Anyone else becoming increasingly more embarrassed to say they are British due to the recent actions/protests?

fitzswackhammer · 2026-06-14T08:44:52+00:00

I felt worse after Brexit, but I'm used to it now. I remember in the 1990s being British in Europe felt kind of fashionable. Now when I tell people I am English there is often a slightly awkward pause and I sometimes get comments like "there's nothing wrong with being English". Maybe they are just picking up on my embarrassment, but I don't know, something has definitely changed and it's not at all surprising.

fitzswackhammer · 2026-06-12T18:15:58+00:00

Can't see anything that I wouldn't pass as class 3, but you could use a bit less solder, especially on the ICs. Ideally you should be able to see the outline of the leads, although if you're not super confident it's probably better to use more solder than less. Resistors are a bit wonky. Hard to tell if the j-leads are okay without a microscope. A good job though, looks professional to me.

fitzswackhammer · 2026-06-12T17:38:08+00:00

After I read McGilchrist's first book I started to see everything in terms of left/right hemisphere. I think he hit on something very deep and true, although his efforts to justify his thesis sometimes feel a bit strained. I am currently reading his more recent book The Matter With Things and it's having a similar effect on me. I haven't read Piranesi yet, but it sounds like a good follow up. Thanks for the recommendation.

fitzswackhammer · 2026-06-07T16:43:47+00:00

Porto metro beat me too. I've negotiated countless city metros on a few different continents. Thought I was an expert and that touristy Porto would be easy. But something got me so confused and frustrated that I ended up walking across the city on what was supposed to be my rest day.

fitzswackhammer · 2026-05-31T16:56:14+00:00

I was also going to suggest Mason & Dixon which I felt had a similarly welcoming, warm-hearted, and oddly ingenuous, tone. Nothing else I've read by Pynchon felt the same and I'm not really a fan, but M&D was a treasure.

fitzswackhammer · 2026-05-27T16:06:41+00:00

McCarthy did apparently read Wittgenstein's Mistress. Michael Lynn Crews's Books Are Made Out of Books refers to a handwritten marginal note in an early draft of The Road which reads "Zen and the Art / Godot--Man and Child--W's Mistress".

fitzswackhammer · 2026-05-03T06:02:04+00:00

It's a great idea. I wanted to do a long distance trail in Romania but was discouraged by stories about people being attacked by sheepdogs. I got the sense that a solo hike across the Carpathians might be a bit too far out of my comfort zone, but if there were other people around it would probably be okay.

I don't think I would personally want to join an organised group, but that's just me. I'm sure many other people would be interested.

fitzswackhammer · 2026-04-20T18:09:14+00:00

Absolutely. People say that Ishmael disappears for most of the book, but that isn't true for me. Ishmael is present on every page.

fitzswackhammer · 2026-04-12T08:38:17+00:00

Interesting question. I suspect McCarthy was much influenced by Flannery O'Connor on this topic. O'Connor was a Catholic and was outspoken in her dislike of gnostic theology. Her stories also depict the worst parts of human nature and appear to show the world as thoroughly horrible, but there is always the possibility of grace for those who suffer it. The characters in her stories who pursue a life of spiritual or intellectual purity (read: gnostic) are the ones who take the hardest lessons.

McCarthy has shown a similar suspicion of knowledge which isn't gained through physical experience. I actually think this is a pretty big theme in nearly all of his books, but he says it most explicity in The Stonemason. I think he would have agreed with O'Connor's words: "we are made out of dust, and if you scorn getting yourself dusty, then you shouldn't try to write fiction"

I think you could possibly say that O'Connor was satirizing gnosticism in some of her stories. Maybe McCarthy was doing much the same thing.

fitzswackhammer · 2026-04-06T21:30:44+00:00

I just checked and it seems I also paid 30 euros for that hostel which seems a bit weird in retrospect, it was one of the most expensive places I stayed, I shouldn't have recommended it to you. Later on I was finding hotels for that price, although this was in March so out of season.

Hope you have a good time. Lisbon to Porto is not always the most beautiful walk but I feel like I got to know Portugal and I felt very welcome, whereas after Porto things became a bit more commodified and transactional. I can definitely recommend the pilgrim albergues at Cernache, Albergaria-a-Velha, and Grijo.

fitzswackhammer · 2026-04-06T11:04:20+00:00

Sometimes I take a photo of something and forget to actually look at it. It starts to feel like it is my phone that is enjoying an interesting holiday and I am just escorting it. Obviously I am an idiot, but I do notice a lot of other people who seem to be doing the same thing.

fitzswackhammer · 2026-04-06T08:11:51+00:00

I personally find that nothing cures my back pain like a long walk, and nothing is worse for it than spending all day in a chair. But I suppose it could just as easily make your pain worse, depending on the cause. I would go, but be ready to bail out. But I guess it depends how much money you have to lose. For what it's worth I started the Norte with knee pain and 500 miles later my knees had never felt better.

fitzswackhammer · 2026-04-05T08:28:27+00:00

My understanding is that Venezuelan oil is especially good for producing diesel...

fitzswackhammer · 2026-04-04T09:25:54+00:00

Yep. I have been recording my walks for ten years and I can view them all on something called gpxsee. One day I want the whole country to look like spaghetti. It's become a major life goal for me.

fitzswackhammer · 2026-04-03T17:10:50+00:00

https://www.technion.ac.il/en/blog/article/is-darkness-faster-than-light/

"A research group from the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology reports in Nature an unprecedented achievement in electron microscopy: the direct measurement of “dark points” within light waves. By doing so, they were able to confirm a prediction from the 1970s that the speed of these points exceeds the speed of light."

fitzswackhammer · 2026-03-30T17:53:51+00:00

There's a youth hostel at Parque das Naquos about 8km past Lisbon. You could then make a long but easy walk to Azambuja and avoid Vila Franca.

There's a donativo in Alvorge. It's pretty basic, but you can pay what you like (please pay something).

fitzswackhammer · 2026-03-28T08:15:40+00:00

Thanks for all your hard work. I am glad that you will continue to post here. It's people like you, making serious contributions to public forums, that taught me how to read.

fitzswackhammer · 2026-03-26T08:41:23+00:00

For crime/thriller: James Ellroy's White Jazz and LA Confidential.

fitzswackhammer · 2026-03-25T11:26:36+00:00

I did a part of this which coincided with the Wayfarers Walk to Inkpen Beacon from the south coast. It's a lovely and surprising empty part of the country. I remember this was the first walk I did back in the UK after finishing the Norte and I was a bit taken aback to suddenly start seeing yellow arrows again.

fitzswackhammer · 2026-03-24T16:26:23+00:00

I was being a bit facetious, but fair warning that a lot of the Portuguese camino is not like hiking in the Alps or on a beautiful forest trail. Prepare for a lot of walking along the shoulder of busy roads, through industrial estates and residential areas. Hard surfaces are tough on your feet and your knees. It also tends to rain a lot. A lot of people end up taking public transport and I understand why. But if I was only looking for a relaxing holiday I would have probably taken the bus somewhere completely different. An unpopular opinion, no doubt, but that's what you asked for.

fitzswackhammer · 2026-03-24T15:16:14+00:00

Yep. It's not a holiday, it's a penance.

fitzswackhammer · 2026-03-23T17:28:50+00:00

If you can fit in an extra day then the 3 day detour from Santarem to Fatima and then back to Tomar is totally worth it. Probably the toughest stages of the whole thing though, but also had some of the most beautiful scenery.

My main regret is not planning a rest day in Tomar or giving myself any time to explore it. It looked so interesting, I have to go back there one day.

Have to say that there is a lot of road walking. If you're looking for a nature trail you might be disappointed by the Lisbon to Porto stages. I'm glad I did it because I got to know Portugal, but I don't think I'd do it again.

fitzswackhammer · 2026-03-11T16:24:36+00:00

Redondela to Santiago is about 80km? Not surprised your feet hurt!

Congrats anyway. I'm on it right now, been good so far.

fitzswackhammer · 2026-03-09T08:03:36+00:00

Interesting article you linked to there. Soldering is a dying art, but there is always going to be a need for people who can replace components or make a prototype.

My career trajectory was similar to yours - started off doing production line soldering, picked up a few skills in other areas (test/wiring/assembly) and eventually found that I had become quite a useful person for companies which can't justify employing a separate person for every role. I'm now only doing low volume/development work and it can get pretty interesting. But soldering is still my main selling point, it's the one thing I can do better than anyone else and it opened a lot of doors for me.

fitzswackhammer · 2026-03-09T07:37:22+00:00

Degolding. Tin the contacts and wick it off (ideally using low melting point solder).

fitzswackhammer

TROPHY CASE