What’s in your laptop bag?

Being an IT consultant, I spend a lot of my time on the road. Now, now, before you start getting grandiose ideas of me living the jet setting lifestyle, unfortunately I have never seen the inside of the business class cabin of an airplane. I have, however, been to exciting places like Burgess Hill or Wandsworth Town. Fantastically exciting places if you are one of those people who find New York and Paris, just a bit too much. And of course I have the pleasure of doing all this travel sitting on my very own seat on a train carriage.

Anyway, back to my point. As an IT consultant, I spend a lot of my time on the road. As such, the contents of my laptop bag are essential.

The contents of my laptop bag...

So let me give you a quick tour:

• My spanking brand new Wenger Laptop bag. Retail was £65. Amazon? £25. Hahaha… only suckers pay retail!
• Ultimate Ears iPhone Headset. Love the sound on these things. Has passive noise isolation. Great for my crappy train rides.
• Trusty iPhone. Love it.
• 250GB portable HDD in grey sock. Has work related Virtual Machines.
• 250GB portable HDD in blue sock. Has work related documents. And sometimes movies to help me while away the time.
• Nokia phone charger cause I spend all my time on phones.
• Mouse. Just cause I hate working on a touch pad for hours at a time.
• iPhone charger. Simply because the iPhone has a crappy battery.
• Jawbone Bluetooth headset. So I can type and talk at the same time.
• Dell battery charger.
• Little umbrella. Because I live in London. Enough said.
• Jawbone charger. Cause I spend so much time on the phone that my bluetooth headset needs to be charged as much as my phone does.
• Shoeshine kit. I stole this from a hotel. Gotta to keep my shoes clean.
• Name cards. I try to give these away at bars but all the women just throw them back at me.
• My own coffee. My client sites all have horrible coffee.
• Hob Nob biscuits. I start really early and end very late. So the biscuits keep me going.
• 3G USB kit. Need to be able to get online from anywhere. And by anywhere I mean big cities. Because the UK 3G network is pretty crappy.
• Earl Grey tea. Stole that from another hotel. I don’t drink tea. I’m just a bit of a klepto.
• Tissues. Gotta blow my nose. It’s flu season.
• Mints. Can’t be having coffee breath.
• Pens. Only one is my own. Stole the rest.
• Of course my brick of a laptop. The trust DELL Latitude D820. Weighs a ton. And a half.

So there you go. A glimpse into my life. In fact this is what I’ll be carrying in the morning.

May the force be with you…

The Iconic Logo

I was barely a year old when the Star Wars IV: A New Hope transported mere mortals into the depths of space. From the opening sequence when the Rebel ship was being hunted down by the Imperial Destroyer to the speeder zooming across the sands of Tatooine, everyone was mesmerised. Me? I was probably still clammering for my milk bottle. The first time I saw Star Wars was probably when I was about 5 or 6. In Malaysia where I grew up, the local TV channel would play re-runs of Star Wars IV, V and VI at least once a year. Usually around the Chinese Lunar New Year festival. I guess our Islamic government felt the Chinese were as alien to them as those in the movies. Anyhow, isn’t my point.

I love Star Wars. I don’t mean in the whole ‘I-want-to-dress-up-as-an-Imperial-Stormtrooper-and-I-want-to-be-married-to-someone-like-Princess-Leia’ sort of way. That sort of love is reserved for one of my best friend’s: Sam. My love is that of a once young boy being given the right to dream. The ability to reach for the stars. To hope for more. To realise that in some worlds, Good triumps Evil. To remember that we have it in us to do great evil. And to realise that most evil people were once good.

More than all that, Star Wars is about an orphan who makes something of himself. I don’t know why that appeals to me. But even to this day it does. It is probably because I want to make something of myself too. Don’t get me wrong. I thank God every day that I have a wonderful wife (who on one hand feeds me and on the other hand makes me work out), great friends and a good job. And yes I do see the world in that order. What Star Wars reminds me of is that I can be more.

Star Wars is a movie for my generation. Star Wars was a movie that was meant to heal. When asked why he started the Star Wars story at episode 4, George Lucas said that America needed to heal. People were not ready to see that bad guys can win some battles. Vietnam was still an open wound in many people’s hearts. They needed joy. Not despair. They needed to see good triumph. Most of all they needed hope.

I wonder what this generation needs. More recently we have seen another young orphan grow up into a world he never hoped for. We see him put others first. We see him deal with pain. We see him filled with joy. I believe that every generation needs heroes. The hero of choice these days is Harry Potter. Mine was Luke Skywalker.

Who’s yours?

I have 11 pairs of shoes…

You know how when you’ve got so much work that you can’t actually be bothered doing any of it? Well, I spent the last 2 minutes counting the number of pairs of shoes I have. I’m an amateur compared to most women but personally I don’t think I’m doing too badly.

I have the following pairs of shoes:

• Black Leather Pointed shoes – This is my every day, “go-to-work” in them pair. They are amazingly comfortable and they do the job well when I’m in a suit.
• Brown Suede half boots – This is my ‘I need to be smart-casual’ pair. Worn generally with a pair of chinos or a smart pair of jeans.
• Grey Suede Birkenstocks – These have a covered toe area. I want to call them mules but that might make them sound a little too girly. (As if this post doesn’t already make me sound like a woman!)
• Brown Tevas – for those hiking days where one has to walk through streams.
• Karrimor Hiking Boots – for the snow hike we’re doing in December.
• North Face Walkers – for the many walking trips around Europe.
• Black Classic Converse – Cause every boy should have a pair of those.
• Asics Gel Attach Running Shoes – for my attempts at staying fit.
• Brown Leather Thongs – The aussie definition.
• Nike Air Sneakers – Just cause they’re cool.
• Quiksilver Thongs – I got these for £8. Cheap Cheap.

 Whilst I can understand and empathise with the many women around the world who have a love affair with shoes, I, alas, am married to one of them and hence only have space for my ten pairs.

Don’t get me started on bags!

And so it begins…

It all began as an innocent little Twitter post. Should I or shouldn’t I start a blog?

By the overwhelming response of 10 people, I now embark on this new journey. Of course, I’m going to get this blog going in stealth mode. I shall spend some time posting to my blog incognito.

I do this not because I’m modest and do not crave the attention that a blog brings. But rather I fear failure. I fear that I will end up like the other 95% of bloggers: good intentions, no stamina.

And so it begins… not in a galaxy far far away but in a not so cozy corner of my local Starbucks…