 40 km south-west of Milford Sound. Depth: 53 km #eqnz https://www.geonet.org.nz/earthquake/2026p530771

16 July

Bit of a shake there.

16 July

Oh that's a big one, still going.

15 July

Hard to believe it's been a year since we said goodbye to Diva at 18.5 years old. She was a bit aloof and stand-offish with me, but absolutely loved Tan and Sarah - a little unfair seeing I was the one that snuck her little licks of whipped cream when she was a kitten! I miss little DVD.

22 June

At ED with mum (91) and dad (88), for dad's blood test results before they can let him go home. Plumbing issue, now resolved bar the tests. Can't wait to get home to bed, but can see a heap of caffeine in my future in the morning for first-thing client meetings.

22 June

Turns out he has some kind of infection so in at least overnight. This is one of the sucky bits of having elderly parents, but I'm still thankful that I have them.

7 June

Was very happy with how dinner turned out tonight. Sliced ribeye with chimichurri, rosemary toast potatoes and cherry tomatoes. I'm getting used to using my favourite cast iron grill pan with awesome patina on induction these days :)

6 June

Driving past the Kmart complex on the way home from doing some jobs is dangerous.

29 May

So...the queue at the drive through at KFC was almost to the road, so thought I'd just go inside to order instead. That may have been a bad move.

22 May

Better late than never? I think? This was a Facebook page claiming to be a craftsman builder in the US using images of farm sheds etc stolen from a client's website. Reported October 2024. Taken down May 2026.

13 May

These wee lovebirds are celebrating 60 years today! Happy anniversary, mum & dad!

12 May

Today it's been a year since Arlo came home to his forever home. He's grown just a tad...

2 May

The lads are having a little cuddle.