Month: December 2023

My Travel Setup

As we prepare to start our third year/season of splitting our time between Birmingham and the Isle of Wight, I thought it was about time I blogged about my current travel setup. In this context, “travel” mostly refers to what I use on the island, but also partly to what I use when I am somewhere that isn’t one of the usual paces I live or work.

Things I store here

Apart from the table and chair, I think I have had most of this stuff over a decade. But it still serves me well for 9 weeks of the year.

  • Desk riser – this is one of those adjustable ones that can convert any desk into a standing desk, but can also raise a laptop or monitor to the correct eye height
  • Folding table – slatted, so that it will break down into a small enough package that it can be easily stored
  • 24″ Monitor and cables – an old one that I’ve had over 10 years and that was replaced at home by something newer
  • Desk mat – because of the slats I need something to provide a surface that my laptop, keyboard and pointing device can sit on without moving around
  • Speakers – old Logitech ones that I used to use at home before I wired up my home computer with an amplifier and dedicated speakers
  • Extension lead – to power everything
  • Webcam – I do also travel with one, but if I am working here it’s really important to have one, and the webcam in my laptop is not good enough for work. This is a really old Microsoft one that we have quite a few of in various places
  • Folding chair – from B&M, and small enough to be storable. I used to use a patio chair, but I needed something that would be better for my posture
  • USB mouse – in case I forget my trackball
  • Amazon Basics USB hub, that I use to connect my keyboard, trackball and camera to whatever laptop I am using. It’s like a docking station, but cheap and old.

Things I carry with me

Albums of the year 2023

These are the records that have been the soundtrack to my 2023. If 2022 was a bad year for the world, then 2023 was more of the same, with a side-dose of personal horror. I did the exact same job for a whole year for the first time in a while, but everything around me seemed more chaotic, with ill health and general disruption not too far away. I suspect my musical choices have been influenced by that, although it certainly hasn’t been consciously.

I’m sitting writing this on a wet and blustery evening in the Isle of Wight (for the second year running). I think the amount of time I’ve spent here over the last two years has definitely influenced some of my choices, but only in a good way. There is some music that just makes more sense in a rural location, and many of these records are definitely not particularly influenced by cities or suburbia. But also this is a list that pays a lot more homage to louder and faster music than previous years. There are less melodically beautiful records (especially outside the top 25), and more that channel the anger that so many people feel towards the world and some of the people in it.

Albums

In all cases the links below are to somewhere you can listen to and/or buy the record in question (Bandcamp or the artist’s own website). For things you can’t buy anymore I’ve linked to a description.

Singles

All of these are either one long song, or a 7″.

Other stuff

Live albums, reissues, and things that were definitely available in some format before this year.

The rest

Other things I’ve listened to this year that I enjoyed.