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About Me

As of Mar 2024, I'm a retired computer scientist/software engineer, and enjoying the opportunities to indulge my passions. They are:

• Rebuilding the underhouse cellar to house a workshop and model railway. See my page of current progress.
• The cellar also houses my wine collection, for which I have written a database management web page (not accessible outside my home network).
• Writing software for model railways, photograph collections, wine management, and web pages.
• Model railways - not so much about scale reality, as scale operations.
• Taking photographs - lots while travelling, and occasionally some of railways.
• Writing web pages in XML, cataloguing my photographs, and the church wiki.

General Stuff

• Replacing the batteries on the bedroom Sienna Awning (20231231:135824)
• Charity Mayhem : I am thoroughly annoyed by charities that pester you for more donations, in spite of the fact that I donate on a regular monthly basis to them. Here's the Choice article on why, and how to stop them. (20231231:135900)
• Air Crash Investigators : A very interesting forensic analysis of how and why aircraft crash. (20231231:135918)
• A Wine List cgi program has been completed to show what wines we have in our cellar.
• The House Computer and its Documentation detail all the ups and downs of making one's house into an automaton.
• My wife and I are currently attending the Fitness First Gym
• Our Chicken page describes the fun and challenges our 5 chickens have given us.
• My Electronics page sets out the various projects underway and completed.
• My Model Railway page describes not only the model railway, but all the computer control around it. (20231231:153810)
• My recipes - a work in progress
• My Perpetual Calendar ready reckoner
• I have done some work on using XML to generate genealogical data for my family. A password-protected directory contains the data (not accessible unless you contact me for the password).
• Hawthorn Football Club Member (20231231:153749)
• Why I dislike Microsoft products PS. No personal dislike of Microsoft per se. I think Apple are behaving in much the same way now. My dislike is now generalized to proprietary software. (20231231:140030)

Railway Stuff

• The Railway Photograph Catalogue is a web-based description of my railway photograph database.
• I am (or have been) a member of the following railway societies
  • SteamRail Victoria (20231231:154358)
  • Australian Railway Historical Society: both ACT and Victorian Divisions (both now wound up).
  • Puffing Billy Railway Preservation Society (20231231:154418)
  • Pichi Richi Railway Preservation Society (20231231:154436)
• Railway Modelling (HO gauge)

Meccano Stuff

• Meccano: as a boy, I had a 9++ Meccano set, which I think is a fantastic toy for encouraging creativity in an engineering context. David Williams has an equally fantastic Meccano Home Page (no longer available). While I still have the set (in a pair of wonderful cabinets my father made), I don't play with it much nowadays. Sadly, neither did my sons, who much preferred Lego. Sit transit gloria mundi!

  Postscript: In Marysville, Victoria (Oz), there is an excellent Meccano Museum with many working models. It's called "Maniacal Mechanicals", in Murchison St (the main street). Worth a visit if you are in the area.

  Postpostscript: Alas! "Maniacal Mechanicals" was destroyed in the disastrous Black Saturday bushfires (7 Feb 2009). See this collection of photographs of the place as a tribute.

Other Pastimes

Television

• Dr Who episodes
• Blake's 7 episodes

Choral Singing

• UNCS (University of New South Wales Choral Society
• SCUNA Australian National University Choral Society (20231231:155059)
• MONUCS Monash University Choral Society (20231231:155200)
• Uniting Voices (Glen Waverley Uniting Church Choir, now defunct)
• Monash Chorale (20231231:155222)

• Ill Wind (by Flanders and Swan)

Walking

The following tracks have been replotted using The GPS Visualizer.

• 20150413: Dunkeld: ASQ Music Festival
• 20150417: Emerald: Our regular third Saturday Walking Group visited Puffing Billy's stamping ground.

The Dropbox files in what follows are no longer supported. They were uploaded by the Track Sharing via Dropbox mechanism on MyGPSFiles

• 20150803: Jell's Park: Our regular GOMERs' walk (track deleted)
• 20150907: Grampians: Mackenzie Falls and Zumsteins, Silverband Falls
• 20150908: Grampians: Mt Stapleton, Heatherlie Quarry
• 20150909: Grampians: Kalymna Falls and Mafeking
• 20150910: Grampians: The Pinnacle
• 20150911: Grampians: Balconies, Buandik and Mirranatwa Pass
• 2016016: Jell's Park: Madelaine's to Norton's Lane (Third Saturday Walkers)

House Renovation

We have completed rebuilding our house. The plan involved creating spaces in which 3 generations of Hursts may live, giving both "seniors" and "juniors" separate living areas, with shared family space. When people ask me "How does that work?", I smile and say: "the same way it works for millions of people around the world".

Or, if you have Sweet Home 3D, here is a source file you can explore under that software: RebuildPlans There is also a Google Docs spreadsheet defining the logistics surrounding the rebuild plans. We also have to worry about flooring on concrete floors, see this article.

This page is copyright, and maintained by John Hurst.		11784 accesses all since 24 May 2023
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