The Logbook
The day I missed the bus in Chiang Mai
An overstuffed bag, a slow tuk-tuk, and a lesson about what you actually need to pack.
Six months after the theft, what I haven't replaced
A reader asks what's been replaced since January. One machine, nothing else. The list of absences, and what each one has cost.
No signal, no cash, three kilometres out
The phone shows four bars and won't send anything through. The card is valid and the terminal refuses it. Nothing is broken, and I end up walking.
Three days of rationing under a typhoon
Nothing broke. It was the power that ran out, for three days, and I had to decide which device deserved the percent points that were left.
Someone asked if I work on night trains
The full answer, including the nights that produced nothing. A train gives you continuous time, and continuous time isn't enough on its own.
The Chiang Mai storm that ate my power strip
A power surge during a storm, a power strip that died silently, and everything plugged into it still working. No explanation.
Thirteen hours on a plane, hour by hour
From the security line to the baggage belt. What each hour of the flight rules out, and a power bank that spends the trip in the seat pocket.
What heat does to machines
An upstairs room, a March afternoon, a computer that slows to a crawl, a phone that stops charging. Neither one was broken.
Two countries before breakfast
Faro, Seville, Tarifa, Tangier. Twelve hours, four connections, zero minutes of work, and one working power outlet.
I haven't tried half of what I recommend
A reader asks why he'd read someone who recommends things he's never held. Full answer, no dressing it up.
What the thief left in my bag
Nine objects ignored in four seconds. A stranger's ranking of my own belongings looks nothing like the one I'd have made myself.
He took the case for my headphones. I was wearing the headphones.
My bag was open above me for three hours. The thief walked off with an empty case and a laptop, and never checked either one.