Random Mutterings

23/09/2023

Lexus ct200

A car seemingly much maligned by the motoring press but having recently sold one after 7yrs of ownership I thought I’d give a summary of what it’s really like. It’s often described as a posh Prius, almost accurate I suppose as it’s more or less the same running gear, utilising Toyota’s hybrid drivetrain. Fast it isn’t and a lot of...

Cars

30/01/2023

Choosing a privacy first email provider.

Following on from here and here I spoke about the move from google to a privacy first provider. I investigated all the big players including ProtonMail, Tutanota, MailFence etc, I even considered the risks of running my own mailserver using something like mail-in-a-box but I’ve been there, done that, and don’t fancy doing it all again. Long story short but...

Tech

08/01/2023

Leaving the Google eco-system

Following on from here, the extrification from Google services is complete, kind of! What a pain it was too. The aim was to maintain email/calendar/contacts/photos/storage across devices but without putting it all in one big tech and hopefully improving privacy somewhat. EMail Google takeout is garbage and a pain. Thunderbird email client to the rescue – connect it to your...

Tech

22/11/2022

Google and reneging on services, the plan to leave

Where to start? Years and years ago I signed up as a beta tester of what was to become Google Apps (and subsequently Google Workspace). As a reward I had a free 50user licence in perpetuity which gave me all the Google apps with my own domain. This ticked along nicely and soon most of my familiy members were onboard,...

Tech

22/07/2022

Switzerland 2022

Another trip to the Jungfrau region this summer. The pull of this region is strong, as is the nostalgia. I guess it’s because I spent most of my summers here up to the age of 23 or so. Once again accommodation was provided by Canvas Holidays on Camping Manor Farm. It was the most cost effective way of doing things...

Travel

28/06/2022

Isle of Purbeck

I’ve been watching a lot of YouTube lately, especially the travel vloggers. Someone with a similar affinity to the Jungfrau region is Karl Watson and during 2021 he produced some vlogs about trips in the UK. One that caught my attention was his weekend around Corfe Castle which inspired me to visit when the opportunity arose. I was itching to...

Travel

15/05/2022

New tent has arrived

Back in February I posted about needing a new tent and that I’d bought a Khyam Biker Plus SE at the camping show. Fair play to Khyam, it arrived when they said it would and I’d been waiting for a fine weekend to have a trial run at getting the thing up. I bought it as Khyam make a great...

Travel

11/03/2022

Do I need a drone?

Lately I’ve been watching a lot of amateur travel vlogs on youtube and most of them obviously have use of a drone for those arty aerial shots. This got me googling and naturally it seems the market leaders are the various drones from DJI. Further googling led me to the various requirements you need to have in place to fly...

Tech

07/02/2022

New tent

My trusty Vango Gamma recently bit the dust and to be honest, I’m getting a bit old to be on my knees all the time, so I was on the hunt for a new tent. I have simple requirements: I took myself off to the Caravan, Camping & Motorhome Show at the NEC hoping to have a good nosey about...

Travel

02/07/2021

Shropshire 2021

In and out of lockdown was doing my head in and I needed a break from work so decided on a bit of camping with my sisters. We’re scattered across the country so we looked for somewhere that was fairly equidistant for all of us and Shropshire was it. Specifically Little Stretton as it promised some great walking being at...

Travel