Month: October 2018

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Hamilton Level [Completed]

I literally ignored the Broadway play, Hamilton, when it hit London 19 months ago.

I had a clue about what this Hip Hop Opera would be like and the blend of US History into a Rap musical with its reputation of selling out at £100 a ticket every night was very intriguing.

Could it really be that good? 

Best Birthday present EVER

From the opening curtain, I was captivated by the songs, the set, the laughs, the costumes, the romantic bits and the tragedy.  By the 46th song, my hands were swollen from clapping so hard.  Sheer musical genius and a brilliant London Theatre night out.  The USA history sent me back to my times living in Washington DC, I honestly didn’t see myself being back in Europe but it just wasn’t meant to be.  If you can’t make it in DC during the Obama Years then it’s time just to be a tourist.

Completing Hamilton in Co-op mode was a high-end pleasure so now I treat myself by re-living the night with the soundtrack.  At the same time, I solo killed my final Hunter for The Division Phoenix Shield.  Took multiple 1-hour attempts and then I finally cornered the bastard thanks to the Global Event modifier and a crafted Custom M44 rifle with a 12x scope.

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Layer 1: Pings of Death

A simple issue, run down to the local electrical or gadget store and pick up a USB-C to lightning cable or 3ft Ethernet cable.  48 hours later I still can’t find a retail outlet that actually sells these things or have stock.  Amongst the numerous mobile phone stores, there are very few outlets that sell critical cables, of course, I could have ordered it online and or visited one of the large superstores.

I really miss great stores like RadioShack and Tandy in the US and the UK’s Maplin who ceased trading this year.  Moreover, I miss the knowledgeable staff and geek advisors, nowadays independent stores have little or no stock outside the standard USB cable and are pretty clueless about technology.

Who sent the Ping of Death to local gadget stores?… Was it not profitable? Were the staff overheads too high?  Was the turnover too slow?….and what will replace them?  The need is still there and grows constantly as we ponder a thousand questions when things go wrong.

..but Dr Google will probably know the answer, whoops I can’t get Google to load…..help me, somebody.

Hidden cables…only available online nowadays
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Lifting my head up

For the past 11 months, I’ve had my head down trying to deal with my own worries.  Missed a few major events because of it such as The Royal Wedding, The World Cup and Aretha Franklin’s funeral.  I have a weakness in saying ‘No’ and every time someone raises an issue my instinct is to provide a solution.

Like any combat medic there comes a time when you can’t heal yourself…..Then it’s game over and you are downed.

I miss my friend Nev, he was always at a standard I wish I could reach….morally grounded.

It’s a bright New Year for me now so time to rewind, refresh and start working on my goals…again.

Brilliant days of analogue tapes
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A Year of Endurance

Nothing significant about Year 52 apart from the consistent personal pressure and compliance under duress.  I have carved out my own little oasis though and find myself exclusively on The Division nowadays 2-6 hours a day.

Something is still not right

No more blogging till 2019

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Bringing back etiquette to Air travel

Is Air travel a luxury?  I’ve put up with another year of flying the 4th worst airline in the world according to the AirHelp Global Airline ranking system.

I’ve become immune to the waiting times, nasty fees and negative staff attitudes and constantly over compensate by expecting a late arrival.  No disasters but I’ve come too close to missing important life events and this accumulates to a constant state of high anxiety I sooth with massive doses of downloaded Netflix series.

So here’s how I did…again

No checked luggage -90% of the time my flight runs out of space, so I get to check-in luggage free of charge

Prepare for late night arrivals – the last flight is always delayed leaving me transportation issues when car hire closes at 11pm, fortunately I found all night train route.

Pack only what you need

Avoid gifts and comfort bits

Avoid speaking to airline staff, the ground crew just tell you to visit the website anyway.

Use the airport lounge, this oasis is perfect preparation to be squished up in a seat with absolutely no creature comforts. Worth every penny of investment and your last bit of civilisation for a few hours.

Don’t tell Loved ones you’ve landed till you are in the airport…. it’s not unusual to be left on the tarmac on plan waiting for a gate or “somebody” to bring a bus to the airplane.

Line up early, this actually beats the so-called paid “Speedy boarders “as it usually every man for himself as over 150 people try to board as fast as possible through 2 ground crew checking passport and boarding passes on mobile phones. Expect no decorum here.

Fly solo, it helps you get into the brutal zone but always have a plan B and C lined up.

I’ll be enjoying one of the better airlines this December and will be snacking with real cutlery on-board and with enough leg room for two.

Enough is enough already