Happy New Year! Here’s hoping for a quiet one.

Saturday was a busy day. Mouna 2. Climbing. Platelets. I even managed to squeeze some pathology in during the donation. 70 to 90 minutes is a long time to sit in one place, so figuring out how to navigate slides and type with only my left hand (I’m right handed) was an enhanced level of challenge. It kept me distracted for a while at least and helped the time pass.

Speaking of analogue, I have been out recapturing part of my youth and the past with my Minox 35 GT camera. Minox was made famous (at least in my eyes) by being one of James Bond’s spy cameras. The tiny Minox A IIIs or Minox B was what I really wanted, but I was dissuaded by my dad due to the difficulty getting film and processing it compared to 35mm.

Digital photography was becoming more mainstream at this stage, but the Minox cameras still appealed to me so I sought out one of the smallest 35mm cameras available: the Minox 35 GT. It wasn’t as tiny as the Minox A or B, but it was very compact and featured a folding pop out lens resembling a little drawbridge. It appealed to my gadgety sensibilities immediately.

Like many gadgets of my childhood, the Minox 35 GT saw a lot of interest immediately after I had purchased it but the appeal waned over time. The lack of immediacy and unpredictable results of film were less desirable and digital was rapidly becoming the way forward. The camera was shelved and I sort of forgot about it for years. Every so often I would take it out and make sure the electrical bits were still working, but then it would go back into its case and remain dormant for nearly twenty years.

The electrics/electronics are a little bit of a challenging areas these days as the battery format that fits the camera no longer exists. It contained mercury and was discontinued for obvious reasons, but never replaced with a mercury free alternative. The solution? Tape four LR44 button batteries together and it does a decent job. The voltage isn’t a perfect match, but it’s functional.

We took a wander round the Barbican and I put a roll of black and white film through it to make sure it was still functional as Minox has somewhat of a reputation for unreliability in the long term. My skills have a lot to be desired, but I managed to get a few interesting shots out of the lot. We have a photo lab in Plymouth which can turn around black and white film in around a week which is ideal, although not the cheapest prospect. Next time I’ll try with some colour film and keep experimenting.

Post Christmas Feasting

The early part of January is accompanied by the traditional post-Christmas clear out. Finding pots of olives and cheeseboards and assembling Frankenstein-esque “charcuterie” boards to avoid having to cook a real meal.

I don’t get the desperate need to use up turkey. We had a large turkey but I wasn’t rushing round making curries, sandwiches, and pies galore. I divided the leftover meat into packages and froze them. Now we have some emergency turkey in case I’m too lazy to do some real shopping. I did diversify the leftover approach too, and made some Korean Fried Turkey which worked nicely. I also made some turkey enchiladas which got even better on the second day.

Gaming

We are still playing through Indiana Jones and the Great Circle. There is an excellent variety of puzzles and the main questline is quite compelling. The Egyptian-themed puzzles in Giza have been a favourite so far. The contrast between the open desert and claustrophobic tombs and tunnels.

There is no shortage of collectathon side missions, but given I’ve got a limited Game Pass subscription, we’re sticking to the main story. I am not the biggest fan of the stealth aspects to the gameplay (which is a fair chunk) and I haven’t quite mastered hand to hand combat, but there are lots of ways to get out of sticky situations. I have used Scooby Doo tactics to take out a few challenging enemies, and environmental bottlenecks on the occasions I decide to fight the entire Third Reich. Otherwise I have little to criticise. It looks fantastic, performs really well, and continues to be a compelling game through the hours.