OH: “SCSI requires three terminations: termination on one end of the bus. Termination on the other end of the bus. And the Termination of a black hen with an ivory-handled knife over the middle of the cables at midnight”
“I’m aware. I shouldn’t be, because of my age, but I am aware”

@quixoticgeek This game very much attracts a certain nitpicky attitude to the rules.

Today’s rules questions included:

⁃ How does the “is the first letter of your station the same as mine?” question get answered when you’re at ‘s-Hertogenbosch?
⁃ Does a tree that is planted in an orchard count […]

We found @quixoticgeek in 6 hours and 8 minutes. With an additional 85 minutes in time bonuses, and then both the 5% and 10% time bonuses goves her a very laudable 7 hours and 34 minutes total hiding time.

It’s going to be very difficult to beat.

How the fuck am I winded from going uphill?

It’s the fucking Netherlands!

Anyway. Found her…

@darkphoenix We made it to Maastricht station, and there was a convenient bridge over the platforms to ask the thermometer question. This basically effectively halved the area we were looking at. We then eliminated a 10km radius from Maastricht. And we headed east towards the town that we now […]

Curse of the bridge troll The seekers must ask their next question from on or under a bridge. Casting Cost: Seekers must be at least [S 2] [M 10] [L 50] km from you.

@darkphoenix @quixoticgeek And we’ve been cursed!

This is the house rules version of the curse of the bridge troll, as merely being able to be under a bridge is quite difficult in the Netherlands.

This has actually stopped us from asking a specific question […]

[Original post on cupoftea.social]

In what is possibly the most heroic high-speed devops intervention ever to de done for the bit @darkphoenix has basically set up an instance of the mapping app, and, more crucially, Overpass in what we reckon is a record-breaking 2.5 hour marathon. It’s janky, and imperfect, and she’s currently […]

@quixoticgeek And we are so back, with a somewhat limited but functional mapping app.

We’ve asked a bunch of questions, and are now going to grab a train towards maaastricht. I’ll have time there to decompress and summarise.

“No using server logs in order to find where I am" says a rather cheeky @quixoticgeek

We're just populating the overpass database now, and then we test the service.

While ash is doing that, I thought I'd at least link to the other players' fedi threads. Hopefully we'll be back playing soon.

You can find @darkphoenix's thread here: not.an.evilcyberhacker.net/notes/akw6m3miov9j01x5

For reasons @quixoticgeek doesn't do a single thread, but she tags […]

...and we've paused the game.

To make the game bearable, we use an open source mapping app that does a lot of the fancy mapping for us. Unlike the wendover folks, we don't feel like doing this mapping manually.

The app we use can be found at https://github.com/taibeled/JetLagHideAndSeek - and […]

Selfie of ash, Wendy the DBJUNGLESKOG and I in front of Utrecht Centraal station

Hello! And welcome to season 3 of Jet Lag: The Game - Hide and Seek. We’re calling this one the Tulip season, as we’re back in the Netherlands.

Over the next 3 days we’re playing a country-wide game of hide and seek. Today, @quixoticgeek has had 3 hours to […]

[Original post on cupoftea.social]

You know you live out of a backpack or suitcase when part of your morning routine involves folding yesterday’s underwear

#TravellingLife

A beautiful Dutch countryside scene, behind a very dirty DDZ window that hides half of it

Travel the world, they said. It’s full of amazing places and plenty to see.

Take the train, they said. You’ll be nice and relaxed, and have amazing views.

There is a wonderful Spanish neologism: “Desvirtualizar” - the act of turning an online relationship (in the broadest sense of the word) into a real life relationship.

Today I had an afternoon (bubble) tea with someone that I’ve been talking to, on and off, for about a decade. Up to now, we had […]

A picture of a large glass building, with a couple of smaller glass buildings to one side, and an imposing modern entrance. In front of it, a blue sign with white lettering that says “Cour Pénale Internationale - International Criminal Court”

Over the past couple of days or so I have seen a number of videos on social media sites that are pointing out the general feeling that someone should do something.

They’re quick to point out that there is nothing specific that should be done, and no-one […]

[Original post on cupoftea.social]

Tomorrow I shall be playing a game of #JetlagTheGame hide and seek with @moof and @darkphoenix. this time it's my turn to be first to hide. I have to goto a station within 3 hours from Utrecht Centraal. Which conveniently narrows it down to every single public train station in the Netherlands […]

Orange and red custom-made card boxes. The red one is open showing the cards inside. There’s about 215 of them

Despite the setbacks, a lovely lunch was had in Rotterdam, and @quixoticgeek has handed over some card boxes for the custom #JetLagTheGame cards that I exchanged for them. I shall deliver one of them to @darkphoenix later on tonight.

Now onwards to Den Haag […]

[Original post on cupoftea.social]

...and what customer service failed to tell me is that I'd need to be able to justify my delay or I'll get charged the full price difference for the ticket by the conductor.

Which is calculated, of course, based on the price of my reservation. So that's 128€.

I could have spent the hour in […]

So apparently I didn’t need to talk to customer service. Protocol is to go find the next train, talk to one of the chefs du bord, and ask to be let on. As long as you have an existing reservation, and there is space, it should be fine

It would have been nice to know that in time for the 09:46 […]

Well, having found the Eurostar ticket office, the first surprise is that there are only two agents here on the customer service team. So they are definitely running slowly.

I’m not making the 09:46 to Brussels either.

On the rails a- no, hang on. I’ve missed my train. #Interrail #CrossBorderRail

Due to a bit of a snafu, I have failed to make it to Gare du Nord on time to catch my 09:24 Eurostar to Rotterdam.

So, um, let’s see what Eurostar can offer me when I get to the station…

View of the RER platforms at Stade de France - Saint-Dénis station, with a RER train occupying that track that goes between platforms 2 and 1. An overpass and some ramps can be seen too

A geometric architectural feature on the bridge between Saint-Dénis - Pleyel and Stade de France - Saint-Dénis

Inside an architectural feature at Stade de France-Saint-Dénis, some plants intersperse a wooden deck, on top of which are some concrete arches that are interlinked

A Ouigo TGV and a blurry RER train

@quixoticgeek Can’t finish the evening without some train geekery. Have some train station pics at Stade de France-Saint-Dénis

I’ve been trying to find the time to visit this café every time I go through Paris. When @quixoticgeek asked me to meet her early in the day tomorrow before the game on Friday, I jumped at the chance to finally visit the café and enjoy the hot chocolate in homage to the amazing podcast that has […]

A metal tray with a large metal pot and a white ceramic mug with thick hot chocolate in it sits atop a paper placemat that says “Le Café Littéraire où les mots se savourent” - The literary café where you can taste the words.

Les Deux Magots cafe itself has a fascinating history, known as the meeting place for authors, poets and artists in the broadest sense of the word for the past 140 years.

Simone de Beauvoir, Ernest Hemingway, Jean-Paul Sartre, and a host of other names […]

[Original post on cupoftea.social]

There’s always time for a story…

The Amelia project podcast has been a companion in my life for the past couple of years. It’s an comedic fiction podcast that explores the life of the core members of the organisation: the Interviewer, his office manager, Alvina, Joey and Salvatore, the muscle […]

Are you tired of your current life? The responsibilities, never having a moment to yourself, the constant demands in your time by your commitments, and from the people, oh, the people.

Maybe you have a cheating spouse, maybe you are a cheating spouse, maybe you’re in trouble with the police for […]

Paris is known for its monuments: the Eiffel Tower, the Triumphal Arch, the Cathedral of Our Lady of Paris.

It’s also known for its museums: the Louvre, Orsay, Picasso, Rodin…

But I’m not here for all that.

Today’s adventure starts with a lady called Amelia. Well, really it starts with a man […]

An Alstom Citadis 395 in RATP livery about to start a T1 service at Saint-Dénis stop

And this does mean I get take a Tram, a first for me in Île-de-France. And it even has trans flag colours…

Made it to Paris Gare de Lyon.

I am here often enough that I have started to recognise landmarks in the station, but not often enough to actually be able to navigate it without getting lost and asking for help a couple of times. It’s big, and very confusing.

Later today there’s a bit of […]