Pwdr-Twr

Setting Up a DC on Homealab

Mon, 22 Sep 2025 10:53:59 +0000

Setting up a DC from a fresh install of Windows Server is a pretty quick task.

**1. set Static IP address for the host (best to do this on the DHCP server, if you set it on the device, you may have IP conflicts when the DHCP server tries to assign that address to a new device.

**2. Set Computer name & restart (I named mine ‘DC1’)

**3. Open Server Manager > Manage > Add roles & features

**4. Click “next” in Roles & Features Wizard until you’re at “server roles” screen.

**5. Select “Active Directory Domain Services” & “DNS Server”

**6. On Confirmation step, tick the “restart … if required” box & click “install”

**7. Close

**8. On notifications flag, click “Promote this server to a domain controller”

**9. Click “Add a new forest”

**10. Enter root domain and click “next”

**11. Enter new DSRM password

**12. Click “next” until installation screen, the click “install”

**13. In AD Users & Computers, confirm that server appears under “domain controllers”

I’ve just set this up in my homelab (again). However, I can’t yet join my main Windows workstation to it, since it’s already joined to Entra.

I did f&%k up the DNS records in my environment briefly by doing this, but I was able to get around it by adding a couple of records in the DNS manager on the Domain controller:

**nginx (A Record) - This points to my Nginx reverse proxy’s web portal. Nginx handles SSL for most web services in my lab (& I am trying to keep it this way)

**dc1 (A Record) - This is the Windows Server instance where AD and DNS are managed, and obviously points to the host itself

*** (A record) - This points to the Nginx reverse proxy once again

Garden Update Sep 20 2025

Sat, 20 Sep 2025 16:43:49 +0000

Started 4 collards in my hydroponic tent. I have the overhead light off, but the aeration system in the reservoir is still running. Will check back on this in a few days to see if seeds are germinating. I am concerned that the water will be too cool to allow for germination, but we will see.

one of my okra plants is producing about a pod a week now. The other keeps getting taller but is not fruiting. I don’t know why, will need to research this.

Garden Update Sep 14 2025

Sun, 14 Sep 2025 21:54:58 +0000

-Moved broccoli sproutes from hydroponic system to outdoor bed.

-emptied water in DWC system, replaced with 4.2 liters of water and added ~4.5ml plant food

-added 3 collard sprouts from seedling tray to DWC cups.

Garden Update August 17, 2025

Sun, 17 Aug 2025 22:40:05 +0000

Planted 36 seeds in my starting tray for a late fall crop. I hope these can be harvested before our first frost. We have had a pretty mild summer as far as temperature goes, and have had lots of rain.

The tray is set out as follows:

Broccoli	Broccoli	Broccoli	Broccoli	Broccoli	Broccoli
Cabbage	Cabbage	Cabbage	Cabbage	Cabbage	Cabbage
beans	beans	beans	beans	beans	beans
Cauliflower	Cauliflower	Cauliflower	Cauliflower	Cauliflower	Cauliflower
Collards	Collards	Collards	Collards	Collards	Collards
Broccoli	Broccoli	Broccoli	Broccoli	Broccoli	Broccoli

Garden Update August 6, 2025

Wed, 06 Aug 2025 23:50:06 +0000

Planted 4 Flame Trees.

4 collared greens planted in hydroponic system appear to have sprouted roots.

Tree of a Thousand Stars appears to be dead 2 weeks after repotting and heavily trimming roots.

ISO Graphic Artists

Sun, 03 Aug 2025 22:12:20 +0000

I’m seeking skilled graphic artsists to create icons and graphics for this site. I’m not skilled at this, and don’t really have the time to learn. I’m not certain of the theme I want, but it should be not too dissimilar to the current one. So, a kind of Y2K or Frutiger Aero look.

I would like a logo for the site, as well as icons for the different sections of the site (Garden, Blog, Now, Links, About, Contact, & Press Kit). It should be minimal but slick. A background may also be needed.

Obviously you will be compensated. Get in touch at the Contact page to discuss.

Garden Update 7 13 25

Sun, 13 Jul 2025 22:45:38 +0000

I’ve recently re-invested in bonsai trees. I purchased a Fukien Tea tree and a Tree of a Thousand Stars at Lowe’s and am going to try to keep them alive as well as style them while my seedlings come up for the next couple of years. I re-potted the Fukien Tea about a month ago, and will do the same with the Thousand Stars soon.

I was initially worried that I had damaged the Fukien Tea tree, as I cut off a lot of root matter to fit it into the bonsai pot, but within a few days, new leaves began to sprout.

In my planters, I have added some watering stakes, which pull water from wine and liquor bottles and leach it into the soil. This is useful because I can apply diatomaceous earth to the surface less frequently since water washes it away.

Garden Update 5 20 25

Tue, 20 May 2025 23:26:55 +0000

My Spinach has sprouted, and my Okra sprouts are looking good as well, though I’m still concerned about the long stems.

The spinach I was growing in a container has moved, due to my overwatering and the curiosity of a squirrel in my backyard.

Ants have been using my planter as a parade ground, so I’ll need to scatter some diatomaceous earth around it soon. However, some kind of burrowing spider appears to have made her home in here, and I do not want to disturb her.

Garden Update 5 11 25

Sun, 11 May 2025 01:41:46 +0000

I moved the 3 okra seedlings that sprouted to a small, elevated planter I bought. The planter is not sealed and is made of Chinese Fir, which I can find little information about as far as whether it’s going to hold up against moisture. Fingers crossed. I also planted 4 spinach plants in the planter, and 1 in a container.

cucumber			Heirloom Stupice	Heirloom Stupice	N/A
Cucumber		Okra	Heirloom Stupice	Heirloom Stupice	N/A

okra	okra			Spinach
okra				Spinach

Container 1: Spinach

Garden Update 5 1 25

Thu, 01 May 2025 01:41:46 +0000

Planted 4 Heirloom Stupice tomatoes in the tray.

cucumber	Okra	Okra	Heirloom Stupice	Heirloom Stupice	N/A
Cucumber	Okra	Okra	Heirloom Stupice	Heirloom Stupice	N/A

Garden Update 4 19 25

Sun, 20 Apr 2025 01:41:46 +0000

I had a salad made from the lettuce I grew in my raised bed. That was about 6 hours ago and still no food poisoning. so far so good.

I also planted 2 cucumbers and 4 okra seeds in my seed starter tray, which is laid out as follows:

cucumber	Okra	Okra	N/A	N/A	N/A
Cucumber	Okra	Okra	N/A	N/A	N/A

Garden Update 4 3 2025

Fri, 04 Apr 2025 00:26:53 +0000

I’ve just planted some Okra, I missed out on much of the Spring planting season because of reasons. However, I have a good feeling about summer, hopefully I can get some stuff sowed, reaped, and eaten before it gets too hot to plant anything but tomatoes. Here is the progress on my lettuce. I oversowed it.

E Personalities of the Aughts

Thu, 06 Mar 2025 02:04:19 +0000

Pruane2Forever - This guy’s the fuckin GOAT. He got Fiddy to do a PSA telling his haters to back off, then had the gall to badmouth Fiddy immediately after. Real
Boxxy - Prototypical E-girl. Also a member of the Greek-American pantheon along with Stavros Halkias & Telly Savalas.
Creepy Chan - I still see this woman’s photos on various creepy memes and reaction images. Probably among the first to have their meme-fame translate into more mainstream fame when she was cast on Cycle 12 of America’s Next Top Model.
Dax Flame - This guy was one of the first to demonstrate that any thought you have is worth sharing with the world. Though it could be a character. I’m dense so I may need to watch an additional 12 hours of his content to be sure.
Chad Warden - This guy is so sinister. Wonder how much he crushed. Who knows what he’s up to today.

Garden Update 2 24 25

Tue, 25 Feb 2025 00:23:41 +0000

Today I planted a variety of lettuce called “Black Seeded Simpson.” It will hopefully emerge in 5-10 days, then be ready to eat in 40.

I mixed the entire (expired) packet in with some potting soil and poured it into a small trench in my raised bed. I’m worried that it will grow in clumps though, because I poured the seeds in the jar first, and I fear they did not mix with the soil as evenly as I hoped. D’oh!

Garden Update 2 7 2025

Sat, 08 Feb 2025 01:02:47 +0000

The bonsai is doing well I think, it has shot up to about an inch and a half. There are three sprouts (saplings?). I have a long time before I have to cull them. I am a little concerned that because I have to keep moving them around my domicile to keep them in sunlight and keep the soil at a comfortable temperature, I’m hampering them somehow, but time will tell.

Garden Update 1 5 2025

Sun, 05 Jan 2025 14:28:12 +0000

The cone containing my Italian Parsley got very moldy very quickly after moving it to the new tub, so I threw it, as well as its peers, into the compost bin. I think it may have got too much light, or the pH balance was too low. C’est la vie. I’ve decided that I’ll wait a little bit before planting new stuff as the aeration pump is quite noisy and I’d like to have it in a different room soon. For now, I’m mostly concerned with the bonsai tree I started a few days ago.

Because bonsai, especially young bonsai, are so particular, I need to work more on controlling the environment within the tent. For right now, I want to keep a closer eye on the temperature. To that end, I picked up an analog thermometer/moisture gauge from the clearance rack at Lowe’s and dug out my Raspberry pi and accompanying GPIO thermometer that I ordered several years ago and forgot about.

Disregard the mat and the mess of wires. I rigged all of that up to the breadboard while following an online guide only to realize that the little green thing contains all of the necessary circuits and resistors and such to prevent frying my pi. Once I fired it up and started getting a read on the soil temperature, I realized that the soil temperature is a whopping 73.5 degrees (F). This is not good, because the Black Spruce wants a soil temp of 65 degrees.

To rectify this, I’ve ordered a fan to keep air flowing inside the tent. I’ve also got some pulleys on the way that I can set up to raise and lower the lights, I’ve also turned off one of the lighting panels, and turned the brightness way down on the remaining one. I’ve neglected all of these controls up to this point, but this is something that has a big impact on my plants’ ability to grow. Hopefully, in the next update, I’ll be able to share that I’ve controlled the weather in this little 2’x3’x1.5’ space.

-The guide I used for setting up the thermometer is here: https://pimylifeup.com/raspberry-pi-temperature-sensor/

-The python code, which I will likely modify to only show the REAL metric for temperature, can be found here: https://github.com/pimylifeup/temperature_sensor

-The thermometer can be found here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B087JQ6MCP?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title

If you have any questions, or advice regarding python, raspberry pi, bonsai trees, gardening, or anything that you think I’d be interested to know, don’t hesitate to email webmaster@pwdr-twr.com.

Garden Update 2025

Wed, 01 Jan 2025 15:33:22 +0000

I hope that my visitors had a pleasant and safe New Year’s Eve. I was unfortunately laid up in bed with a cold and didn’t do anything fun or exciting other than watch The Fugitive. However, all I could think about were my gardening ambitions in 2025!

First off, I moved my hydroponic setup to a much smaller container (see photo below, Lone Star can for scale). This one is a little over 2 liters, as opposed to the 5 gallons of my old one. There are several advantages to this smaller container, namely, the water does not need to be changed out as often, the pump can run quieter and still aerate the water (this is nice when I’m trying to sleep), and there is now more room in the grow tent for other items. Admittedly, I’m not having much luck so far with the hydrponics, the only thing still alive is the parsley, and even that isn’t doing too well. If I’m unsuccessful with that, I’ll probably drain the reservoir and add a thermometer that I can hook up to an Arduino or Raspberry pi before attempting to plant something else in it.

For Christmas, I got a Bonsai kit from my brother. Although it will require a lot of patience, I’m very excited about this. My understanding is that bonsai trees usually take about 3 years to look presentable if you’re growing from seed. Since Bonsai trees are incredibly particular, I’m going to have a whole plan set out before I begin this. The kit I have contains 4 varieties of tree. The instructions pretty much just consist of this chart below:

Tree	Brazilian Rosewood	Black Spruce	Colorado Blue Spruce	Flame Tree
Seeds	Soak 24 hours between dampened paper towels	Soak 24 hours between dampened paper towels	Soak 24 hours between dampened paper towels	Soak 48 hours in hot water and snip one end of casing
Soil Temperature (must be kept consistent)	85�F - heating mat required	65�F	65�F	70�F
Soil Depth	1/8"	1/8"	1/8"	1/8"
Light	10 hours of bright light daily	10 hours of bright light daily	10 hours of bright light daily	10 hours of bright light daily
Germination Time	14 days	14 days	10-14 days	Anywhere between 10-30 days

Stay tuned, there will be more updates here in the next few days.

Garden Update 12 16 24

Tue, 17 Dec 2024 01:50:07 +0000

I suppose I owe my visitors an explanation for why I have not updated this in a while. The truth is that I have been hanging my head in shame over the poor results I’ve seen from my hydroponic garden. I planted a whole host of delicous herbs with the pods and Ph solution I got from Aerogarden, and despite some initial success, all but my Italian Parsley has died.

I purchased some Ph testing strips this week and found that my pH level was between 6 & 8, which is on the high end. I don’t know that this would kill the herbs, but it likely contributed.

I suspect that I have the lights mounted too high up, causing the stems to grow too quickly to support their weight. I will need to rig up some kind of pulley system to raise and lower the lights to accomodate the plants. However, this will need to wait until after the holidays, as I must think of others right now.

Garden Update 11 14 24

Fri, 15 Nov 2024 01:55:00 +0000

Since the planting season is drawing to a close where I live, I thought I’d try growing some stuff indoors via a hydroponic system. I had considered buying an Aerogarden or similar system, but this would be a waste of the grow lights that I already had and successfully used to grow basil.

Therefore, I opted to replicate the Aerogarden system by building my own. Aerogarden uses a Deep Water Culture(DWC) setup. I set one up by taking a Craftsman 5-gallon tote because it uses polypropelene, which is considered to be food-safe. I also bought an aquarium pump and dropped in 4 aeration stones to keep the water from becoming stagnant. I opted to use Aerogarden seed pods just because I’m not ready to overengineer this before I know it will work.

I’m a little concerned about the cost of using so much nutrient solution and so much water, but I won’t know if that’s a problem for a little while.

Shopping list for this setup can be found here:

Homelab Issues 10 26

Sat, 26 Oct 2024 22:08:08 +0000

I successfully connected my on-prem environment to my Office365 environment, which was pretty straightforward. I did this via Active Directory Domains & Trusts, which is accessible from the server manager. I did this by following this guide on YouTube.

However, I did not finish the process outlined in the video. Although I added the proper DNS records in the Domains section in Microsoft 365’s admin portal, and set up Azure Entra Connect on a separate Windows Server VM, I’m still having issues with 365 identities.

I can create Identities in my On-Prem controller using my custom domain; no issues there, and they show up after the Entra Connect application runs (every half-hour), but I can’t seem to sign in with these new Identities through Microsoft’s cloud login portal. I’m able to go through the process of setting up 2FA in Authenticator, but am just returned to the initial login screen after a brief loading wheel.

Probably ought to watch the rest of that video.

DIY SSL Certs

Mon, 30 Sep 2024 20:28:06 -0500

Recently, I set up a reverse proxy with Nginx to create SSL certificates for the various services in my homelab. This is convenient for navigating the various web interfaces of its services and not having to memorize a bunch of IP addresses, it also makes labelling diagrams much more simple. I followed this guide by Wolfgang’s Channel, which I recommend to anyone who wants to get started with self-hosting. However, I deviated a bit, since I have my own domain, and a couple of my services needed some extra tweaking. I’m primarily putting this up on my site because I don’t yet have an internal document/procedure repository, but also thought it would be nice to show off what I’ve done here.

Set up Docker on a Debian host - I used a VM on my Proxmox server, but you can use whatever.
- (Optional) make sure your services have been assigned static IP addresses, this will save you headaches later if they change and you can’t access them by hostname.
- Install Docker on the VM by adding the dependencies (i.), the Docker repo key (ii.), adding the Docker APT repository (iii.), and install Docker & Docker-compose(iv. & v.)
  - sudo apt -y install apt-transport-https ca-certificates curl gnupg2 software-properties-common
  - curl -fsSL https://download.docker.com/linux/debian/gpg | sudo gpg --dearmor -o /usr/share/keyrings/docker-archive-keyring.gpg
  - echo "deb [arch=amd64 signe-by=/usr/share/keyrings/docker-archive-keyring.gpg] https://download.docker.com/linux/debian $(lsb_release -cs) stable" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/docker.list
  - sudo apt update
  - sudo apt-get install docker-ce docker-ce-cli containerd.io docker-compose

Set up the reverse proxy with the following docker-compose.yml file:

    services:
      nginxproxymanager:
        image: 'jc21/nginx-proxy-manager:latest' 
        container_name: nginxproxymanager
        restart: unless-stopped 
        ports:
          - '80:80'
          - '81:81'
          - '443:443' 
        volumes:
          - ./nginx/data:/data
          - ./nginx/letsencrypt:/etc/letsencrypt```

Run docker-compose up -d
Navigate to http://[Debian VM’s IP]:81 in a web browser
- Sign in with default credentials (admin@example.com:changeme)
- Change credentials upon logging in
Sign in to Cloudflare and navigate to DNS records
- Update your A record to point to your Nginx proxy manager, and add a CNAME record to point to the domain root
After logging in to the proxy manager, navigate to “SSL Certificates”>“Add SSL Certificate”:
- add your domain name, as well as a wildcard domain subdomain (*.domain.com)
- Tick “Use a DNS Challenge”
- Under DNS Provider, select Cloudflare
- Open a new tab and return to your Cloudflare dashboard
In the overview section, scroll to the bottom of the page and click “get your API token”
- Click “create token”
- On the next page, scroll to the bottom of the page and click “get started”
- Name the token
- Under Permissions, select Zone in the left box, DNS in the center, and Edit in the right.
- Scroll down and click “continue to summary” on the next screen, click “create token”
- Copy the token, you will never get to see it again.
Return to Nginx proxy manager tab and paste the token in the “credentials File Content” section.
- Agree to terms of service and hit “save”
- If the process fails, you may need to increase the TTL in the bottom section to be around 120 seconds
- Once the process is complete, you should see your certificates
From here, you can navigate to “Hosts” in the navigation bar to begin assigning names to your hosts.
- Select “add proxy host” and fill out the form.
  - For domain name, add the name of the service and append the domain name (ex. nas.example.com for a Network Storage service)
    - Scheme will generally be “http” (though some services such as Proxmox may use HTTPS)
    - Enter the IP address of the service, and the port
    - On the SSL tab, select from the drop-down menu the option containing your wildcard and domain root certificate
- Hit save, you now have a working proxy host.
If you encounter a host that does not work, move on to the next and come back. Some services, such as PfSense, require additional configuration on the host to work.
- In PfSense’s case, you will need to go to System>Advanced, and add the url in the “alternate hostnames” field, and tick the “Disable HTTP_REFERER” enforcement check box (don’t forget to save)

TROUBLESHOOTING

If you get 502 “bad gateway error” on any of your FQDNs, you might try changing the proxy host settings so that the scheme is HTTP and the SSL tab has “Force SSL” enabled.

POSTSCRIPT:

*I ran into a problem in my environment in which FQDN resolution broke every time I turned on my Domain Controller. This is anticipated and has a very simple fix. Because your DC is likely the authoritative DNS server for your environment, it will try to route https requests to those FQDNs for which it has no record. This can be fixed by indicating the Nginx Reverse Proxy’s IP address in the following places in DNS manager:

Start of Authority Record: in the Name Servers tab in properties
Name Server Record: in the Name Servers tab in properties
There should exist an A record with the domain name as its FQDN and the Nginx Reverse Proxy’s IP address.
A wildcard CNAME record should be created (*.example.org)

If the reader has any questions about this, or feels that something is missing. That’s because it’s mostly for my own benefit. If you are trying to follow this guide and need clarification on something, don’t hesitate to email me. Additionally, if you see a mistake here, or a configuration or security misstep, also don’t hesitate to reach out.

if you have anything to say or add to this, or any other pages on my site, feel free to email me at webmaster@pwdr-twr.com & I will try to respond to you within a week.

Most Blessed Types of People

Tue, 03 Sep 2024 06:07:30 -0500

White women who, in their quest to be allies, begin parroting Hotep talking points & sharing Farrakhan vids
Loud, Blue-haired college students & Troops(TM) who joined the military after Vietnam (These are the exact same type of person)
Local Artists, “Vintage Resellers” (Merchant Class), & Noise Musicians (This is the only group of people on this list that is truly evil & sinister & should be presumed hostile)
People who clearly attended daycare when they were weans and/or were prescribed SSRIs before age 13.
People with next-gen console going & weed paraphernalia on coffee table at all times
Board Game people & people who play Paradox Interactive games

if you have anything to say or add to this, or any other pages on my site, feel free to email me at webmaster@pwdr-twr.com & I will try to respond to you within a week.

Trains: The Crumbling Infrastructure of a Dying Empire

Mon, 12 Aug 2024 17:59:23 -0500

Recently, I went Europe to visit a friend whom I had not seen in several years. We had a rare ould time drinking cans and riding the subway and eating at tasty restaurants and generally hanging out in Britain and its parent nation of Germany. Perhaps to my travelling companion’s frustration however, I was focused on one thing: Trains.

Man oh man, if you’re an American and you like trains & infrastructure, are you in for a treat in Europe. London really knocks it out of the park with this one, they have a very extensive underground system, and on the street level, they’ve got buses that are 2-stories tall! In fact, I think these things are pretty closely associated with the city itself. Germany had some trains too that I don’t want to knock, but we got around there on scooters that you rent using an app. lithium-powered scooters are nothing special however and can be found strewn about the streets and parks and riverbeds of post-apocalyptic American cities such as Austin.

I realized while I was there and immediately after my return that I really complain about my country’s rail infrastructure, but almost never use it. So this past weekend, I thought I would investigate the commuter rail system in Dallas-Fort Worth and go on a micro-vacation as well. I decided that I would wake up early on Saturday, take the train to Dallas, and then eat breakfast and have a coffee at my favorite Arabic coffee shop in one of the northern suburbs.

I woke up at 5AM and headed to the Fort Worth Intermodal station. It’s just too far from home to walk, and I didn’t want to leave a bicycle there unattended, so I drove. Thankfully, there is a parking garage a couple blocks away that’s free on weekends. I bought a regional day pass and boarded the TRE to Union Station. The TRE runs every hour during the day and into the night, and it’s about an hour journey. This gave me time to read a book in near solitude on a pretty clean car.

Although I’m pretty familiar with the DFW metroplex, I noticed after about 20 minutes that I began to feel an optimistic anticipation quite similar to the kind I’d felt when I was younger and waiting to board a ride to a city or country where I’d never been before. I tried to imagine the food I’d eat, and the landmarks that would catch my eye. I arrived at Union station in Downtown Dallas just before 9AM. The station itself didn’t open until then, so I walked around the courtyard across the street to pass the time. A layer of sweat had formed on the back of my neck, and the morning air had become uncomfortably hot.

The courtyard had a fountain in the middle, surrounded by benches and somewhat covered by a faded canopy of trees that were planted among some flower beds at the corners. A plaque on the side of the fountain indicated that it was built in 1924. surrounding the courtyard itself was the train station, the headquarters for the Dallas Morning News, and the local ABC affiliate. I heard a shriek from the opposite side of the courtyard, and noticed that a woman who had been sleeping on one of the benches was now rifling through a trash can. I wrapped up my sightseeing in the courtyard and made my way back to the station. The guard at the front desk seemed quite focused on me and whether I was riding the train and that I knew which door led outside to the platform.

I boarded the Red line bound for Parker Road, and kept my head on a swivel as I rode the last half hour to my destination. Looking out the window, I noticed lots of homeless guys milling about, some of whom got on the train in various states of lucidity. At this point, I could no longer delude myself into thinking I was on the U-bahn or something. I consider myself to be moderately well-traveled, and I’ve really never seen anything quite like the destitution found in large American cities. Perhaps it’s the availability of drugs, or the juxtaposition between these ramshackle urban encampments and Dallas’s space-age skyscrapers just across the street. After all, Paul Verhoeven selected Dallas for the production of Robocop because of its futuristic skyline.

I disembarked at Spring Valley station and ducked into a mom-and-pop restaurant for a succulent levantine meal. After paying them $8 for a filling meal of eggplant, fries, salad, and falafel, I walked across the street to my destination.

Arwa coffee is so far, my favorite coffee spot in town. They specialize in Yemeni coffee, which I believe is the country where coffee originated. They have a pretty big menu with lots of drinks that I’d never heard of. I really like the mofawer, which has cream and some spices in it. Really good stuff. Really nice atmosphere as well, and it’s open late. Really spic-and-span place, the toilets even have bidets.

I drank my coffee and got an ice cream at Bigdash, again, really great stuff, they have about 4 locations in Dallas’ various suburbs. My journey home was just about the same as the journey there, though when I got back to Spring Valley station, I saw a group of what looked like very haggard ravers (they had goofy haircuts and one was wearing a skirt) sharing what appeared to be a meth pipe. For just a moment, I was able to pretend that I was in Berlin waiting for the U-bahn on a Sunday morning. Mission accomplished.

Postscript: I don’t know what language I’m supposed to use to describe homeless people and homelessness in general. I sometimes get the feeling that there is language policing around this subject in an attempt to get people to accept the presence of shantytowns and drug addiction. As always, if you’ve got any input or simply want to scold me, send me an email explaining how I’m supposed to discuss this and I may or may not take it under consideration.

if you have anything to say or add to this, or any other pages on my site, feel free to email me at webmaster@pwdr-twr.com & I will try to respond to you within a week.

RIP to a Real One

Thu, 08 Aug 2024 18:44:16 -0500

if you have anything to say or add to this, or any other pages on my site, feel free to email me at webmaster@pwdr-twr.com & I will try to respon to you within a week.

Garden Update July 20 2024

Sat, 20 Jul 2024 14:26:56 -0500

There have been a few changes to the garden over the last week. First, I’ve torn down the fence that I surrounded it with, as I’m not really too concerned anymore about the kind of pests that a fence deters.

Second, I put togehter a nearly 3-foot tall metal raised bed from Epic Gardeningwhich should do much better at keeping out insects and retaining water than my previous cedar plank & brick raised bed was.

Third, I ordered some olla bottles off the internet to help with watering. I think this will help with keeping the soil consistently wet, as opposed to just giving it a deluge of water every morning or afternoon.

Not sure what I want to plant in the new raised bed yet. I am thinking of waiting until the weather cools down a bit and planting a bunch of greens. Feel free to send suggestions to me via email.

One of my tomato plants has unfortunately fallen victim to a caterpillar, who is really going to town. I’ve pretty much conceded the plant to him, as I’ve already harvested as much as I think I’m going to get this season, and I have 2 others that are still producing bigger fruit due to being pruned earlier, and having a more extensive root structure. I also just want to watch it turn into a pupa and then a moth (not a butterfly unfortunately).

Nepo Babies Ranking 2024

Fri, 12 Jul 2024 17:28:54 -0500

Disclaimer: no hate intended to these people. If you live in a western country, you are a nepo baby by virtue of your passport. Also, who doesn’t turn down the opportunity to use nepotism if it’s presented?

5. Kim Jong-Un

4. Lea Seydoux

3. Chappell Roan (suspected, willing to take bets via e-mail. My girlfriend is not happy about her inclusion here.)

2. Dakota Johnson - No hate, we love her dad in “A Boy & His Dog” & Nash Bridges

1. Jack Quaid

If you have any Nepo-Babies you’d like us here at Pwdr-Twr to be aware of, send us an email, which can be found on our Contact page. Perhaps we will mention them in a follow-up post.

Garden Update 7 8 24

Mon, 08 Jul 2024 18:18:31 -0500

I have not forgotten the password to this site. There will be some garden updates in the next week that I’m very excited for, especially as we head into the fall. Thank you for your patience.

Site Update 6 17

Mon, 17 Jun 2024 21:13:51 -0500

Bear with me as I do some housekeeping on this site. I don’t think it will break anything but links to photos, but I’m shuffling some things around to make room for more growth.

Garden Update June 9

Sun, 09 Jun 2024 16:48:36 -0500

Harvested my 4 slicing cucumbers today.I waited too long to harvest a couple of them, so the seeds were fully developed and hard, and the fruit itself was less sweet. One of them looks just about right though, so I’ll probably eat that one in my lunch this week.

I will probably harvest my first zucchini in the next week, which I’m naturally excited for. I have limited horizontal space in the garden, so I’m looking into ways I can grow my next plant vertically. Zucchin is probably the biggest plant in my garden, and seemed to grow almost overnight from a wee seedling to uncomfortable proportions.

Tomatoes are coming along nicely, and I’ll probably have many more this week as well. I’ve begun shading the garden with burlap, which is helping keep it cool as far as I can tell. Soon I will finish bordering the area with rocks and bricks, put down a layer of cardboard, and then a layer of woodchips to keep the crabgrass and weeds at bay. I’m trying to decide if I want to expand the area of the garden before doing this. If any readers have input on this, feel free to email me at the address on my contact page.

Tomato Update June 8

Sat, 08 Jun 2024 14:51:06 -0500

First tomatoes have been harvested. Perhaps a day or 2 early, but whatever. They taste great, one burst just as soon as I bit into it. Great stuff, and I’m patting myself on the back for a job well done.

However, there are many more to be harvested from this plant alone, and a whole other plant that’s just begun flowering. The tomatoes on this first plant came out a little smaller than I was hoping for, so I’ve pruned it and the other plant to allow for a better harves on subsequent fruit.

I’m hoping to make some structural improvements to the garden itself in the next few weeks that will add shade, aesthetic value, and keep snakes and weeds from setting up shop. Additionally, I should have a harvest of zucchini and cucumbers soon. I’m excited to be rid of my zucchini plant, as it’s grown too big and seems to attract more bugs than other plants.

Tomato Update June 3

Mon, 03 Jun 2024 19:18:18 -0500

Big development in the garden today, as my largest tomato plant has fruit that is so close to ripening that I can almost taste it.

I pruned this plant a few days ago, as it was becoming too big for the trellis that’s holding it up. Besides the structural benefits, it had the added bonus of speeding up the ripening process, as there was now much less plant matter eating up water and sunlight.

There’s still a bit to go before I can eat these, but I’m confident I can get them off this vine and onto a sandwich or into a sauce soon.

Tomato Giveaway

Thu, 30 May 2024 19:38:56 -0500

My first tomato plant has grown very big very fast. It has made me frightened of the 2 I planted a month or so ago. As such, I will be giving one away. Send me an email if you would like one, and we can sort out logistics.

James Coburn Greatest Roles

Wed, 15 May 2024 20:32:21 -0500

John Mallory in “Giu La Testa!” (1971)

The Manufacturer in “The Great Escape” (1963)

Steiner in “Cross of Iron” (1977)

Tex in “Charade” (1963)

Mr. Waternoose in “Monsters, Inc.” (2001)

Forgive me for not uploading these images in a consistent size. I have that on my TODO list.

Garden Update

Mon, 13 May 2024 19:31:49 -0500

I’m so relieved to find that neither bugs nor thunderstorms destroyed my garden and that my plants are actually coming along swimmingly. Take a look at my tomatoes.

Garden Update

Thu, 18 Apr 2024 18:53:06 -0500

About a month and a half ago, after successfully growing a bunch of basil indoors, I thought I’d try once more to grow some squash, tomatoes, & peppers outdoors. I’ve grown vegetables outdoors with limited success before, but I’m putting more effort into it this year by investing in an actual enclosure to keep out deer and other pests, and using organic pest control methods as well. Here’s what I’ve got so far

Tomatoes - this plant is almost 2 months old, meaning it should begin flowering soon. I put tomato fertilizer in the bucket, which I think is helping

Cucumbers - These should be flowering soon as well. I have to be more diligent about watering, because the porous terracotta pot allows more moisture to escape.

Zucchini - these have begun flowering, but are wilting, as I’m told the first flowers that appear are male, which bear no fruit.

The white stuff on the plants is diotomaceous earth, which I mix into a solution and apply to the plants with a spray bottle. It is meant to keep bugs at bay. I have also applied spinosad to the plants, though I’m trying to be more sparing with that, as it is toxic to pollinators.

If you have any input here, or questions, feel free to email me at webmaster@pwdr-twr.com

Don't Let Anyone Infringe on Your Right to Retreat Into a Fantasy World

Thu, 14 Mar 2024 21:26:41 -0500

A word of advice for anyone who’s cracking up from being plugged in 24/7: get you a big, thick, fantasy or sci-fi novel and carry it everywhere you go. Crack that bad boy open any time you would start scrolling your phone. Very quickly, you will quit worrying about the rising tide of global conflict, which is currently lapping at the ankles of many in the western world, where we were certain it would never reach (unless the reader is in a place that has been affected by such tragedies less recently than the last couple years).

You want to adjust your brain to a low-tech form of escapism, one that can be conjured up with virtually no resources. The people who are gaming on big battlestations with RGB fans? They’re cooked, they’re drinking tea on a manor in Yorkshire in 1756, completely at the mercy of a tenuous global supply chain. Just as tea can never be grown in the Midlands, GPUs and cat-ear headphones will likely never be manufactured to scale in whatever Western burg you’re reading this from.

I suppose the biggest obstacle to this would be a concerned partner, but in my experience, they’ll come around when you explain that it’ll be good for you to not be plugged in all the time, or they’ll just roll their eyes and go along with it, either way works.

Scottish Stuff

Sun, 31 Dec 2023 20:51:31 -0600

Bagpipes
Scottish Terriers
Those long-haired cows
Limmy
Feather bonnets
Sectarianism
Bonnie Prince Charlie
KT Tunstall
The Gallant Forty-Twa
Traffic cone Wellington Statue
Loch Ness Monster
Highlands
Groundskeeper Willie
The Proclaimers

Happy New Year 2006

Wed, 27 Dec 2023 10:14:45 -0600

Well 2005 wasn’t all we hoped it would be. But I have a good feeling about 2006, which begins in a few days.

Queer Coded Robots

Mon, 18 Dec 2023 18:07:36 -0600

*C-3PO

*Iggy from Ergo Proxy

*Robots from Bjork music video (name escapes me)

*Tom Servo from MST3K

*Hedonismbot from Futurama

Late Aughts Stuff

Sat, 25 Nov 2023 23:10:06 -0600

-Halo 3

-Cloverfield

-2008 crash

-Black Eyed Peas

Victorian Stuff

Fri, 24 Nov 2023 20:41:16 -0600

-Queen Victoria

-Prince Albert

-Smokestacks

-Lewis Carroll

-The Lord Raglan

-Karl Marx

-Steam Engines/Navvies

-Napoleon III

-Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

-Alfred Lord Tennyson

-Charles Dickens

-Florence Nightingale

About

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

I created this site because no self-respecting 30-year old man should be using Instagram, Twitter, etc. It’s time to grow up and rent a web-server and buy a domain like an adult. Not really, but I believe that security and privacy concerns aside, these apps allow one to be programmed by their various slot-machine feed algorithms. While it’s common to think that just happens to boomers, I’ve seen it happen to my peers as well (never to myself though, obviously).

This site is my attempt to condense my web presence to platforms which I maintain as much control over as possible. As such, this site collects no data about your location, your device, or any other particulars. I also don’t bloat it with unnecessary Javascript or cookies, and have no plans to do so in the future. My vision for this site is to recreate the websites of the early 2000s, which, although a bit amateur in presentation, came with a personal touch that is missing from the internet today.

The name of this site comes from the powder towers in medieval European towns, where gunpowder was stored. The most famous of which today is in Prague. It doesn’t mean anything, I just thought it was a cool name, and one unlikely to be used as a domain name already.

Links

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Here are some useful links to other sites and blogs that I have found interesting.

David Shankbone’s blog - This is a blog I found when I was in middle school after I noticed that the author’s photos kept appearing on Wikipedia pages I looked at. He has a number of cool interviews posted, as well as some cool photos from a bygone era (note that on his Scientology album, many of the subjects are carrying digital cameras, not smartphones)

Cobalt - A tool for downloading YouTube videos. This is useful for getting around YouTube’s ever-increasing advertisements, as well asaccess to Podcasts that you like, but not well enough to spend money on their Patreon.

Wttr - Displays weather data in text format. No clutter, and can be accessed easily with scripts and APIs and such.

Victorian Web - a website with lots of good information about the Victorian era.

Yesterweb - This is a cool site that roughly lays out why I’ve started my own site, as well as why you might take an interest in doing so yourself. However, it appears that the original party that created it has abandoned it after a squabble amongst themselves.

bucketfish webring - Just a webring I found tangentially from Yesterweb. I haven’t looked through too many of these sites, and might take this off this list at some point.

32bit cafe - Another helpful site for those looking to browse the web in a healthier manner

Sadera - Just some guides I’m looking into at the moment for setting up LLMs in my homelab

Bonsai Tree Gardener - A website that has some useful information on identifying and caring for bonsai trees.

Robots and Computers - A website that catalogues and shows off the webmaster’s collection of toy robots (NOTE: This uses the unsecure ‘http’ protocol)

Maros Bonsai Blog - Slovakian guy’s bonsai blog, he also has a YouTube channel that goes over bonsai care in pretty straightforward terms

Wolfgang’s Blog - German guy who’s Youtube channel I subscribe to. His blog contains text/image versions of some of his video walkthroughs, as well as config files for some of them as well.

Prologue to The Nine Stages - Another hard-coded site and blog.