mikal – Page 23 – Made by Mikal

Killing Floor

Post author:mikal
Post published:March 17, 2016
Post category:Book

I'd seen the Reacher movie (it was ok, but not amazing), but was trapped in an airport with a book too close to the end for comfort. So I bought the first Jack Reacher novel. I'm impressed to be honest -- its well written, readable, and not trying to be Tom Clancy. Where Clancy would get lost in the blow by blow details of how military hardware works, this story is instead about how the main character feels and where their intuition is up to at that point. Sure, he explains that the shot gun pointed at his is dangerous, but doesn't get too lost in the detail. I enjoyed this book, and its a well written mystery tale. I'll read more from this series I am sure.

Monty: His Part in My Victory

Post author:mikal
Post published:March 17, 2016
Post category:Book

This is the third book in Spike Milligan's war memoirs (volume 1; volume 2). Combat has now died down in Africa, and no one is ready to be shipped to a new field of combat yet. The troops are therefore getting bored. Suddenly the establishment recalls that Milligan can play the trumpet and the band reforms. Most of this book is spent being shuffled between army staging areas, and performing music. Regardless of little "happening", still an engaging read.

Rommel? Gunner Who?

Post author:mikal
Post published:March 17, 2016
Post category:Book

At the end of the previous Spike Milligan war memoir, Spike and his comrades had just been packed up into a ship to start travelling to Africa to engage the Nazis. This book picks up straight from there are follows them from first arrival in Africa to their first experiences of combat. Spike fought in the Battle of Longstop Hill, where his artillery unit played a part in victory. Along the way Spike loses his first close friend to enemy fire. Spike has an amazing talent for taking a tough subject and making it interesting and light hearted. Its not disrespectful, but shows that there were moments of levity in difficult times. Much like the previous book this one was very readable and I enjoyed it.

Adolf Hitler: My Part in His Downfall

Post author:mikal
Post published:February 9, 2016
Post category:Book

This is another book I read as a teenager and decided to re-read. Frankly, its great. Confused teenager signs up for the British Army (or is conscripted, its not totally clear) and ends up as an artillery gunner. Has hilarious adventures while managing to still be a scrawny nerd. I loved it. A light hearted look at a difficult topic.

Halo: The Flood

Post author:mikal
Post published:February 9, 2016
Post category:Book

The reviews online for this book aren't great, and frankly they're right. The plot is predictable, and there isn't much character development. Just lots and lots of blow-by-blow combat. It gets wearing after a while, and I found this book at bit of a slog. Not recommended.

YA-90

Post author:mikal
Post published:January 2, 2016
Post category:Diary

Ok, so now that I've rediscovered walking to trigs while pursuing my hobby of trying to kill Mr Carden, I am enthused to do some more urban walking. The only urban trig I haven't been to is YA-90 on Isaacs Ridge. There are also three geocaches along the way I'd like to collect to. I propose we stage a walk from Isaacs as there's plenty of parking and do this one some evening when its cooler. Total distance should be about 4km return, with about 150 meters of vertical ascent. It should take about an hour. We did this walk on a warm afternoon on new year's day. The walk is pleasant, with plenty of shade for most of the way. In the end we only collected two of the geocaches, as following the ridge line to the third was considered an exercise for another day. A very pleasant walk. A 4.2km walk with 169 meters of ascent. [kml: 20160101-1]

A year of being more active

Post author:mikal
Post published:December 30, 2015
Post category:Diary

A little over a year ago I helped host a panel session at the Paris OpenStack summit. The panel was three telco people talking about NFV, but that's not the bit I really remember. The bit that really stuck with me was how fat I looked in photos from the event. I weighed just over 110 kilos (240 lbs). I decided something had to change -- I have a new daughter, and I want to be around to see her well into her life. So, I joined a gym and started bush walking. My first walk was documented here as a walk up Tuggeranong hill. That rapidly became an obsession with climbing hills to survey markers, which then started to include finding geocaches. I can't give you a full list of the tangents that one photo from Paris has caused, because the list isn't complete yet and may never be. I now run, swim, ride my bike, and generally sweat on things. Its all fun and has had the unexpected side effect that its helped me cope with work stress much more than I expected. I've lost about 15 kilos (30 lbs) so far. Weight loss isn't really the main…

Mount Tennent

Post author:mikal
Post published:December 29, 2015
Post category:Diary

Ok, so I want to do Mount Tennent from the "wrong" side (Apollo Road up the fire trail). The reason for this is that there is a series of 20 something geocaches along the route that I'd like to tick off as well as walking to Tennent. I think the total route should be about 13kms, with about 800m of ascent. I propose we leave at least one car at the Apollo Road car park, and then drive the rest to the start point at the Namadgi visitor centre. We can then do the walk, and send one car back to collect the others while we wait under a tree (or something like that). Naismith's rule says this walk should take about 5 hours. I've been meaning to do this one for ages, but finally got around to doing the walk with a few friends. We went up Tennent from the Namadgi visitor's center, but walked back down on the far side of Tennent which seems less common. The far side is less scenic, but less steep as well I think. Along the way we collected 23 geocaches along the way, and a lovely walk was had by all. Just…

Mulligan’s flat

Post author:mikal
Post published:December 24, 2015
Post category:Diary

I went for a post lunch geocache walk in Mulligan's flat this afternoon as I wind down towards the Christmas break. A good time was had, and a cool wool shed found. I really like this area, perfect for cub walks! [kml: 20151223-1]

Street Orienteering

Post author:mikal
Post published:December 23, 2015
Post category:Diary

I went street orienteering for the first time with my little brother the other day. It was super fun, and a good way to get a run in as well. We even came first in our division (team b grade)! [kml: 20151221-1]