Life

Technology I carry on the road

Daniel Lockyer

Oct 19, 2018 — 1 min read

I like to keep things simple and don't own a lot, so I only carry 3 pieces of technology with me.

Laptop: Lenovo G505s with SSD

I've had this laptop since I started university in 2014. I replaced with hard drive with an SSD within the first couple of months and only just replaced it again, when it started to fail on boot. This item is something I would like to change in the future. I mean the laptop works, so that's great, but I only carry 7kg of luggage and my laptop/charger combo is almost 2.6kg of that. The battery life also leaves a lot to be desired. I get, maybe, 1.5 hours from it. I did buy a bigger battery but the case snapped and I went back to the original size.

These things may sound minor but it often does have an impact on my work. If I go to a coffee shop, I have to find a power socket otherwise I know I'll only be able to work for a short time. Effective programming often involves being immersed in the flow so breaking out to move location is disruptive to my job.

Similarly, you could say the weight is barely an issue. But the weight of the laptop sometimes leaves me really close to the 7kg carry-on limit I come across (and get checked for). This means I can't carry anything extra in my bag, like food for the airport or flight. If I had a lightweight laptop (-1kg from current), that would mean I have the flexibility to do this or that my total weight comes down to 6kg. It also means it's easier to carry around and puts less strain on my back.

(Technically, I could save 400g by getting rid of a pair of shoes but I'm a runner so they are kind of necessary.)

Xiaomi Redmi Note 4X

One of my favourite things about this phone is the dual-SIM capabilities -- allowing me to have my UK SIM and a local SIM inserted. UK SIM for 2FA or apps that use my phone number and a local SIM for 4G connectivity.

Garmin Fenix 3

I also wrote about my Fenix 3 but this watch enables me to track all my workouts. I also use it to save the GPS location of my hotel or points-of-interest in case I get lost.

How to manually resend failed Stripe webhooks

If you've had issues with your webhook endpoint, and Stripe failed to send webhooks to you, it'll automatically retry with an exponential backoff. However, you might want to manually trigger the events to be resent before the automatic attempt. Stripe allows you to do this via

Running goals for 2024

* 5km: 17:00 (3:24 min/km) * 10km: 36:00 (3:36 min/km) ✅ * Half marathon: 1:20:00 (3:47 min/km) * Marathon: 2:45:00 (3:55 min/km)

Twenty-eight

Following on from my previous posts for my twenty-third, twenty-fourth, twenty-fifth, twenty-sixth and twenty-seventh birthdays, here is my recap of my twenty-eighth year on Earth. In the last year, I have: * spent Christmas + New Year in the Netherlands * been to Spain * received a Netherlands residency permit * moved to an apartment

Running goals for 2023

* 5km: 18:30 (3:42 min/km) → ✅ 17:44 (3:33 min/km) * 10km: 39:00 (3:54 min/km) → ✅ 36:55 (3:42 min/km) * Half marathon: 1:25:00 (4:02 min/km) → ✅ 1:21:30 (3:52 min/km) * Marathon: 2:59:59 (4:16 min/km)