Author: IBM

Read It Later

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I often see a website or email article that I would like to read. I don’t have time, or inclination, to read it at that moment, but I know I want to at some point. Way back, I would simply set a bookmark in the web browser, and come back to it later. It quickly became messy though, and there pretty much wasn’t any way to tag articles so I could easily find the information later if I couldn’t remember the name or even the URL of the website that I had found it on.

Evernote came along and with it, the ability to forward emails to it. Great it works fine. Instapaper came along with the ability to do a similar thing with web pages, as well as Evernote too. I never really got into Pocket a great deal, but there are some things stored there too.

A few months back I downloaded Readwise, which allows me to save highlights from books that I read. I find that useful as some passages in books can be very inspiring and it’s good to save them in one place. Now, though, Readwise has brought out Reader which allows me to save web pages, emails, PDFs, RSS feeds and even YouTube Videos in one place as a single library and feed source. I’m going to go with this, and we’ll see how it pans out over time.

If it works out, then I’ll only be paying £7.99 a month for Readwise instead of paying for both Instapaper and Evernote, so I’ll save a few quid too.

Coffee

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When I was a younger kid, I wasn’t allowed coffee. All that caffeine is bad for you, said, my mother. Never mind there Is often as much in the cup of tea I WAS allowed. it was My first venture into coffee was around the age of about 12, and it  was made with hot milk and something instant. I quite liked it, along with a couple of spoonfuls of sugar.

How times change. In my early twenties, and having left home, I purchased a cheap electric coffee maker – drip filter with an electric hotplate, that rapidly burnt the coffee if it wasn’t drunk soon after brewing.

Wind on to the present day. I get freshly roasted coffee delivered which I enjoy black and definitely with NO sugar or sweeteners added.

Is it more expensive than instant? I guess it is, but the expense isn’t everything; enjoyment counts too. Oh, and as one goes through life, tastes change.

Gastropubs

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I have certainly seen some pretentious establishments in my wandering around London, but I do find the occasional one that’s good to eat and drink in. My primary purpose for going to a pub is to drink good beer. My definition of good beer is craft cask ale (occasionally bottled craft). The food comes second. So many put the accent on food and then serve crap pints of pseudo-Australian sheep dip or another ice-cold bland ‘brewed under licence’ in the UK swill.

Yes, the food is often overpriced in these places, but so is the beer, and if I have to pay £6-7 for a pint, it had better be something darn good. The swill as mentioned above can be had for a quarter of the price at the ‘offy’ at the end of my road (which of course, is helping to kill off pubs!).

Author with a pintSurely, too, by definition, Wetherspoons is a chain of ‘gastropubs?’ The food might be basic, but at least I can get a decent beer in most of them; my nearest one has a well-kept cellar, a decent variety of ales, and isn’t full of noisy kids (of the young adult variety).

On the other hand, some of my favourite watering holes are small shops converted into taprooms. Great beer, often brewed on the premises, and although often quite spartan, are small and intimate enough to lend themselves to making easy conversation with fellow drinkers. Food options are usually crisps or peanuts, and even they are often a more reasonable price than the £1.50 I’ve been charged for a packet in a gastropub.